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On Jon’s Desk: Contemplating Passover with A Book of Songs and Poems from the Old Testament and the Apocrypha, published by Ashendene Press

30 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by Jonathan Bingham in On Jon's Desk

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1904, A Book of Songs and Poems from the Old Testament and Apocrypha, Chelsea, Cicely Hornby, Emery Walker, England, Haggadah, Jon Bingham, Jonathan Bingham, Kelmscott Press, Ken Tomkinson, Matzah, Passover, Ptolemy Typeface, Seder, St John Hornby, Subiaco Typeface, Sydney Cockerell, The Ashendene Press, William Hooper, William Morris

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Then on that day David delivered first this Psalm to thanke the Lord into the hand of Asaph and his brethren: give thankes unto the Lord, call upon his name, Make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him. Talke you of all his wonderous works…”

~ The Psalm of Thanksgiving of David

A Book of Songs and Poems from the Old Testament and the Apocrypha

Chelsea, England: Ashendene Press, 1904

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passover is an eight day Judeo festival celebrated in the spring, from the 15th through the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Nissan (March 30th – April 7th, 2018). Commemorating the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt, Passover is observed by avoiding leaven and is highlighted by the Seder meals that include four cups of wine, eating matzah and bitter herbs, and retelling the story of the Exodus. In Hebrew it is known as Pesach (which means “to pass over”) because God passed over Jewish homes when killing the Egyptian firstborn on the very first Passover eve. Passover is divided into two parts: The first two days and last two days (the latter commemorating the splitting of the Red Sea) are full-fledged holidays on which candles are lit at night and kiddush and sumptuous holiday meals are enjoyed. Those observing the holiday don’t go to work, drive, write, or switch on or off electric devices. The middle four days are called Chol Hamoed, semi-festive “intermediate days,” when most forms of work are permitted.

To commemorate the unleavened bread that the Israelites ate when they left Egypt, chametz (leaven, or food mixed with leaven) is not eaten (or even retained in the observant’s possession) from midday of the day before Passover until the conclusion of the holiday. Instead of chametz, matzah (flat unleavened bread) is eaten. It is a mitzvah (religious duty or commandment) to partake of matzah on the two Seder nights. The highlight of Passover is the Seder, observed on each of the first two nights of the holiday. The Seder is a fifteen-step, family-oriented and ritualistic meal. In addition to the partaking of the four cups of wine, matzah, and bitter herbs, another focal point of the Seder includes the recitation of the Haggadah, a liturgy that describes in detail the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The Haggadah is the fulfillment of the biblical obligation to recount the story of the Exodus on the night of Passover.

While not part of Passover observance per se, it may be nice to take a look at this beautiful collection of Old Testament songs and poems, printed by the Ashendene Press in 1904. Operated in Chelsea (an area in southwest London), England from 1895 to 1915 and then again from 1920 – 1935, the Ashendene Press was a small, private press founded by Charles Harold St. John Hornby (1867 – 1946). Naturally, St John Hornby was aided in the running of the press by his wife Cicely (daughter of Charles Barclay, a director of the National Provincial Bank, and Charlotte Cassandra Cherry) whom he married on 19 January 1898. In 1900, Hornby met Emery Walker and Sydney Cockerell (then William Morris’ secretary at the Kelmscott Press). Together, they encouraged and instructed Hornby and helped in devising two typefaces for his own use, Subiaco and Ptolemy.

Most Ashendene editions used one of these two typefaces, which were specially cast for the Press. Subiaco was based on a fifteenth-century Italian type cast by Sweynheim and Pannartz in Subiaco, Italy. The Ptolemy typeface was originally created by the Ulm based printer Lienhart Holle in 1482 for the work Cosmographia, a cartographic work by Claudius Ptolemaeus. Hornby, Walker, and Cockerel wanted to recreate a typeface with a character equal parts Gothic and Roman (“Gotico-Antiqua”) and they re-created the Ptolemy typeface for that reason.

Some Ashendene books were illustrated with wood-engravings, but the majority were printed solely using type. The wood engraver William Harcourt Hooper worked for Ashendene Press starting in 1896, after working at Kelmscott Press from 1891 to that time (during which he had contributed to works such as the Kelmscott Chaucer). It is reported that Hornby called Hooper “almost the last of the old school of wood-engravers and a very fine craftsman.”

A Book of Songs and Poems from the Old Testament and the Apocrypha is a wonderfully produced, sixty-two page book printed in an edition of 175 copies (150 on paper and 25 on vellum). The text is printed in black and red, with initial capitals in blue by Graily Hewitt, on Batchelor’s “Hammer and Anvil” paper. This octavo book (19 x 13 cm or 7½ x 5¼ inches) contains eleven selections. Eight of these from the Old Testament and three from the Apocrypha, which are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of Scripture. The Biblical Apocrypha is a set of texts included in the Latin Vulgate and Septuagint but not in the Hebrew Bible. Of the eight selections from the Old Testament, one is from Exodus, two from Deuteronomy, one from Judges, three from Samuel (one Samuel I and two Samuel II), and one from Chronicles I.

Rare Books copy contains unattached, but laid in, bookplate of “Ken Tomkinson, High Habberley House, Kidderminster Worcs [Worcestershire], England.” While we don’t know much about Ken Tomkinson, author of Kidderminster Since 1800 (1975) and Characters of Kidderminster (1977), we can at least surmise that he possessed excellent taste in books since he owned this one.

A Book of Songs and Poems from the Old Testament and the Apocrypha is a fantastic addition to the University of Utah’s amazing Rare Books collections – and somewhat miraculously, perhaps, it came just in time for Passover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ Contributed by Jon Bingham, Rare Books Curator

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Rare Books Exhibition — Paper is Fundamental

13 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by rarebooks in Physical Exhibitions

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acid bisulfite, Arches, Asia, Barcham Green Hayle Mill, Cai Lun, cellulose, Charter Oak, China, England, Europe, France, Han dynasty, J. Willard Marriott Library, Jon Bingham, lignin, mouldmade, paper, pH neutral, printing, rare books, Special Collections Gallery, sulfite, The University of Utah, William Everson

“The most fundamental thing about a book is to find the right paper, because it’s the whole ground of the being of a book, and the quality of the paper is in some ways the most elusive…Critics of the book generally focus on the type and when people get into printing, the first thing they get into is type. They learn to recognize the different faces, and become pre-occupied with them. But the paper is more fundamental, because that is where the beauty begins, and in the end, that is all that beauty comes back to — the substance of the paper, the field on which the whole thing can act.” –William Everson (1912-1994), On Printing

Most people see and touch paper every day. Most of us know little about where the paper we use comes from.

Resuscitatio… (1670)
The paper for this book was made in Morlaix, south of Paris. The watermark is made up of a plain and simple monogram, “P.Huet.” Because of cheap labor, Morlaix paper was quite inexpensive and was imported from Brittany to England beginning about 1629 for many years with great regularity. The Huet’s, an astute family of papermakers, outlasted virtually all of their seventeenth-century competitors and continue to make paper today at Pontrieux (Cotes du Nord), east of Morlaix.

Paper is produced by pressing together the moist cellulose fibers of plant material, which is achieved through drawing sheets of the fibers from vats of pulp before pressing and drying them.


Love is Enough (1897)
At Kelmscott Press, William Morris used paper made by Joseph Batchelor. The paper cost two shillings per pound, which was about five or six times the cost of machine-made paper. Morris wrote, “I…considered it necessary that the paper should be hand-made, both for the sake of durability and appearance…the paper must be wholly of linen and must be quite ‘hard’, i.e. thoroughly well sized; and…though it must be ‘laid’ and not ‘wove’, the lines caused by the wires of the mould must not be too strong, so as to give a ribbed appearance. I found that on these points I was at one with the…papermakers of the fifteenth century; so I took as my model a Bolognese paper of about 1473. My friend Mr. Batchelor, of Little Chart, Kent, carried out my views very satisfactorily.” Batchelor made three types of papers for the Kelmscott Press, each named for their watermarks: “Flower” (also called “Primrose”), “Perch,” and “Apple.” Morris designed each of these watermarks.

Developed in China during the Han dynasty by a court official named Cai Lun, the invention of paper was a world-changing event that only seems magnificent in retrospect.


The Prologue to the Tales of Caunterbury (1898):
At the Ashendene Press, C. St. John Hornby, like William Morris, used paper made by Joseph Batchelor.

The use of paper spread slowly from Asia and did not reach Europe until the thirteenth century. Even after its arrival in Europe its use there caught on slowly.

The Nonnes Preestes Tale of the Cok and Hen (1902)
James Whatman the Elder (1702-1759), was an English papermaker who made revolutionary advances to the craft. He is noted as the inventor of wove paper. The earliest example of wove paper, bearing his watermark, appeared after 1740. The technique continued to be developed by his son, James Whatman the Younger (1741-1798). At a time when the craft was based in smaller paper mills, his innovations led to the large scale and widespread industrialization of paper manufacturing. The Whatmans held a part interest in the establishment at Turkey Mill, near Maidstone, after 1740, which was acquired through the elder Whatman’s marriage to Ann Harris. Paper bearing the Whatman’s mark was produced for fine press and artists’ books until 2002. The company later specialized in producing filter papers and is now owned by GE Healthcare. The last production at Maidstone was in 2014.

It was only with the development of printing with moveable type in the mid-fifteenth century that the collaboration of ink and paper launched European culture into modernity.

Paper is Fundamental
A Rare Books Exhibition
Special Collections Gallery, Level 4
J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah
July 13 through September 23

For more information, please contact Jon Bingham or Luise Poulton at 801-585-6168

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking (1988)
This paper is handmade Charter Oak from the Barcham Green Hayle Mill in England. The paper mill closed in 1987.

Curated by Jon Bingham, Rare Books Curator, with help from Luise Poulton, Managing Curator, and the Rare Books Department staff – without whose help this exhibition would not have been possible. Jon is also grateful to Emily Tipps and Crane Giamo for teaching him how to make paper in their Book Arts papermaking class.

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Book of the Week — Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood

01 Monday May 2017

Posted by rarebooks in Book of the Week

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Arts and Crafts Movement, C. R. Ashbee, Campden, Endeavor, Essex House London, Essex House Press, Gouscestershire, Guild of Handicraft, John Ruskin, Kelmscott Press, typeface, vellum, William Morris, William Wordsworth

PR5860-A1-1903-spread1

“Then sing, ye Birds, sing, sing a joyous song!
And let the young Lambs bound
As to the tabor’s sound!
We in thought will join your throng,
Ye that pipe and ye that play,
Ye that through your hearts to-day
Feel the gladness of the May!

INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY FROM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
Campden, Glo: Essex House Press, 1903

In 1886, C.R. Ashbee established the Guild of Handicraft at Essex House London. Around the same time, Ashbee created the Essex House Press. The Essex House Press published its first book in 1898. The work of the press was very much a part of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Ashbee continually linked the aims of the press with those of John Ruskin and William Morris and described the object of the movement as “making useful things…making them well and…making them beautiful.”

The critics, however, were not so sure about the work of Essex House Press, calling it “articraftiness.” Later booklovers came to admire much of its work. Some of the presses and some of the workmen for Essex House Press came from the Kelmscott Press after its demise in 1897 following the death of William Morris.

Ashbee designed his own typeface called “Endeavor” for the press. In 1902, the press moved to Glouscestershire. The Essex House Press closed in 1910, having produced more than seventy titles.

Frontispiece by Walter Crane (1845-1915), painter and designer, known especially for his illustrations for children’s books. As an apprentice wood-engraver, he studied the work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. He associated himself with the Pre-Raphaelites and the English Arts and Crafts Movement, working with William Morris and the Kelmscott Press.

Printed on vellum. Initials hand calligraphed, some with gilt. Edition of 150 copies. University of Utah copy is no. 138.

PR5860-A1-1903-spread2

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Love is enough

14 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by rarebooks in Uncategorized

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Hammersmith, handmade paper, industrial, Kelmscott Press, letterpress, Pharamond, printing, Sir Edward Burne-Jones, vellum, William Morris, woodcut

woodcut
Woodcut2

“Love is enough:
though the World be a-waning
And the woods have no voice but the voice of complaining,
Though the sky be too dark for dim eyes to discover
The gold-cups and daisies fair blooming thereunder,
Though the hills be held shadows, & the sea a dark wonder,
And this day draw a veil over all deeds passed over,
Yet their hands shall not tremble, their feet shall not falter;
The void shall not weary, the fear shall not alter
These lips and these eyes of the loved and the lover.”

LOVE IS ENOUGH, OR THE FREEING OF PHARAMOND…
William Morris (1834-1896)
Hammersmith: The Kelmscott Press, 1897

William Morris worked with prominent artists of his time to develop collaborations that redefined the artist’s relationship to the studio and the factory. Morris acheived this through a mastery of craft techniques, such as lettepress printing, and a rejection of industrial processes.

Two-page decorative woodcut border and numerous partial-page borders throughout. Two full-page illustrations by Sir Edward Burne-Jones: the frontispiece and an illustration opposite p. 90. According to the colophon this last was „…not designed for this edition…but for an edition projected about twenty-five years ago, which was never carried out.“

Love is Enough is one of only two Kelmscott Press books printed in three colors – blue, red, and black. Bound in full limp vellum with gilt spine, green silk ties. Edition of three hundred copies on handmade paper.

Pg17

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Book of the Week – The Earthly Paradise

14 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by rarebooks in Book of the Week

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England, Golden, Hammersmith, Kelmscott Press, Tennyson, vellum, William Morris, woodcut borders, woodcut initials

Morris, The Earthly Paradise, 1896, The Wanderers
Morris, The Earthly Paradise, 1896, The Earthly Paradise
Morris, The Earthly Paradise, 1896, April

Earthly Paradise
William Morris (1834-1896)
Hammersmith, England: Kelmscott Press, 1896-97

A series of twenty-four tales, two for each month. Twelve tales are from classical sources; the other twelve from medieval Latin, French, and Icelandic origins. Earthly Paradise became one of the most popular works of the Victorian era. It was morally acceptable and read as a means of relaxation and escape from daily cares. For this work Morris was offered the poet laureateship upon the death of Tennyson. Morris refused the honor. Morris himself oversaw completion of the first two volumes, while the remaining six were printed by the trustees of the estate after his death.

Printed in Golden type in red and black. Illustrated with full-page woodcut borders and initials. The ten borders and four half-borders used in The Earthly Paradise do not appear in any other Kelmscott book. Bound in vellum with ties. Edition of two hundred and thirty-one copies.

 

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Book of the Week – Credo

11 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by rarebooks in Book of the Week

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Doves Press, Emery Walker, Kelmscott Press

Credo, 1908 Cover
Credo, 1908 Title Page
Credo, 1908

Credo
T. J. Cobden-Sanderson (1840 – 1922)
Hammersmith: Doves Press, 1908

This is one of three diminutive books published by Doves Press (the other two being the first chapter of Genesis and the Lord’s Prayer). It was printed in an edition of 262 copies.  The Doves Press was founded by T. J. Cobden-Sanderson and Emery Walker in 1900. The Doves Bindery, established by Cobden-Sanderson in 1893, shared premises with William Morris’s Kelmscott Press in its early years.

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