Donation keeps Alice collection growing

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“You’ve got no right to grow here,” said the Dormouse.
“Don’t talk nonsense,” said Alice more boldly: “you know you’re growing too.”
– Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Dr. Ronald Rubin has donated a set of Lewis Carrol’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.

Dr. Rubin, with his frequent and diverse gifts to the Rare Books Division, helps add to the breadth and depth of our collections. Thank you, Dr. Rubin, for helping the rare book collections grow.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There
Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)
New York: Random House, 1946
“Special Edition”
PR4611 A7 1946

This edition was designed by George Salter using John Tenniel’s illustrations from the first edition, colored by Fritz Kredel. Dalziel Brothers were the wood-engravers. Type face is Monotype Scotch. Two matched volumes issued in one slipcase.

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Book of the Week – The Complaint of James Alexander and William…

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Alexander, Complaint, 1735

Alexander, Complaint, 1735

The Complaint of James Alexander and William…
James Alexander (1691-1756)
New York: Printed for John Peter Zenger, 1735
First edition

“It is with utmost Regret, that we attend this Committee in the Quality of Complaints; but the Matter of it too neatly affects us and the Liberties of this Country, to be buried in Silence. Had our personal Interest been solely concerned, we might have rested in a patient Expectation of a personal Remedy in some other Way: But when the Liberties of a Country are at Stake, and the Civil Enjoyments of a People sap’d at the very Foundation of them, it behoves every Man that loves his Country to cry out and give publick Warning of the Danger.”

James Alexander, born in Scotland, was an attorney. In 1715, Alexander immigrated to the American British colonies and acted as surveyor general for the Province of New Jersey. Alexander participated in the Council of New York, although he continued his public service to New Jersey. He was admitted to the New Jersey Provincial bar in 1723 and joined the Council of New Jersey that same year, serving until 1735. From 1723 to 1727 Alexander performed the duties of New Jersey attorney general. In 1735, journalist John Peter Zenger was on trial, accused of libelous attacks on the administration of New York Governor William Cosby. Alexander served as co-defense lawyer at this trial. Alexander Hamilton pleaded the case. Zenger was acquitted, and the success of this defense was a triumph for the principles of a free press. Alexander’s Complaint helped lay the foundation for the struggle for freedom of the press in the colonies. The case was instrumental in the Bill of Rights determination that juries rather than judges should decide guilt or innocence.

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Rare Books at Karger

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See Rare Books at Karger Publishing

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Book of the Week – Quadragesimale Nouum…de filio prodigo

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Quadragesimale Nouum…de filio prodigo…
Johannes Meder
Basel: Michael Furter, 1494
Editio princips
BX1756 M43 Q4 1494

Johannes Meder’s collection of fifty sermons on the New Testament story of the Prodigal Son is introduced by his close friend Sebastian Brandt. In Brandt’s verse, the Prodigal Son and his guardian angel discuss whoring, gaming, cruelty to the poor and other disturbing issues of the time. Meder wrote, “One must know first the illness, which one intends to heal.” The subject must have been quite compelling – a second edition was printed by Michael Wenssler, also of Basel, in 1497.

Born in Augsburg, Michael Furter (d. 1516/17) was in Basel by 1483, when he bought a house there. He began printing at least at early as 1489. He added bookbinding and then accounting to his trades after his printshop ran into financial difficulties. Furter printed mostly grammars and theology. Although he was financially unsuccessful as a printer, his fairly large number of books were known for their beautiful woodcut ornamentation and illustrations. This work contains eighteen full-page woodcuts. Gothic type, printer’s device.

The University of Utah copy was once owned by Robert Chambers (1802-1871). Chambers anonymously published Vestiges, a Victorian-era best-seller that posited a theory of evolution before Charles Darwin published his ground-breaking thesis. Chambers and Darwin were correspondents.

Chambers and his brother began their careers as publishers and authors when they set up an antiquarian bookshop using their father’s own collection of books. This copy was also part of the library of John William Willis-Bund (1843-1928), a writer on the history of the church in Wales. Evidence of this provenance is the bookplates of both of these men attached within the book.

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Book of the Week – Domestic Duties; or, Instructions to Young…

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Domestic Duties; or, Instructions to Young…
Frances Byerley Parkes (1786-1842)
London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1825
First edition
TX145 P24 1825

“Experience leads us to acknowledge the fact, that those marriages have been uniformly productive of the greatest sum of happiness in which the wife has, at least, appeared to be altogether swayed by the opinions of her husband. By such yielding, the confidence of the husband is increased, and his attachment confirmed.”

Frances Byerley was the daughter of Thomas Byerley, nephew of the potter, Josiah Wedgewood (1730-1795). After Wedgewood’s death, the fortunes of the Byerley family changed. Frances and her sister Maria set up a girl’s school to help support the family. The core curriculum, traditional enough on the surface, included “English Reading,” spelling, grammar, composition, geography and ancient and modern history. French, Italian, music, dancing, drawing, writing, and arithmetic rounded out a young woman’s education. This education was good enough for the Unitarians.

The Byerleys were Anglican, but their school attracted Harriet Martineau’s niece; Joseph Priestley’s granddaughters, Marianne and Sarah, sent to England from America; Julia Leigh Smith, and Elizabeth Stevenson, the future novelist Mrs. Gaskell.

The Byerley sisters also supported themselves through writing. Katherine Byerley (Thomson) is best known for her novels, in particular Constance (1833). Frances wrote Domestic Duties, reflecting the ethos of the Byerley school. The work was popular, going into a fourth edition by 1837, including several editions in the United States.

In dialogue form between a new bride and a long-married woman, Frances discussed friendship, dinner parties, servants, the nursery, clothing, linens, furniture, groceries, the wine cellar, cookery, nursing, exercise, dancing, and evenings at home. She stressed the moral and religious duties of the young housewife to her family. In 1811, Frances married Unitarian textile manufacturer William Parkes (1788-1840). The downfall of the Wedgewood fortune was harmful to Parkes as well. The success of Domestic Duties helped the couple’s finances, enabling William to build a solicitor’s practice.

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Recommended Workshop – Sunlight on Paper: Prints of Blue

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The Book Arts Program presents
Sunlight on Paper: Prints of Blue

Saturday, August 16
1:30PM-5PM
Book Arts Studio, Level 4
J. Willard Marriott Library
Workshop Fee: $45
Materials Fee: $15

Produce vivid blue prints from opaque silhouettes, hand-drawn imagery, transparent photocopies, ortholithographic film, or digitally produced transparencies. With a simple set-up that can be repeated at home, expose hand-coated sheets to natural light for a unique, tactile photographic print. A thrilling new technology in the 1840s, the cyanotype is celebrated today for its hand-generated possibilities through low-tech practices.

Instructor Marnie Powers-Torrey holds an MFA in photography from the University of Utah and a BA in English and Philosophy from Boston College’s Honors Program. She is the Managing Director of the Book Arts Program and Red Butte Press, an Associate Librarian (Lecturer), and academic advisor for the minor and certificate in book arts. Marnie teaches letterpress printing, artists’ books, and other courses for the Book Arts Program and elsewhere. She is master printer for the Red Butte Press, harnessing the mighty printing power of a full staff of excellent printers. A founding member of the College Book Arts Association, she served as Awards Chair for three years and currently serves on the board of directors. Her work is exhibited and held in collections nationally.

Relicensure points are available from the Utah State Board of Education.

For more information:bookartsprogram@utah.edu or 801-585-9191

The Rare Books Division supports the Book Arts Program through its collections.

Photographers in Arizona, 1850-1020: A History and Directory
Jeremy Rowe
Nevada City, CA: Carl Mautz Publishing, 1997
TR24 A7 R69 1997b

From the colophon: “This special edition…is limited to 100 numbered copies, each including an original cyanotype printed in 1996 by James Hajicek from a vintage dry plate negative in the collection of Jeremy Rowe…” University of Utah copy is no. 92, signed by the author.
TR24 A7 R69 1997b

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Rare Books Goes to Ghana

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Thanks to Olesya Trakhimets for the shout-out on her blog:

One Country at a Time: A Story About Peace Corps Adventures in Ghana

“…I just stood there with my mouth hanging open and feeling like I’m going to cry. VESALIUS?!!! VESALIUS?!!!”

We miss you, too, Olesya.

Follow us for more news on Vesalius, coming soon!

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Memorial Day 2014

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Memorial Day

If sudden statues rose for all who fell
They would not inundate the parks with stone
Where the forgotten heroes ride alone
To slow tongue of an abandoned bell.
Flaunting the remnants of their final hell
They would regain the streets their feet had known
Under the skies where their first words were sown
And stand as an alien citadel.

So rooted they would still with carven ear
The threadbare speech, the momentary tear,
With carven eye transfix the mocking flowers,
Wilt token flags above forgetful towers.
Who then would dare to go the usual way
Crowding the dead into a single day?

Luise Putcamp jr.
from Sonnets for the Survivors, Kaleidograph Press, 1952
“Memorial Day” published here with permission of the poet

 

Address on Decoration Day
Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823-1911)
s.l.: s.n., 1904
E642 H53

“Without distinction of nationality, of color, of race, of religion, those men gave their lives to their country. Without distinction of religion, of color, of race, of nationality, their graves are being garlanded today….the war gave peace to the nation; it gave union, freedom, equal rights…”

Thomas Wentworth Higginson was graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1847. He accepted the appointment of ministry of a Unitarian church in Newburyport, Massachusetts. His support for women’s suffrage, labor rights, and the abolition of slavery was too radical for the conservative community. He was asked to resign two years after his appointment. As a Union colonel in the American Civil War, Higginson commanded the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, the first federally authorized regiment of African-American soldiers.

Memorial Day Address at Arlington, VA.
Reed Smoot (1862-1941)
Washington: Govt. Printing Office, 1914
E642 S66 1914

“In all we say about the soldier, let us not forget the part taken and willingly assumed by the American women in time of war. What shall we say of the wives and the mothers who gave their husbands and their sons for their country? No woman who has not passed through this terrible ordeal can describe or measure the sacrifice our women made, or the horrors and hardships and sorrows they endured. What say you of the loving sisters who gave their brothers, yes, and their lovers too?”

Reed Smoot was a Republican senator from Utah, serving from 1903 to 1933.

 

Recommended Workshop – Quarter Leather Flatback Lap-Case Binding

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The Book Arts Program presents
Quarter Leather Flatback Lap-Case Binding

Thursday, Friday, & Saturday, June 19-21
9PM – 5PM
Book Arts Studio, Level 4
J. Willard Marriott Library
Workshop fee: $240 plus materials fee

This workshop focuses on the construction of a flatback lap-case binding. The lap-case binding, sometimes mistakenly called a modified Bradel binding, has been used frequently over the years for editions bound by Jensen Bindery, BookLab, Inc. and BookLab II. The structure has continuously evolved through its many applications. This workshop tracks that evolution, specifically addressing structure, materiality, and the relationships between parts to make a beautiful looking and functioning book. Examples of various lap-case bindings are available for students to examine. Previous bookbinding experience required, preferably previous leather working skills.

Instructor Craig Jensen began his career in 1977 when he was appointed Library Conservator for the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University in Provo Utah. From 1977–1978 Craig served an internship at The Library of Congress Restoration Office under the direction of Peter Waters and Don Etherington. In 1981, Craig was recruited by Don to serve as Head of Book Conservation at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Conservation Department at the University of Texas at Austin. In 1988 Craig became President and CEO of BookLab, Inc., a partnership with Gary Frost, Paul Parisi of Acme Bookbinding and Jim Larsen of Bridgeport National Bindery. BookLab expanded its offerings beyond edition binding and box making to include library repair services, and pioneered preservation photocopy and digital reproduction of out-of-print brittle books. BookLab was one of the first companies to digitize a book. Following the close of BookLab in 1998, Craig worked for Acme Bookbinding as Vice President for Imaging. In January 2003, Craig returned to his roots and predilection for hand work by forming BookLab II in San Marcos, Texas. He continues to produce custom designed housings and fine limited edition bindings for some of the best-known libraries and private presses in the world. In 2011 Craig received the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Guild of Book Workers.

http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2014/feb/20/solost-most-beautiful-books/

Relicensure points are available from the Utah State Board of Education.

 For more information:bookartsprogram@utah.edu or 801-585-9191

The Rare Books Division supports the Book Arts Program through its collections.

Sylvae: Fifty Specimens Printed Directly from the Wood with Historical Anecdotes and…
Ben Verhoeven
Stockholm, WI: Midnight Paper Sales, 2007
N7433.4 V45 S9 2007

Artists’ statement: “Twenty wooded acres surround Midnight Paper Sales in western Wisconsin. This book documents the journey Ben Verhoeven and Gaylord Schanilec into the woods to create a work not only about these trees, but of these trees. In all, 24 species have been catalogued through image, historical anecdotes, and notes taken during the cutting, milling, engraving and printed. The 53 images consist primarily of long grain and end grain specimens which have been taken from this property. In each case the image is manipulated through either color, impression, engraving, or some combination of the above to emphasize a certain characteristic of a species. The text varies as well from tree to tree, focusing on what role each played in the local history and in this project.” Illustrated by Gaylord Schanilec with 53 relief prints (wood cuts and wood engravings) printed by reduction process engraving directly from the wood specimens; including two fold-out illustrations of the maple grove and a map of Farm 590 indicating where the wood was harvested. Letterpress printed by Ben Verhoeven and Gaylord Schanilec on Zerkall mould-made laid paper. Michael and Winifred Bixler cast the Monotype Bembo. Lapped case binding by Craig Jensen and Gary McLerran in quarter leather over bare quarter-sawn white oak boards, white alum-tawed goat skin spine with tooled title lettering in gold. Issued in a dark blue Japanese cloth slipcase, lined with black paper. Awarded the Gregynog Prize at the Oxford Book Fair, 2007. Edition of one hundred and twenty copies. University of Utah copy is no. 105, signed by the author and the artist.

 

Something Lived, Something Dreamed
William McDonough
Salt Lake City: Red Butte Press, 2004
HT167.5 W47 M33 2004

In 1981 William A. McDonough founded William McDonough + Partners which designs environmentally sustainable buildings and industrial manufacturing processes. He attended Dartmouth College and Yale University. His first major commission was in 1984 for the Environmental Defense Fund Headquarters. He re-engineered Ford Motor Company’s River Rouge Plant in Dearborn, Michigan, covering more than ten acres of the roof of the truck assembly plant with a low-growing ground cover. He is the only individual recipient (1996) of the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development. In 2004 he received a National Design Award from the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. His essay, “Something Lived, Something Dreamed” was commissioned by the Red Butte Press. Printed with Monotype Univers and Didot on cotton paper commissioned from Cartier Magnani paper mill in Italy by Marnie Powers-Torrey and Jennifer Sorensen using an 1846 Columbian handpress. Illustrated by Christopher Stern (d. 2007). Bound at Book Lab II (San Marcos, Texas) by Craig Jensen in recycled aluminum donated by Alcoa, over sycamore boards. Edition of one hundred and twenty-five copies. University of Utah copies are nos. 34 and 47.

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