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Tag Archives: English

Book of the Week – Miscellaneous Poems

06 Wednesday May 2015

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"To His Coy Mistress", Andrew Marvell, Cornhill, English, engraved, frontispiece, Jesuits, London, Mary Marvell, Mary Palmer, Oliver Cromwell, poems, portrait, Robert Boulter, title page, Turks-Head, woodcut


 

“Had we but world enough, and time”

Miscellaneous Poems
Andrew Marvell (1621-1678)
London: [By Simon Miller?], 1681 for Robert Boulter, at the Turks-Head in Cornhill
First edition

This collection marks the first appearance of the majority of Andrew Marvell’s poems, including “To His Coy Mistress,” one of the most celebrated lyric poems in the English language. The collection was “taken from exact copies, under his own handwriting, found since his death among his other papers, witness my hand this 15th day of October, 1680. Mary Marvell.” So states the “Letter to the Reader.” However, the edition was published under mysterious circumstances.

There is no record that Marvell ever married. Mary Palmer was Marvell’s housekeeper. It is thought that friends of Marvell’s added the erroneous announcement, for reasons still hypothesized today. Some modern-day Marvell scholars accept that Mary Palmer was married to Marvell.

Leaves S1 and X1 are cancels, replacing thirteen leaves, necessitated by the suppression of three long poems in honor of Oliver Cromwell, the publication of which was thought to be impolitic. The suppressed leaves are missing in all but two known copies of the printed folio, these two copies being incomplete. Popular rumor attributed Marvell’s death to poisoning by Jesuits.

Illustrated with engraved frontispiece portrait of Marvell. Woodcut publisher’s device on title-page.

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Forty Years, in memoriam

30 Thursday Apr 2015

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American, aquatint, Boulder, British, Buddha, C. David Thomas, China, Cochin China, collage, Colorado, communists, Cornwall, Daphne, Dong Ho, drawings, Earl of Macartney, Edinburgh Review, Emperor of China, English, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Fred Siegenthaler, French, Fulbright Scholar, George Schneeman (1934-2009), GI Bill, Granary Books, Hanoi, helicopter, Hermetic Press, Ho Chi Minh, HP Photosmart Pro B9180, Huu Mai, Indochina, injet printer, International Volunteer Services, Italy, J. Willard Marriott Library, Jeff Branin, John Balaban, John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, Kawabata Press, Korea, Lancashire, letterpress, London, love, magnesium plates, Massachusetts, Millbrook, Minneapolis, Muttenz, National Book Award, National Poetry Society of America, Nepal, New York, Norman Morrison, North Carolina State University, North Vietnam, Orient, Oxford, paper, papermaking, Phan Ke An, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, philately, Philip Gallo, Pleiku, poems, portfolio, postage stamps, President, propaganda, puzzle, Raleigh, Rhamnoneron blansae, Rhode Island School of Design, Richard Nixon, Rives 300 gm, Robert McNamara, Robert W. Chandler, Sir John Barrow (1764-1848), South Hinksey, South Vietnam, Strand, Switzerland, T. Cadell, Ted Berrigan (1934-1983), Tet Offensive, Torpoint, United States, University of Minnesota, University of Tulsa, University of Utah, US Army, Verona, Vietnam, Vietnam War, Vietnamese, W. Davies, Walter Jones, wars, Wellesley, Westview Press, William Alexander, William Carlos Williams Award, woodblock printing



A Voyage to Cochinchina, in the Years 1792 and 1793: containing a general view of the valuable productions and political importance of this flourishing kingdom, and also of such European settlements as were visited on the voyage: with sketches of the manners, character, and condition of their several inhabitants…
Sir John Barrow (1764-1848)
London: Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies in the Strand, 1806
First edition
DS506 B37 1806

John Barrow traveled with the Earl of Macartney to Cochin China, now known as Vietnam; Madeira; Jamaica; Rio de Janeiro; Java; and Djarkarta as part of the first British embassy to China, from 1792 to 1794. Barrow acted as official interpreter to the Emperor of China, who was contemptuous of the entire mission and dismissed it almost immediately. The Edinburgh Review, October 1806, was as underwhelmed with the Barrows book as the Emperor was with the British: “His views are often narrow, and oftener unsound…deceived by imperfect information.” Barrow had published a work on his travels to China in 1804 and was known as an expert on the Orient. His work evinced a belief in the superiority of British civilization. His extensive notes on Cochin China range from its history to particulars about its art, architecture, and religious ceremonies. According to Barrow the substance of his writings were taken from a manuscript memoir by Captain Barissy, a French naval officer who had commanded a frigate in the service of the King of Cochinchina. Barrow was the son of a Lancashire tanner, educated in the local grammar school. He became a teacher of mathematics to young men headed for a career in the navy. Illustrated with nineteen aquatint plates taken from drawings by William Alexander who also traveled with Macartney. This is the first illustrated English work on southern Vietnam.




The Beacon Banner: Short Stories about the War of Resistance in Vietnam
Huu Mai, et al.
Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1964
First edition
PZ1 B356 PL4382 E2

Illustrations by Phan Ke An.




Vietnam Poems
John Balaban (b. 1943)
South Hinksey, Oxford: Carcanet Press, 1970
PS3552 A44 V5 1970

During the Vietnam War, John Balaban performed alternative service as a conscientious objector. He went with the International Volunteer Services to Vietnam where he taught until the Tet Offensive during which he was wounded in the shoulder by shrapnel. Balaban has been awarded The Academy of American Poets’ Lamont prize, a William Carlos Williams Award from the National Poetry Society of America, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and was twice nominated for the National Book Award. He was named the 2001-2004 National Artist for the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. In addition to writing, he is a translator of Vietnamese poetry. He is Poet-in-Residence and Professor of English in the creative writing program at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Edition of six hundred copies.




Nam
Jeff Branin
Millbrook, Torpoint, Cornwall: Kawabata Press, 1981
PS3552 R318 N35 1981

Jeff Branin served a tour of duty in the Vietnam War in 1968 and 1969, building bunkers and latrines and serving as a replacement commanding officer. In these poems Branin writes of rocket attacks, casualties, atrocities against civilians and sexual misadventures using the jargon of the Vietnam-era US soldier.




War of Ideas: the U.S. Propaganda Campaign in Vietnam
Robert W. Chandler
Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1981
DS559.8 P65 C45 1981

This book focuses on advertisement techniques used as propaganda by the United States during the Vietnam War. Many of these pieces were taken by American anti-war campaigns for use in their own material. Chandler writes that US propaganda in Vietnam was targeted toward three groups: communists and communist supporters in South Vietnam, masses and elite in North Vietnam, and non-communists in South Vietnam. University of Utah copy gift of Walter Jones, as part of his Collection on the Vietnam and Indochina Wars, donated to the J. Willard Marriott Library in 2011.




In the Nam What Can Happen?
Ted Berrigan (1934-1983) and George Schneeman (1934-2009)
New York: Granary Books; Minneapolis: Hermetic Press, 1997
PS3552 E74 I656 1997

Ted Berrigan was a poet at the epicenter of the sixties literary underground. He served in the US Army, sent to Korea in 1954, where he did not see action. He earned a BA in 1959 and an MA in 1962 from the University of Tulsa under the GI Bill. George Schneeman received a BA in Philosophy and English Literature from St. Mary’s College, began graduate work in English Literature at the University of Minnesota and then enlisted in the US Army. Posted in Verona, Italy, Schneeman began painting. From the colophon: “First made as a one-of-a-kind collaborative book in 1967-68…The present edition is a simulation of the original…” From Granary Books: “The original was passed back and forth between Ted Berrigan and George Schneeman for about a year, remaining in the hands of one or the other for weeks or even months at a time – poet and artist each adding, subtracting, working over words and images. The material used were pen and ink, white acrylic paint and collage…The ‘finished’ project languished in a drawer in Schneeman’s studio on St. Mark’s Place for thirty years. Produced when the Vietnam War was rapidly escalating, this work is by turns surreal, incisive, hip, outrageous, cartoon-like, flip, sinister, humorous, dreamy, sarcastic, witty – always right on target – a vivid evocation of the times and the broad range of emotional responses to the War.” Letterpress printed in several colors from magnesium plates on Rives 300 gm paper by Philip Gallo at The Hermetic Press. Unbound gatherings in a plexiglass case. Edition of seventy copies, twenty lettered (a-t), hors de commerce. University of Utah copy is no. 42, signed by Berrigan and Schneeman.




Vietnamese Hand Papermaking and Woodblock Printing
Fred Siegenthaler
Muttenz, Switzerland: Paper Art, 2003
TS1095 V53 S54 2003

Fred Siegenthaler writes on the nearly extinct traditional manufacture of paper in Vietnam: processes of making inks, paper, and printing. The book includes paper and print samples from Dong Ho, a village famous for its woodblock printing, located just outside of Hanoi. Included are fourteen different original hand papers and six colored original woodcuts. From the colophon: “The text of this book is printed on paper made of Rhamnoneuron blansae…handmade multilayered Daphne paper from Nepal was used for the cover of the book.” Edition of fifty copies, signed by the author.


N7433.4-T478-C4-2009
Christ Meets Buddha
C. David Thomas
Wellesley, MA: C. David Thomas, 2009
N7433.4 T478 C4 2009

In 1968, C. David Thomas joined the US Army and was sent to Pleiku, South Vietnam as a combat engineer and artist. Thomas drew a picture of a fellow soldier’s girlfriend. In lieu of payment for the drawing he asked his friend, who worked in personnel, to change his records and shorten his stint in Vietnam from twelve to eleven months. Thomas was able to return to the United States weeks earlier than originally scheduled. The helicopter on which he routinely rode was shot down during what would have been the twelfth month of his tour of duty. There were no survivors. Thomas holds an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. He was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholar Grant to Vietnam. Thomas describes Christ Meets Buddha as autobiographical and a metaphor for his life. The digitally-created puzzle pieces contain religious imagery, war imagery, and family photographs. From the colophon: “These artist’s puzzle books are comprised of the six separate images…Each image is presented in its own linen box made by craftsmakers in Hanoi, Vietnam. All assembled puzzles are 29×23 inches made from twenty individual pieces. Each puzzle piece is printed using archival paper and ink by an HP Photosmart Pro B9180 inkjet printer. The pieces are then mounted on black felt and handcut…” Edition of ten copies. University of Utah copy is no. 1, signed by the author.




Postage Due: Forever Stamps
C. David Thomas
Wellesley, MA: C. David Thomas, 2009
N7433.4 T478 P67 2009

A series of unofficial postage stamps inspired by people and events from the Vietnam War era. From the introduction: “I never really thought about the importance of how we chose what images to place on our stamps until one day in 1995, when I went to the post office and asked for an interesting stamp. The woman behind the counter handed me a sheet of the recently issued Richard Nixon stamp. This stamp was issued only twenty years after he was forced to resign in disgrace as the 37th President of the United States. Needless to say, I handed them back to her with some choice words…in 1996 I went to the philately society in Hanoi, Viet Nam while doing research for a book on President Ho Chi Minh. I found dozens of stamps of Ho Chi Minh…and…a 1966 stamp depicting the shooting down of the 1,500 US aircraft brought down over North Viet Nam and one with the image of Norman Morrison, the man who immolated himself outside Robert McNamara’s office at the Pentagon. Just a few days before the US Post Office issued Robert Indiana’s LOVE stamp in 1973, the US heavily bombed the densely populated city Hanoi killing hundreds of innocent Vietnamese civilians…I have begun to understand the real power of this little jewel which may be the smallest form of propaganda available to all governments. These miniature posters travel all over the world…” Portfolio of unbound folded leaves issued in black linen box. Edition of twenty-five copies. University of Utah copy is no. 12, signed by the author.

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Curiosity Killed the Cat

16 Thursday Apr 2015

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Ben Jonson, Cambridge, Christmas, Church of England, E. Brewster, Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, England, English, Every Man in His Humour, G. Conyers, George Wither, H. Herringman, Henry Altemus, Horace, Innominate Press, James I, Kentucky, London, Louisville, M. Wotton, Much Ado About Nothing, Philadelphia, R. Chiswell, Robert Allot, T. Bassett, The New Inn, Thomas Cotes, Thomas Hodgkin, Trinity Hall, William Shakespeare


“Helter skelter, hang sorrow, care’ll kill a Cat, up-tails all, and a Louse for the Hangman.”

THE WORKS OF BEN JONSON WHICH WERE FORMERLY PRINTED IN TWO VOLUMES…
Ben Jonson (1573?-1637)
London: Printed by Thomas Hodgkin for H. Herringman, E. Brewster, T. Bassett, R. Chiswell, M. Wotton, G. Conyers, MDCXCII
Third folio

The Works of Ben Jonson was first published in 1616 in folio. It was reprinted in 1640. Both of these editions appeared in two volumes. This, the third folio, is the first Works to appear in one volume. The 1692 edition includes a comedy, “The New Inn,” appearing in the Works for the first time. Ben Jonson was a friend of William Shakespeare. In 1616, James I granted Jonson a pension, giving him a stature close to what might be termed the first Poet Laureate of England. That same year, the publication of his collected works, in folio format, helped elevate the acceptance of drama as literature. The 1692 folio contains Jonson’s plays and poetry, translations of Horace, and a collection of leges convivales, or rules of the house, used in the tavern where Jonson spent much time, this last also added to the Works for the first time. In the third folio, the “care’ll kill a Cat” line is in Act I, scene 4 of “Every Man in His Humour,” written in 1598. William Shakespeare acted in its first performance. The line in its earliest printed iteration uses the word “pox,” not “Louse.”


PR2751-A2-1632-pg-122

“What, courage man! what though care killed a cat, thou hast mettle enough in thee to kill care.”

[MR. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S COMEDIES, HISTORIES, AND TRAGEDIES: PUBLISHED…]
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
London: Printed by Tho. Cotes for Robert Allot, 1632
“The second impression”

About one year after Jonson wrote and produced “Every Man in His Humour,” William Shakespeare used a similar quote in his play, “Much Ado About Nothing.”



“Care killed the Cat. It is said that ‘a cat has nine lives,’ yet care would wear them all out.”

DICTIONARY OF PHRASE AND FABLE: GIVING THE DERIVATION, SOURCE, OR ORIGIN OF…
Ebenezer Cobham Brewer (1810-1897)
Philadelphia: Henry Altemus Co., 1898
New ed., rev., corrected, and enl., to which is added a concise bibliography of English literature
“Altemus edition”

Ebenezer Cobham Brewer attended Trinity Hall, Cambridge where he received his degree in law in 1835. He was ordained as a reverend in the Church of England in 1838. In 1856, he began putting together his “dictionary of phrase and fable.” Among many sources, he used correspondence with readers of his previous work, Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar (1841). Dictionary was first published in 1870, with a first revised edition in 1894. The work became so well-known that it is referred to simply as “Brewer.”

Since we are as curious as cats, here are a few more cat references from “Brewer:”

Cat I’ the Adage (The). The adage referred to is, the cat loves fish, but does not like to wet her paws.
– Letting I dare not wait upon I would,
Like the poor cat I’ the adage
Shakespeare, Macbeth [Shakespeare, again!]

Cat Proverbs.
A cat has nine lives. A cat is more tenacious of life than other animals, because it generally lights upon its feet.


And one more makes nine:


A CHRISTMAS CAROL

George Wither
Louisville, KY: Innominate Press, 1971
PR2392 .C4 1971

Shakespeare is coming! The First Folio will arrive at the City Library in October.

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Congratulations, Lyuba!

26 Thursday Mar 2015

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American, Andean, Argentina, Argentine, Cuba, Dominican Republic, English, Frida Kahlo, Fulbright, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorges Borges, Latin America, Lyuba Basin, Mexican, Mexico, Pablo Neruda, Quechua, Rare Books Division, scholarship, Scott Beadles, Spanish, United States

Lyuba Hemingway

Photograph by Scott Beadles, Rare Books assistant

Congratulations to Lyuba Basin, Rare Books assistant, who received a Fulbright Scholarship for 2016. Writes Lyuba,

“It was through literature that I discovered that the world…was much larger than I first imagined. I began to read and write so as to travel to distant places…only accessible to me through my imagination…When I encountered Latin America, I realized that traveling around the world…no longer [need be] an imaginative endeavor, but a possibility within my reach. I looked for every opportunity…to learn more about many Latin American countries and their unique cultural differences. I have learned Spanish and studied abroad in the Dominican Republic and Cuba; I have been introduced to Andean cultures and the indigenous language of Quechua; I found work in a Mexican restaurant named after the influential artist Frida Kahlo, and in my free time became acquainted with authors such as Neruda, Borges, Cortázar and García Márquez. I have roamed across Latin America both mentally and physically, but now I am searching for a unique experience that will allow me to give back to a culture that has awarded me so much.

As an aspiring educator, I believe in the importance of introducing the English language and American culture in a way that does not undermine the languages and cultures of others. With this in mind, what I would bring to the classroom is a practice of sharing personal narratives cross-culturally and cross-linguistically, without judgment and without fear. For my supplementary project I intend to organize a weekly, after-school creative writing workshop…With my background in literature and writing I hope that I may encourage the students to bridge the gap between nations and share stories, poems, and songs…By providing this outlet for expression, I feel that the students will be able to apply what they learn in the classroom in a relatable way. The workshop would also allow me to get to know the students and the Argentine culture on a personal level, beyond anything I can find in books. Bringing this knowledge back with me to the United States as a collection of student work which would…[enable] others to get to know the culture intimately…”

We know Lyuba is awesome. Now the world will.

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Book of the Week – The Romance of Parzival and the Holy Grail

02 Monday Feb 2015

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chivalry, Chrétien de Troyes, compassion, English, German, Gwasg Gregynog, Holy Grail, humility, medieval, Middle High German, Monotype Bembo, mould-made, Newton, Parzival, Percival, Powys, romance, spirituality, Stefan Mrozewski, Wolfram von Eschenbach, wood engravings, Zerkall

PT1682-P8-E56-1990(1)The Romance of Parzival and the Holy Grail
Wolfram von Eschenbach (12th century)
Newtown, Powys: Gwasg Gregynog, 1990

The story of the knight Parzival is a medieval German romance written in Middle High German, dating from the first quarter of the thirteenth century. The story is based on Chrétien de Troyes’s “Perceval, the Story of the Grail” which in turn centers on the Arthurian hero Parzival, or Percival in English, and his quest for the Holy Grail. All of the versions emphasize the importance of humility, compassion and spirituality. Heroic acts of chivalry, inspired by true love, dominate the story. Illustrated with twelve full-page wood engravings by Stefan Mrozewski. The engravings were intended for a 1936 book, aborted by the outbreak of war. Abridged version translated by Carl Lofmark. Typeset and in 14 and 16 pt. Monotype Bembo. Printed on Zerkall mould-made paper. Bound in quarter leather and red decorated boards. Edition of one hundred and ninety-five copies. University of Utah copy is no. 106.

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Book of the Week – A New and Literal Translation of All the Books…

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

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American, Anthony Purver, Aramaic, Bible, Bristol, English, Felix Farley, George Crosfield, Greek, Hebrew, Joseph Crosfield, Latin, London, Quakers, Samuel Fothergill, Sarah Hird, Syriac, The University of Utah, William Johnston


A New and Literal Translation of all the Books…
London: Printed by W. Richardson and S. Clark, and sold by William Johnston in Ludgate-Street, MDCCLXIV (1764)
First edition

This is the first and only edition of the Bible of the Quakers. Samuel Fothergill (1715-1772) was a prominent Quaker of his generation. He spent two years, 1754-1756, in the American colonies, traveling almost 9,000 miles to attend Friends’ meetings in order to help strengthen their Quaker principles. Earlier, he had become interested in Anthony Purver’s translation of the Bible and encouraged its publication in parts in 1746.

Purver (1702-1777) was a Hampshire-born apprentice shoemaker-turned-Quaker-preacher. He learned Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Greek, and Latin, and read massive amounts of Biblical criticism, including rabbinic commentary, and studied early English translations of the Bible. For his translation of the Bible, Purver added critical and explanatory notes.

Purver contracted with Bristol printer Felix Farley to undertake the printing project. Purver’s enthusiasm waned and his work ground to a halt. Fothergill urged Purver to persevere, and when Purver completed the work in 1763, he paid Purver for the copyright and published the edition at his own expense.

The University of Utah copy is inscribed by Samuel Fothergill (1715-1772) to his niece on the front free endpaper of Volume I: “Doctor Fothergill/To his Niece S T/Now S. Hird.” An ink signature of Fothergill’s niece, Sarah Hird, is on the front free endpaper of Volume II. Book plate of Joseph Crosfield on the front pastedown of each volume. Joseph Crosfield was the brother of George Crosfield (1785-1847), who compiled Memoirs of the Life and Gospel Labours of Samuel Fothergill (1843). A note in a 19th century hand, appears on the verso of the leaf opposite the title-page in volume I. Our copy bound in contemporary speckled calf.

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Book of the Week – New Voyages to North-America…

14 Wednesday Jan 2015

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Baron Lahontan, cartographers, English, engraved plates, European, French, Great Lakes, Howard Stansbury, London, Louisiana Purchase, maps, Mississippi River, Mississippi Valley, Netherlands, North America, Rocky Mountains, Thomas Jefferson, United States, Utah


New Voyages to North-America…
Louis Armand de Lom d’Arce (1666-1715)
London: Printed for H. Bonwicke, T. Goodwin, M. Wotton, B. Took; and S. Manship, 1703
First English edition

One hundred years before President Thomas Jefferson acquired the Louisiana Purchase, and seventy-three years before the United States came into existence, this was one of the most widely read travel narratives of early eighteenth-century America, detailing Indian life with maps and engraved plates. First published in French in the Netherlands, it was published in English in London the same year.

Baron Lahontan explored the Great Lakes and upper Mississippi Valley regions in the 1680’s. Lahonton’s narrative is significant for its imaginary trip west of the Mississippi River. To validate this claim, he drew a map on which he outlined the Rocky Mountains and a river that flowed indefinitely west. A century and a half later Capt. Howard Stansbury included this map as a facsimile in his 1852 report on the expedition to what is now Utah. European cartographers of the time copied from this work frequently, attempting to show, among other geographical features, “the big salty lake farther to the west.”

President Jefferson had a copy of this book in his personal library.

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Book of the Week – New Borders: The working life of Elizabeth…

05 Monday Jan 2015

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Adolf Hitler, Bauer Type Foundry, Bembo, Berlin Academy, calligraphy, Curwen, Elisabeth-Antiqua, Elizabeth Friedlander, Ellic Howe, English, font, forgery, Francis Meynell, Frankfurt, Friedlander-Antiqua, Georg Hartmann, Germany, Incline Press, Italian, Italy, Jewish, Linotype Corporation, London, Mondadori, Monotype, Nazi, Pauline Paucker, Penguin Books, propaganda, rubber stamps, Sandhurst, Third Reich, typeface, typography, Wehrmacht


New Borders. The working life of Elizabeth…
Pauline Paucker
Oldham, United Kingdom: Incline Press, 1998

Elizabeth Friedlander (1903-1985) produced calligraphy and decorative designs for books from the 1920s until her death. New Borders is based on her workbooks, which she kept throughout her life.

Born into an affluent family, Friedlander studied typography and calligraphy at the Berlin Academy. She worked for the German fashion magazine, “Die Dame,” designing headings and lay-outs, and attracting the attention of Georg Hartmann of the Bauer Type Foundry in Frankfurt. He invited her to design a typeface. This was to become their Elisabeth-Antiqua. It was originally meant to be named Friedlander-Antiqua. However, Adolf Hitler came to power just as the type was ready to be cast. Hartmann suggested that the name be changed from her Jewish surname to her first name.

The font was cut in 1939, after Friedlander left Germany. Under the Third Reich, Friedlander was forced to apply for official registration and was refused a work permit. She moved to Italy, where she was permitted to work so long as she did not become politically active. She learned Italian and worked with the publisher Mondadori, but in 1938, harsh Italian Race Laws threatened her employment. She moved to London, where she learned English and found a job as a domestic servant.

Francis Meynell found work for her as a designer. By 1942, she was in charge of design at Ellic Howe’s propaganda unit, where she produced forged Wehrmacht and Nazi rubber stamps while also working on freelance commissions.

Her most notable work included patterned papers for Curwen and Penguin Books, decorative borders for the Linotype Corporation, printer’s flowers for Monotype, and calligraphy for the Roll of Honour at Sandhurst.

Examples of her work tipped-in. Set in Bembo. Bound in half cream cloth over yellow and green-patterned paper, with a printed paper cover label. Edition of three hundred and twenty-five copies, signed by the author.

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Book of the Week – Mathematical Elements of Natural Philosophy…

17 Wednesday Dec 2014

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English, engraved plates, Freemason, Isaac Newton, John Theophilus Desaguliers, Latin, Leiden, London, philosophy, Royal Society, Willem Jacob s'Gravesande


Mathematical Elements of Natural Philosophy…
Willem Jacob s’Gravesande (1688-1742)
London: Printed for J. Senex and W. Taylor, 1720
First English edition
QC19 G73 1720

Written in Latin by Willem Jacob s’Gravesande, Mathematical elements… was first published in Leiden in 1720. Illustrated with thirty-three folded engraved plates, this edition also contains a publisher’s catalog at the end.

Willem Jacob s’Gravesande was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in Leiden in 1715. A friend of Isaac Newton, s’Gravesande gained fame by being the first to teach Newtonian philosophy. Mathematical elements… was dedicated to Newton.

In 1734, s’Gravesande was promoted to chair of Philosophy. The Reverend John Theophilus Desaguliers, a member of the Royal Society, a Copley medal winner, inventor and Freemason, translated s’Gravesande’s book into English the same year it was first published in Leiden, apparently at s’Gravesande’s request. As was the practice in the eighteenth century, s’Gravesande constantly corrected and added to his work, each edition being an amplification of the first. The work went through six editions. s’Gravesande, who relied heavily on Newton’s Principia and Opticks, used a philosophical and well-argued method of justifying scientific truths by self-evidence and experimental verification.

 

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A Donation Makes Poly Poly’s

26 Wednesday Nov 2014

Posted by rarebooks in Donations

≈ 1 Comment

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agriculture, alphabet, Amsterdam, anatomy, Antonio Blado, Antwerp, architecture, astrology, astronomy, Barbara Chavira, Basel, Bible, Bonaventura Elzevir, bookbinders, booksellers, celibacy, censored, Christianity, Christopher Plantin, commerce, creation, Daniel Elzevir, Elizabeth Isengrin, England, English, engraved, Ethiopian Church, Europe, expurgated, fable, festivals, French, frontispiece, German, God, Greek, Hebrew, heresy, hunting, Index of Forbidden Books, indulgences, initials, Italian, italic, Judaism, King Arthur, Latin, law, Leonhart Fuchs, libraries, Louis Elzevir, Lucovico Arrighi, Lyons, magic, Martin Luther, mathematics, medicine, Michael Isengrin, minerology, monks, music, navigation, paganism, painting, pharmacology, physics, Polydore Vergil, Pope Gregory XIII, priest, printer, printing, Protestant, Rare Books Division, Reformation, religion, Roman, Roman Catholic Church, Rome, Salt Lake City Public Library, Shakespeare, Spanish, sports, theater, Thomas Guarin, Tournai, trade, typography, Utrecht, vellum, vignettes, weaponry, winemaking, writing

The Salt Lake City Public Library donated a sixteenth century book to the Rare Books Division, thanks to the well-trained eye of City Library staffer Barbara Chavira. Barbara worked part-time in the Rare Books Division for many years. Her passion for the art of books, in all forms and over the centuries, brought us this important and welcome addition to the rare book collections. Thank you, Barbara ! Thank you, City Library !

PA8585-V4-D4-1576-a4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POLYDORI VIRGILII VRBINATIS DE RERVM INVENTORIBVS…
Romae, apud haeredes antonij, Bladij, Impressores Camerales: Anno. M.D. LXXVI (1576)

Polydore Vergil (ca. 1470-1555), an Italian priest, spent much of his life in England. He is recognized for his history of England, a work that Shakespeare is known to have used as one of his sources. Vergil used critical analysis in his narration of historical events. His thesis that King Arthur was little more than fable, for instance, shocked contemporary readers.

It is his second published work, however, for which he was best known in his time. First printed in 1499, De rerum inventoribus (On Discovery), was a work unlike anything that had been published before. An inventory of historical “firsts,” it combined a wide array of subjects in an attempt to determine which individual or culture first invented things such as the alphabet, astronomy, magic, printing, libraries, hunting, festivals, writing, painting, weaponry and religion. Vergil culled much of his work from a wide range of ancient and contemporary writers. He focused on the genius of man in the origin or invention of all things – heretical thinking at the time.

In Book I he investigated the creation of the world, the origin of religion, the origin of the concepts of “god” and the word “God.” He suggested that much of Christianity had been adapted from Judaism or Roman paganism. Books II and III were studies of a wide-range of topics, mostly concerning the practical and mechanical arts including anatomy, astrology, law, medicine, commerce, mathematics, mineralogy, music, pharmacology, physics, trade, agriculture, architecture, sports, theater, navigation, and winemaking. The work was translated into French in 1521, German in 1537, English in 1546, and Spanish in 1551.

In 1521, more than two decades after he wrote the first three books, and at the dawn of Martin Luther’s protestant reformation, Vergil added five more books concentrating on Christianity. Vergil reworked his discussion of Christianity in deference to the Roman Catholic Church, which objected to Vergil’s reference to religion as a matter of scientific investigation. In spite of this concession, Vergil anticipated the scientific approach to religion that would become the norm a century later. The intended salve to the church failed when Vergil criticized monks, priestly celibacy, and indulgences. In 1564 the work was declared heretical and all editions were added to the Index of Forbidden Books. However, the work was so popular that two censored editions were printed after the ban.

This 1576 expurgated edition was sanctioned by Pope Gregory XIII in its front matter.

PA8585-V4-D4-1576-a2

PA8585-V4-D4-1570-CaGlorius

It is significant that this edition was printed by the heirs of Antonio Blado’s shop.

PA8585-V4-D4-1576-titlepage

PA8585-V4-D4-1576-regestvm

Blado worked in Rome from 1515 to 1567 as a printer in the service of the papacy. He was well-known for his scholarly works in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew; and a 1549 document in Ethiopic type for the Ethiopian Church. Blado is also known for his use of an early italic type created by Ludovico Arrighi. The Rare Books Division holds five books printed by Antonio Blado.

This 1576 edition of Vergil joins an edition from 1570 and another from 1671, already in the rare book collections.

PA8585-V4-D4-1570-titlepagePA8585-V4-D4-1570-colophon

POLYDORI VERGILII VRBINATIS, DE RERUM INVENTORIBUS…
Polydore Vergil (1470? – 1555)
Basilea: 1570

Printer Thomas Guarin (1529-1592) was born in Tournai. He worked in Lyons as a bookseller, but by 1557 was in Basel, where he married Elizabeth Isengrin, the daughter of a printer. Guarin took over his father-in-law’s small press at Michael Isengrin’s death. Michael Isengrin had printed one of the many editions of De rerum inventoribus to be published in Vergil’s lifetime. Each of these editions contained significant variations. Isengrin printed Leonhart Fuchs’s sumptuous De Historia stirpivm. Along with the reprint of classical works, Guarin issued several editions of the Bible, published in both Latin and German, and one in Spanish. His printer’s device was a palm tree.

PA8585-V4-D4-1570-printersdevice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PA8585-V4-D4-1671-frontispiece

POLYDORI VERGILII URBINATIS, DE INVENTORIBUS RERUM…
Polydore Vergil (1470?-1555)
Amstelodami: apud Danielem Elzebirius, 1671

Daniel Elzevir came from a distinguished family of booksellers, bookbinders, printers and publishers. Louis Elzevir (1546-1617), a Protestant émigré, began the business in Antwerp in about 1565, after he left a job with Christopher Plantin’s print shop. The Elzevir enterprise became one of Europe’s largest printing houses. Louis’s sons expanded the business with branches in The Hague, Utrecht, and Amsterdam. The Amsterdam branch was established in 1638 by Louis III. His partner was Daniel Elzevir, son of Bonaventura Elzevir, son of Louis. Daniel continued the family reputation for fine typography and design work. This edition of De Rerum inventoribus also contains another of Vergil’s works, Prodigiis, written in 1526 but not printed until 1531. The engraved frontispiece for this edition includes the invention of printing as one of its main themes. Numerous carved initials and vignettes. Bound in contemporary vellum.

Shakespeare is coming! The First Folio will arrive at the City Library in October.

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