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Book of the Week — Queen Moo’s Talisman

22 Monday Oct 2018

Posted by rarebooks in Book of the Week

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Africa, Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal, archaeologist, Asiatic, Atlantic, Augustus Le Plongeon, Brahma, British Isles, brooch, Buddha, cataclysms, Chichén Itzá, Cloverland Magazine, Codex Cortesianus, copperplate, cultural, Daily Mining Journal, dance, earthquake, Egypt, English, Flood, frescos, gold, Greece, Henry Dixon, Ida Simmons, immortality, India, inscriptions, island, jadeite, John Olof Viking, Khans, linguistic, macaw, manuscripts, Maya, Mayan, maypole, Mediterranean, Mexico, Michigan, mural, musci, New York, ocean, pastedown, Peru, Peter Eckler, photographer, Prince Chaacol, printer, prospectus, Queen Moo, Ramayana, rare books, reincarnation, serpent, Siam, songs, Swedish, talisman, The Word, Theosophical Publishing Company, Troano Codex, Uxmal, vocabulary, Yucatan


When grief shall rend thy heart, seek thine own soul;
Shut out life’s din, and find that sacred goal.

Queen Moo’s Talisman: The Fall of the Maya Empire
Alice Dixon Le Plongeon (1851-1910)
New York: Peter Eckler, Publisher, 1902
First edition

Alice Dixon Le Plongeon was an English photographer, amateur archaeologist, traveler, and author. She was the daughter of Henry Dixon, a copperplate printer and photographer.

She travelled with her husband, Augustus Le Plongeon, to Mexico in 1873. They were early excavators of the ancient Mayan sites of Chichén Itzá and Uxmal.

While studying the artifacts at Chichén Itzá, the Le Plongeon’s pieced together a narrative of Queen Moo (the Mayan word for “macaw”), an ancient Mayan ruler, and her brother and consort Prince Chaacmol (“powerful warrior”). In November 1875, they unearthed a large statue and other artifacts near the Platform of the Eagles and Jaguars at Chichén Itzá, including a piece of jadeite that Augustus had set in a gold brooch. Alice wore the talisman for the rest of her life.

A talisman I give thee — jadeite green,
‘Twill ever lend thee intuition keen,
Its wearer may with love herself surround,
For with attractive force it doth abound.
Would one deceive, and traitor prove to thee,
His mind with this thou wilt quite plainly see.
Thro’ centuries this talisman can bind
Two souls — desiring this, the way thou ‘lt find.
But keep it sacredly for thee alone;
If thou lose this a foe will seize thy throne.

Even though the archaeological community was not receptive to the Le Plongeons’ theories about Queen Moo, Alice publisher her epic poem. In the introduction, the author discusses the connections, linguistic and cultural, her husband, made between the Maya empire, Egypt, India, Buddha, Brahma, the Ramayana, the Mediterranean, Africa, Greece, Peru, Siam; and the maypole dance — practiced in the Yucatan and the British Isles.

Referring to the Troano Codex and the Codex Cortesianus, he connected the word “CAN,” “the generic word for serpent,” found inscribed in ancient Yucatan ruins with the Khans of Asiatic nations. Dr. Plongeon interpreted inscriptions in both manuscripts as the story of a great flood caused by an earthquake, submerging a “great island in the Atlantic ocean,” suggesting that the Troano Codex dates the disappearance of the island 8,060 years before the writing of the manuscript. “Judging from Egyptian records, the cataclysms must have occurred between ten and eleven thousand years ago.”

The publisher’s prospectus described the work as “a dramatic…account of events which caused the dismemberment of the Maya empire, according to Maya [manuscripts], mural inscriptions and frescos at Chichén in Yucatan. Interesting data are also given concerning ancient rites and religious ideas of the Mayas, their belief in the immortality of the soul, its reincarnation in human form, and its power to manifest, while disembodied, to those in the flesh.”

At the back of the book is included several songs with music, words by Alice Le Plongeon and accompaniment by Ida Simmons.

Rare Books copy is inscribed by John O. Viking, a correspondent of Alice Le Plongeon’s, on the front free flyleaf, “From/John O. Viking/Ishpeming, Mich./April 30th 08/To Sister Benediction/ 8/28, 1950.”

An autographed letter from the author to Viking dated June 22nd in the original mailing envelope and regarding the purchasing of copies of Queen Moo, some Mayan vocabulary, and a few printer’s errors in her book, A Dream of Atlantis, mounted on front pastedown; a typed letter signed by the author to John O. Viking dated May 6th, 1908 regarding the possible publication of A Dream of Atlantis in the magazine The Word also laid in at rear; typed letter signed by an associate of the Theosophical Publishing Company of New York dated August 25th, 1910 addressed to Viking and informing him of Alice Le Plongeon’s death in original mailing envelope affixed to the rear pastedown.

John Olof Viking (b. 1874) was a Swedish-born writer who settled in Michigan with his family in 1882. He worked as a staff writer for the American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal. His articles also appeared in other publications, including Cloverland Magazine and Daily Mining Journal.  

Frontispiece of the author with tissue guard captioned in red. Further illustrated with thirteen black-and-white numbered drawings and three headpieces. Title-page printed in red and black. Bound in publisher’s gray cloth lettered in gilt on front board and spine. Top edge gilt.

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Rare Books Goes to Detroit!

20 Tuesday Jun 2017

Posted by rarebooks in Uncategorized

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artists' books, Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, Book Arts Program, Detroit, Emily Tipps, fire, Lin Charlston, Michigan, peat bog, Scott Beadles, Tate Shaw, Welsh

N7433.4-C435-F7-2011-Sky
“That which is not said aloud often speaks louder (and, in instances, clearer) than that which is.” — from The Cave Protection Act of 2013

Emily Tipps, Program Manager and Instructor for the Book Arts Program is presenting a paper at the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment biennual conference, June 20-24, in Detroit, Michigan. The paper examines three artists’ books from the Rare Books Department.

Emily writes:
“The artists’ book is uniquely positioned to articulate narratives of environmental devastation. The power of this diverse medium stems from its rich permutation of form, image, text, texture, scale, and materiality. I examine artists’ books that address particular instances of traumatic environmental change.

Lin Charlston’s Fragment by Fragment: Signs of the Peat Bog Disperse into the Wind is a meditation on a fire that irreversibly damaged a Welsh peat bog. Charlston employs color, a landscapte format, and an attentive typeface derived from fragments of peat exposed by the fire and dispersed by wind — phenomena which scarred the landscape and the ecosystem.

N7433.4-S5416-G76-2013-cover

The Ground by Tate Shaw positions a personal essay detailing the author’s practice of burying and recovering a book — an act of experiment and catharsis — in the ground in rural Pennsylvania, the site of former coal mines and a current center for hydrofracking. The book’s ink jet-printed plates are treated with water to wash out certain areas — a process echoing the erosion of the landscape.

N7433.4-R395-C38-2013-ExteriorN7433.4-R395-C38-2013-Inside

The Cave Protection Act of 2013 by Michelle Ray, concerns the town of Centralia, Pennsylvania, where underground fires (a result of mining) opened sink holes into which the town disappeared. The book examines the sense of identity this disappearance gave the community. The book’s visual language is derived from the dryness of a government document, while its structure deals in negative space, holes opening in the pages, and the oulines of houses overlapping like ghosts or the framing of a new subdivision.

Using slides and physical books, I’ll take a closer look at these and other books, which are so effective in conveying tangible and intangible effects environmental destruction can have on individuals, communities, and ecosystems.”

For more about this conference see Rust/Resistance: Works of Recovery.

To read these books go to the Special Collections Reference Room, L4, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah and ask for:

Charlston, Lin. Fragment by Fragment: Signs of the Peat Bog Disperse into the Wind. Shropshire: Charlston Books, 2011 N7433.4 C435 F7 2011
Shaw, Tate.
The Ground.
Rochester, NY: Preacher’s Biscuite Books, 2013 N7433.4 S5416 G76 2013
Ray, Michelle. The Cave Protection Act of 2013. Small Craft Advisory Press and formLab, 2013 N7433.4 R395 C38 2013

Photographs by Scott Beadles

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Recommended Workshop – Quarter Leather Flatback Lap-Case Binding

22 Thursday May 2014

Posted by rarebooks in Recommended Workshop

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Acme Bookbinding, Alcoa, alum-tawed, aluminum, Austin, Ben Verhoeven, Book Arts Program, BookLab II, Bridgeport National Bindery, Brigham Young University, Cartier Magnani, Christopher Stern, cloth, Columbian handpress, Craig Jensen, Dartmouth College, Dearborn, Didot, Don Etherington, engraving, Environment Defense Fund Headquarters, flatback, Ford Motor Company, Gary Frost, Gary McLerran, Gaylord Schanilec, gold, Gregynog Prize, Harold B. Lee Library, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Conservation Department, Italy, Japanese, Jennifer Sorensen, Jensen Bindery, Jim Larsen, laid paper, lap-case binding, leather, lettering, letterpress, letterpress printed, Marnie Powers-Torrey, Michael Bixler, Michigan, Midnight Paper Sales, milling, Monotype Bembo, Monotype Univers, mould-made, National Design Award, Oxford Book Fair, paper mill, Paul Parisi, Peter Waters, Presidential Award for Sustainable Development, Provo, Rare Books Division, Red Butte Press, relief prints, Salt Lake City, San Marcos, slipcase, Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, sycamore, Texas, The Guild of Book Workers, The Library of Congress Restoration Office, tooled, trees, University of Texas, Utah, Utah State Board of Education, William McDonough, Winifred Bixler, Wisconsin, wood cuts, wood engravings, Yale University, Zerkall

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.


alluNeedSingleLine

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