Paper is Fundamental
"The most fundamental thing about a books is to find the right paper... "
Checklist for Paper is Fundamental
Curated by Jon Bingham, 2018
Exhibition poster designed by Scott Beadles, 2018
Digital exhibition produced by Lyuba Basin, 2020
Paper is Fundamental
“The most fundamental thing about a book is to find the right paper, because it’s the whole ground of the being of the 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 can come 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. The type and quality of it are easily overlooked. Most of us know little about where the paper we use comes from. 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. 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 use of paper spread slowly from Asia and it did not reach Europe until the eleventh century. Even after its arrival in Europe its use there caught on slowly. 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.
The word “paper” is etymologically derived from Latin “papyrus,” which comes from the Greek πάπυρος (papuros), the word for the Cyperus papyrus plant. Papyrus is a thick material produced from the pith of this plant, used in ancient Egypt and other Mediterranean cultures for written documents before the development of paper and its introduction into the Mediterranean world. Paper and papyrus are produced very differently. Papyrus is a lamination of natural plant fibers, while paper is manufactured from fibers whose properties have been changed by maceration. Paper is produced by pressing together the moist cellulose fibers of plant material such as cotton, linen, hemp, bamboo, and abaca. This is achieved through drawing sheets of the fibers from vats of pulp. 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 production and use of paper spread steadily. Paper was used at Dunhuang by 150 CE, in Loulan by 200, and in Turpan by 399. Paper was introduced in Japan sometime between the years 280 and 610. Paper spread to Vietnam in the 3rd century, Korea in the 4th, and India in the 7th (although the use of paper was not widespread there until the 12th century). After the defeat of the Chinese in the Battle of Talas (modern-day Kyrgyzstan) in 751, the use of paper spread to the Middle East. Legend has it the secret of papermaking was obtained from two Chinese prisoners from the Battle of Talas. The prisoners would be released if they could teach ten Muslims any valuable knowledge. This led to the first paper mill in the Islamic world being founded in Samarkand, Sogdia (modern-day Uzbekistan). There are records of paper being made at Gilgit in Pakistan by the sixth century, in Samarkand by 751, in Baghdad by 793, in Egypt by 900, and in Fes, Morocco, around 1100.
QUR'AN LEAF ON LAID PAPER
Egypt?, 500AH/1106CE
ND2895 S2 U5 frag. 1
Islamic Holy Scripture is meant to be recited aloud, either alone or in community. The divine word of God calls for proper recitation. Marks indicate where the reader must pause, pause voluntarily, or must not pause. The reliance on proper recitation was one method of memorization through oral transmission.
The early state of the written Arabic language would have made uniformity of the Scripture difficult. The gradual improvement of consistent written Arabic was complete by the late ninth century.
Pictorial representation with written Scripture was considered irrelevant to the divine message. The word was all that the devoted needed. However, the development of calligraphy not only transmitted the word of God in written form, but supplied an aesthetic value to the written word.
DA BAN RUO BO LUO MI DUO JING
China: s.n., n.d
BQ1960 D3
One volume from a set of selections of sacred Buddhist writings, commonly referred to as “Tripi’aka Sutapi’aka.”
Woodblock printed on rice paper during the fifth year of the Ming Emperor, Cheng Tung, ca. 1440 – ten years before Johann Gutenberg printed his first book. One hundred pages of text bound accordion-style in green and yellow brocade. The characters are printed in clear, legible black ink.
Rare Books copy from the Kenneth Lieurance Ott Collection donated to the Okanogan County Museum, Washington.
Paper did not reach Europe until the eleventh century, where its use caught on slowly. 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.
ARITHMETICA BOETIJ
Boethius (d. 524)
Augsburg: E. Ratdolt, 20 May 1488
First edition
PA6231 A7 1488
Ancius Manlius Severinuis Boethius, Roman philosopher and statesman, was appointed consul of Rome in 510 AD. A minister under Emperor Theodoric, Boethius was falsely accused of treason, imprisoned, and sentenced to death. According to tradition, he wrote his great work, The Consolation of Philosophy, while awaiting execution. His treatise on ancient music was also for many centuries unrivaled as the final authority on Western music.
Boethius’ Arithmetica was produced by Erhard Ratdolt as part of his extensive program of astronomical and mathematical publications. The early printed treatise is typical of the classical works used in Western European Renaissance education.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. One does not often find incunables (books that were printed between 1450 and 1500, the first fifty years of printing following Gutenberg’s invention of moveable type) that were printed on bad paper. It most certainly happened, but the majority of those that survive were printed on paper of exceptional quality. Looking at this paper, it is hard to believe that it is 500 years old.
Laid paper is a type of paper having a ribbed texture imparted by the manufacturing process. It is often used synonymously with “handmade,” when in fact handmade paper can include more than just laid paper. In the pre-mechanical period of European papermaking (from the 11th century into the 19th century), laid paper was the predominant kind of paper produced. It is made with a mould, which contains in it a wire sieve. The papermaker dips the mould into a vat containing diluted fiber pulp, then lifts it out while tilting it to spread the pulp evenly over the sieve. As the water drains out between the wires in the sieve, the papermaker shakes the mould to lock the fibers together. In the process, the pattern of the wires in the sieve is imparted to the sheet of paper, producing the ribbed texture – called laid lines.
Linen paper is made from the bast fibers (that which surrounds the stem) of the flax plant, resulting in a crisper paper than that made of cotton. Due to the abundance of the flax plant in Europe, linen paper was the most prominent type of paper there until the creation of mechanical processes and the advent of wood pulp.
OPUSCULA BEATI ANSELMI ARCHIEPISCOPI CANTUARIENSIS ...
Saint Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury (ca. 1033-1109)
Basel: Johann Amerbach, not after 1497
Second, enlarged edition
B765 A82 1497
The first edition of the collected works of Saint Anselm was printed in Nuremberg in 1491. After St. Augustine and Thomas More, St Anselm was one of the most widely read of Christian theological writers in Western Europe. This collection includes his three most famous works: the Cur Deus Homo, a treatise on the atonement; the Proslogion, which contains his celebrated argument for the existence of God; and the Monologion. The last thirty pages of this book is a two-part geographical astronomical/astrological compendium, “De imagine mundi,” dating from about 1100.
Laid Paper. Most likely linen. This paper possesses a very strong rattle. While it is of very high quality, it is interesting to observe the little imperfections in the paper, such as the creases and inclusions which have resulted from the production process. It is also interesting to note the laid lines. Paper has a grain, like wood, and skilled book makers take the grain of the paper into account when printing and binding. The grain in paper comes from how the fibers of the paper are arranged. The fibers are typically parallel to each other across the sheet. While one cannot necessarily tell the grain of the paper from the laid lines, it can be fun to compare multiple books to see if there are similarities in how they lay on the pages of the books – possibly giving clues to how the paper was made. For example, master vat workers might have shaken the mould with the pulp on it in order to lock the fibers together and set the grain of the paper either across the long or short side of the sheet.
RHETORICORUM AD C. HERENNIUM LIBRI III
Cornificius (d. 42 BCE)
Venetiis: Apud Paulum Manutium, Aldi filium, 1554
PA6304 R7 1554
Comprised of multiple works in addition to Cornificius’ Rhetoricorum ad C. Herennium libri III, this book includes Cicero’s De Inventione, Topica ad Trebatium, Oratoriae partitiones, and Libri II. The first edition was published in 1544 by Paulus Manutius (son of Aldus, the Venetian printer and founder of the Aldine Press, who is credited with contributing significantly to printing around the turn of the 16th century). The Aldine Press printed multiple editions of this work throughout the mid-16th century.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. The Aldine Press, which had secured special printing privileges from the Vatican, was plagued by counterfeiters, despite the warnings on its title pages that those who made unauthorized copies would be excommunicated. Things got so bad that in 1503 Aldus printed a broadside warning consumers of the telltale marks of fake Aldines, including specific textual errors and low-quality paper with “a heavy odor.” The high-quality paper used for the production of this book does not have “a heavy odor.”
QVINCTVS HORATIVS FLACCVS, THEODORI PVLMANNI ...
Horace (65 – 8 BCE)
Antverpiae: Ex officina Christophori Plantini, 1564
PA6393 A2 1564
Quintus Horatius Flaccus, known commonly as Horace, was a Roman lyric poet and satirist. He flourished during the reign of the emperor Augustus. The most frequent themes of his odes and verse epistles are love, friendship, and philosophy. This book consists of selections from Horace’s Odes, Epistles, and the Art of Poetry.
Rare Books copy is from the Kenneth Lieurance Ott collection.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. While this paper seems to share many qualities with other handmade linen papers of Europe, it appears to have browned over time. It is possible that this is an effect that has occurred due to decisions made by the papermakers in the preparation of the pulp – specifically during the cooking process, when the fibers are treated chemically. Caustic materials (such as soda ash or lye) are added to the solution the fibers are boiled in, sometimes for multiples hours, in order to break the fibers down and to change the pH of the paper (by removing lignin, the removal of which makes the paper less acidic). The most probable cause of the deterioration of this paper over time is improper pH due to mistakes made during the cooking process or lack of quality agents added to the solution the fibers were cooked in.
THEOCRITI ALIORVMQVE POETARVM IDYLLIA
Theocritus (fl. C. 270 BCE)
Genevae: Excudebat H. Stephanus, 1579
PA4442 A2 E8 1579
This edition includes poems attributed to Simmias of Rhodes, three of which are among the earliest surviving examples of visual poetry, passed from generation to generation. Visual poetry possibly originated in India and Persia in the sixth century BCE, although examples of these do not exist. The shape of these poems reflect the content of each: the axe poem commemorates wartime heroism, the egg poem celebrates nature, and the wings poem expresses spirituality. The axe and the egg are meant to be read in chiastic fashion: the first line, then the last line, then the second line, then the second-to-last line, and so on until the conclusion in the middle. This method of reading suggests a connection to Greek magical papyri of the same era in which the poems were written. The poems may have been intended as spells or prayers.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. While this paper does not have the appearance of high- quality paper, a testament to its quality is how well it has stood up to the test of time. This specific book has clearly been heavily used. The dark stain at the bottom is most likely ink that was spilled on it at some point, long ago. For a small book that has obviously been used for much of its life, the paper has performed very well and is actually in fairly good condition.
THEOCRITI, MOSCHI, BONIS, SIMII QUAE EXTANT
Theocritus (fl. C. 270 BCE)
Heidelberg: Ex Bibliopolio Commeliniano, 1604
PA4442 A2 H4 1604
Like Theocriti aliorvmqve poetarvm idyllia (1579), this book is comprised of a collection of works by ancient Greek “bucolic,” or pastoral, poets. It is open to show Simmias of Rhodes’ egg poem. As a pattern-poem, its verses are arranged in the shape of an object. A handful of pattern-poems have survived in the collection known as the Greek Anthology. This edition reproduces, with translations into Latin, ‘The Egg’, ‘The Wings’, and ‘The Axe’, together with ‘The Panpipe’ and ‘The Altar’, which the editors attribute to Theocritus. The genre has many other names, including technopaignia, figure poems, and altar poems.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. Despite this paper’s nice rattle and laid lines, it is clear that something went wrong with its production. Like Qvinctvs Horativs Flaccvs (1564), the fibers for this paper were most likely not as carefully prepared as they could have been. Sometimes a paper mill would just produce a bad batch, and would sell the bad paper for less. This paper looks to have come from a good papermaker, but it is undoubtedly paper of inferior quality.
THE TWO BOOKS OF FRANCIS BACON OF THE PROFICIENCE ...
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
London: Printed for Henrie Tomes, 1605
First edition
B1190 1605
In The Advancement of Learning, Francis Bacon suggested that it was impossible to accept that all knowledge had been discovered by Aristotle or could be logically deduced from his writings. Instead, Bacon proposed, knowledge should be based on direct observation of perceived facts, regardless of whether this contradicted the authority of the ancients. His emphasis on direct observation strongly influenced the development of an experimental method of scientific thinking in England.
The Advancement of Learning set a standard for many later attempts at classification. Bacon’s reorganized scientific method included careful and purposeful thought to the relation of science to public and social life. In the eighteenth century it was the foundation on which the French philosophes constructed the Encyclopedie.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. The interesting thing about the paper in this book is the variety that can be seen in the pages throughout. It is hard to tell with the gilding of the fore edge, but when one spreads the pages at the fore edge slightly it is possible to see an alternating striation of varying shades of the papers’ darkness and lightness. This seems to indicate that perhaps paper from multiple batches was used in the production of this book.
NOVUM ORGANUM
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
London: Billium, 1620
First edition
B1165 1620
The foundations of modern science were set out by Francis Bacon in this book. In it, Bacon advanced a new method of reasoning. Bacon argued convincingly that deductive logic, taught by Aristotle and practiced in Western Europe throughout the Middle Ages, would not work for science. Bacon wrote that experimentation was necessary to determine truth. He criticized existing methods of scientific interpretation as inadequate and provided a system based upon empirical methodology, accurate observations, and the accumulation of reliable data.
The engraved image on the title page was prophetic. In 1620, the course of philosophy, with Bacon as pilot, was substantially altered. Sailing through the Pillars of Hercules (the Straits of Gibraltar), the limits of the Old World, Bacon’s ship sets out into new and uncharted seas, leaving behind a legacy of superstition and credulity. This voyage, as daring and influential as any undertaken by Renaissance explorers, ushered in a new era. Although the discoveries of Copernicus, Kepler, Brahe, Galileo, and Gilbert had done much to destroy the pervasive influence of Aristotle, it was this work that established a new philosophical structure in Western Europe.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. While this paper contains some minor flaws, such as creases and inclusions, it is of the highest quality. One can hear and smell this paper with every turn of the page. It has a strong rattle and vanillin smell, both characteristic of good paper.
RESUSCITATIO ...
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
London: Printed by Sarah Griffin for W. Lee, 1657
First edition
B1155 1657
This so-called ‘Resuscitation’ of Bacon’s works contains speeches he delivered in Parliament and elsewhere; a discourse on the union of England and Scotland; advice, letters, and propositions to Queen Elizabeth; other letters written during Elizabeth’s reign; and Bacon’s confession of faith. These speeches, letters, and other written sources document Bacon’s political life and career. The ‘Tractates,’ previously unpublished, was compiled by Bacon’s chaplain, editor, and executor, William Rawley (1588?-1667). Aside from Bacon’s work, the volume contains Rawley’s “Life” of the Lord Chancellor, a portrait that became the foundation for all subsequent biographies of Bacon.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. 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.
OPERA OMNIA, QUAE EXTANT PHILOSOPHICA, MORALIA ...
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Francofvrti ad Moenum: Impensis Joannis Baptistae Schonwetteri, 1665
First Latin edition
B1153 1665
This volume contains the complete works of Sir Francis Bacon, Baron Verulam, Viscount St. Albans. Opera includes his theoretical works such as Advancement of Learning (De Augmentis Scientarium), The New Atlantis (Nova Atlantis), and the Divine Dialogue (Dialogus de Bello Sacro), as well as historical writings such as Sylva Sylvarium, A Natural History in Ten Centuries, History of King Henri VII, and writings on Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus. Each section title-page has an engraved printer’s device.
Laid paper. Type unknown. There are multiple problems with this paper. The most obvious is the discoloration, but a second is how thin it is. One can barely distinguish the laid lines, and may be tempted to wonder if it is an early example of wove paper. However, the technique used to create wove paper was not developed until about 100 years or so after this book was produced. One may surmise, due to the size of this work that the publisher was concerned with the cost of producing it were paper of a higher quality to be used. Doing so would have surely decreased profit margin.
OF IDOLATRY : A DISCOURSE, IN WHICH IS ENDEAVORED A ...
Thomas Tenison (1636-1715)
London: Francis Tyton, 1678
First edition
BL485 T46 1678
Thomas Tenison was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1694 until his death. His third book (after The Creed of Mr. Hobbes Examined, 1670 and Baconiana, 1678), a discourse on idolatry, grew from a letter he had written previously. In his preface he wrote, “To the Right Honourable Robert Earl of Manchester, one of the gentlemen of his majesty’s bedchamber, Lord Lieutenant of the County of Huntington, etc. My Lord, it is now a year, and almost another, since I wrote a letter for private use, about the worship of images…From that small beginning has arisen a book sufficiently big; but of the less solidity by reason of the hasty growth of it. More art, together with more leisure would have made it a lesser volume. For in writing of books, as in carving statues, the cutting away of each superfluity is a work of skill and time. … For the book itself, some part of it was meditated, the whole revised at your castle of Kimbolton…
Laid paper. Most likely linen. This paper is more brittle than one would expect when looking at it, especially towards the front of the book. The discoloration is primarily limited to the edges of the paper. It appears that either the publisher or a previous owner applied some sort of paint or stain to the edges of the text block. Whatever came into contact with the edges of this book has negatively affected the paper, causing the edges of the pages to become discolored and brittle.
THE INDIAN EMPEROR : OR, THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO BY THE ...
John Dryden (1631-1700)
London: Printed for H. Herringman, 1686
PR3612 S6 1687
Scholars still argue about the sources for John Dryden’s Restoration play premised on the monumental meeting between Hernan Cortés (1485-1547) and Montezuma at the palace of the Aztec Empire in 1519. Nearly one hundred and fifty years after the fact, the play contributed to the myth of European “discovery” of the “New World.” (In the dedicatory epistle to the Duchess of Monmouth, Dryden wrote of the “…Discovery and Conquest of a new World.”) The drama became a fundamental part of the European Encounter narrative and of European literary representation of indigenous Americans. First produced in 1665, the play raised Dryden’s reputation as England’s premier playwright.
Laid paper. Type unknown. This book is actually a collection of plays, all printed at relatively the same time and place, bound together. The interesting part is the relative quality of the paper used to print these plays despite their printing by various printers. The paper each of these printers used was all equally as bad as what other printers were using in London in the late 1670s and 80s to print plays. It is possible that they all derived from the same paper mill.
HISTORIA DE LA CONQUISTA DE MEXICO : POBLACION, Y ...
Antonio de Solis (1610-1686)
Barcelona: Joseph Llopis, 1691
Second edition
F1230 S66 1691
Antonio de Solis, a playwright, was Secretary of State to Philip IV. Recognized for his literary skills, he was appointed chief chronicler of the Indies in 1667. In this work, he chronicled the years between the appointment of Hernan Cortés to command the Spanish Army to the Americas and the fall of Mexico City. Solis included a section on the relationship between Cortés and Montezuma. He also gave detailed descriptions of the lives of the native populations of Mexico, including religious beliefs and rites, idols, hymns, industries, arts, crafts, and games.
Solis underscored the courage of the conquistadors as they fought the “savage” indigenous peoples. His principle sources were the letters of Cortés, the works of Francisco Lopez de Gomara, Bernal Diaz del Castillo and miscellaneous documents.
The first edition of this work was printed in Madrid in 1684. The work was popular, printed numerous times in many languages in the next three centuries.
Title page embellished with a large woodcut showing the arms of the dedicatee Don Guileen de Rocafull y Rocaberti.
Laid paper. Type unknown. This paper is intriguing, to say the least. It is very thin laid paper, but feels much softer than an average linen paper – almost like hemp or jute was added. Some of the pages look as if the softness of the paper has negatively affected this paper’s ability to take the ink during the printing process.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES ...
Bartolome de las Casas (1474-1566)
London: Printed by J. Darby for D. Brown, 1699
F1411 C426 1699
This is a translation of the French edition of 1697, containing six of De Las Casas’s nine tracts on Spanish atrocities in New Spain. The first English translation was printed in 1656 under the title Tears of the Indians. That edition places the number of victims at 20 million, a figure that was doubled in this edition.
The first edition of De Las Casas’s famous “Indian Tracts,” the earliest report of Spanish atrocities in the Americas, and the first to condemn these atrocities, was written in Spain in 1539. Its publication was forbidden until 1552. De Las Casas, a son of one of Columbus’s sailors, went to New Spain in 1502 with its governor, Nicolas de Ovando. He is thought to be the first priest ordained in America. At the time, this work provided the principal sources of information on South America, particularly the state of its indigenous populations. De Las Casas’s horrific account was used by England and other European countries as fodder for their own political struggles with Spain.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. The paper used for the production of this book was high quality. During the first half of the seventeenth century, several paper mills were established in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Surrey. These areas, surrounding London, supplied printers there with ample paper – of both good and bad quality.
CATHECISMO ROMANO, TRADUCIDO EN CASTELLANO, Y ...
Catholic Church
Mexico: F. De Rivera Calderon, 1723
First edition
BX1958 S6 1723
This translation by Fray Manuel Perez is a translation of the accepted Roman catechism, of note because in 1585 the Mexican bishops authorized an official catechism different from that of the Roman Church.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. This beautiful paper possesses a nice strong rattle and well-formed laid lines. The makers of this paper did an excellent job of bleaching the fibers, which has resulted in the brightness of this paper.
TRAVELS INTO SEVERAL REMOTE NATIONS OF THE WORLD
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
London: B. Motte, 1726
First edition
PR3724 G7 1726
When Travels by “Lemuel Gulliver” was first published, only a few close friends knew that the real author was Jonathan Swift, the Dean of the Anglican St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. Swift, a native Dubliner, was involved in several political controversies during his lifetime, particularly in relation to the treatment of the Irish by the English.
Travels was a none-too-subtle, bitter satire of English royalty, politicians, scientists, and historians. Styled after popular travel and exploration narratives of the seventeenth century, the imaginative storytelling lambastes the much-lauded human reason of the Enlightenment.
Benjamin Motte, a London printer, received an anonymous letter requesting that “Captain Gulliver’s” memoirs be published. A manuscript, probably copied in a hand other than Swift’s, was delivered, and one short month later, the book went on sale, after the publisher negotiated the softening of several passages. The book’s first printing sold out in a week.
The combination of deadpan reporting, exotic experiences, and jaundiced backward glances at English society made the book an immediate success. Thus, the successful publication of a book politically loaded in a time before freedom of the press was but a gleam in a few revolutionary’s eyes.
Laid paper. Type unknown. Inks used by printers could interact differently with varying paper types based on the chemistry of the ink and the paper. Here, in this book, one can see the paper’s discoloration where it has interacted negatively with the ink used to print it. Observe the shape of the discolored area on page 249 and then compare that to the decorative printing on page 248. One can see that the ink from the woodblock engraving illustration has interacted poorly with the facing page.
THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND
Paul de Rabin-Thoyras (1661-1725)
London: Printed by J., J. and P. Knapton, 1732
Second edition
DA30 R2 1732
Paul de Rapin, sieur of Thoyras (and therefore styled Thoyras de Rapin), was a French historian writing under English patronage. His History of England (L’Histoire d'Angleterre), first published in French in ten volumes from 1724 to 1727, was an influential exposition of the Whig view of history on both sides of the English Channel.
Reverend Nicolas Tindal translated this work into English while serving as a chaplain to the Royal Navy. He added large numbers of informative notes (illustrated with engravings, maps, and genealogical tables), which expanded the work to a total of 14 volumes.
Laid paper. Type unknown. This book was clearly produced using multiple batches of paper with varying degrees of quality. The size of the book and the drastic difference in quality between the two primary papers used makes this painfully obvious. Papermaking is a laborious and detailed process. It is possible that the publishers were not aware of the inferiority of the paper used for the printing of part of this volume when it was produced. It may have only become evident over time that the paper used for a portion of this book was not properly balanced, chemically. The process of rendering organic material stable in way that it will last for hundreds of years can be deceptively tricky, as this book indicates.
THE BEGGAR'S OPERA
John Christopher Pepusch (1667-1752)
London: Printed for John Watts, 1754
ML50.5 B3 1754
Johann Christoph Pepusch, also known as John Christopher Pepusch, was a German composer who spent most of his working life in England. Born in Berlin, he was appointed to the Prussian court at the age of fourteen. In 1700, he settled in England and, in 1726, became one of the founders of The Academy of Vocal Music, renamed The Academy of Ancient Music in 1730. Pepusch remained Director of the Academy until his death in 1752. Although he is now best known for his arrangement of the music for The Beggar's Opera (1728), Pepusch composed many other works including stage and church music as well as concertos and continuo sonatas.
The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written by John Gay. Ballad operas were satiric musical plays that used some of the conventions of opera, but without recitative. The lyrics of the airs in the piece are set to popular broadsheet ballads, opera arias, church hymns, and folk tunes of the time.
Laid paper. Type unknown. This otherwise good paper has some slight discoloration that does not appear to be caused by the ink, and is uniform throughout. While not of the highest quality, the paper is consistent throughout the volume. It looks like linen paper, but possesses neither its distinctive rattle nor stiffness. It is possible that it is primarily linen, but most likely has another fiber, such as cotton, mixed in.
TRATTATO DI MUSIC SECUNDO LA VERA SCIENZA DELL' ARMONIA
Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770)
Padova: Giovanni Manfe, 1754
First edition
ML3805 A2 T37 1754
An accomplished violinist and prolific composer, Giuseppe Tartini was also a serious music theorist. He accumulated a large collection of music, philosophy, religion and mathematics. He studied the principles of acoustics, discovering what he termed a “third sound,” an overtone produced when two notes of a chord are played in perfect tune. He published his theories in Trattato, which also includes his theory of harmony based on affinities with algebra and geometry. If not entirely accurate in its science, the book provides insight into the mind of a musician.
Laid paper. Type unknown. This paper is interesting because it has the appearance of paper that was dried by being hung and left rather than being pressed. Often, paper is pressed to remove water and is then left to fully dry, but sometimes paper was just hung and left to dry without being pressed. Even paper that was pressed in the papermaking process would sometimes be pressed again for flattening before printing. This paper, bound with a paper casing, looks like it was printed on and left in its hung-dried form. Regardless of the method used to dry this paper during its production, it is of very high quality.
LA BOHEMIENNE : COMEDIE EN DEUX ACTES EN VERS, MÊLÉE ...
Charles Simon Favart (1710-1792)
Liege: F. J. Desoer, 1756
M1500 F37 B65
Charles Simon Favart was a French playwright. He composed some one hundred and fifty works during his lifetime, mostly comedies and opéras-comiques (a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias). Favart’s La Bohemienne is a reworked French version of Rinaldo di Capua's La Zingara (1753).
Laid paper. Most likely linen. While this paper suffers from slight discoloration, overall it is paper of decent quality that has aged reasonably well. It possesses that distinct rattle and stiffness of linen paper.
TRAITE DE LA FUGUE ET DU CONTREPOINT
Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (1718-1795)
Berlin: Chez Haude et Spener, 1756
ML446.M37 T73
Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg was a German music critic, music theorist, and composer. He published the majority of his writings on music between 1750 and 1763. The scope and unprecedented clarity of Marpurg’s writings on music made him the leading German music theorist of the late eighteenth century. He and his rivals Kirnberger and Schulz made up a distinct “Berlin School” of music criticism and theory.
Abhandlung von der Fuge was published in Berlin (1753-54) and was then translated by Marpurg himself into French. The French edition was also published in Berlin (1756). In his Traite de la fugue et du contrepoint, Marpurg examines the fugue form. This work became a standard in music theory and remained so through the 19th century. Marpurg’s treatise on the fugue played a crucial role in the establishment of the fugue as an important and lasting musical form.
Laid paper. Type unknown. An interesting aspect of this book is that it contains sheets of music that are bound in, which were printed on different paper than the rest of the text block. Neither papers were particularly good, but one can easily see that the quality of the sheets bound in (on the right) are of slightly higher quality than the rest (on the left).
ANFANGSGRUENDE DER THEORETISCHEN MUSIK
Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (1718-1795)
Leipzig: J. G. I. Breitkopf, 1757
First edition
ML3805 A2 M3
In Anfangsgruende der theoretischen Musik, German music theorist Freidrich Marpurg discusses the theory of tone ratios and temperament.
Laid paper. Type unknown. The quality of the paper used in the production of the text block of this book is terrible. One needs only look at it for a moment to realize it is inferior to much of the paper that was certainly available, but undoubtedly more expensive. The marbled paper used on the cover is, however, fascinating. Unfortunately, it is not nearly as durable as it is aesthetic.
DICTIONNAIRE DE MUSIQUE
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
Paris: Chez la veuve Duchesne, 1768
First edition
ML108 A2 R7
Jean-Jacques Rousseau compiled this dictionary as an act of overt radical departure from previous dissertations on music such as Jean Philippe Rameau’s rigid principles of harmony. For instance, Rousseau stressed the need for spontaneity in the composition and performing of music.
For Rousseau, music was not to be an imitation of sound in nature, but a reflection of the composer’s feelings in an attempt to touch the audience in a similar sentiment. He valued vocal over purely instrumental works. Rousseau emphasized the moral power of music. Dictionnaire was instantly popular and remained so well into the Romantic period. The text is addended with engravings, including Rousseau’s celebrated plan of the opera orchestra at Dresden.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. The paper used for the text block of this book is different than that used for the plates, which are attached at the back. While both are of good quality, one can see that the paper used for the plates is slightly inferior to that used for the text block.
DIE KUNST DES REINEN SATZES IN DER MUSIK
Johann Philipp Kirnberger (1721-1783)
Berlin: Bey Heinrich August Rottmann, 1771
First edition
MT40 K57
Johann Philipp Kirnberger was a musician, composer (primarily of fugues), and music theorist. He was a student of Johann Sebastian Bach. Kirnberger became a violinist at the court of Frederick II of Prussia in 1751 and was the music director to the Prussian Princess Anna Amalia from 1758 until his death. He is known today primarily for his theoretical work Die Kunst des reinen Satzes in der Musik (The Art of Strict Composition in Music), a monument of 18th century musical thought.
Theorists have long been interested in Kirnberger for his novel classification of dissonance types, his refinement of fundamental-bass principles, and his reorientation of the theory of rhythm and meter. Historians and performers have also found in his writings a wealth of information dealing with late-baroque and pre-classical compositional style and performance practice.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. The paper used for the production of this book has a nice thickness to it and is clearly made by good papermakers. However, the chemical composition of this paper is not the best. The paper has discolored, most likely from too high a level of acidity. This could be caused by cooking the fibers for too short a time.
REGOLE ARMONICHE : O SIENE PRECETTI RAGIONATI PER ...
Vincenzo Manfredini (1737-1799)
Venezia: Appresso G. Zerletti, 1775
First edition
MT49 A2 M27
Vincenzo Manfredini was an Italian composer, harpsichordist, and a music theorist. Born in Pistoia (near Florence), he studied music with his father (Francesco Onofrio Manfredini) before studying with Perti in Bologna and Fioroni in Milan.
Manfredini's theoretical research Regole armoniche, o sieno precetti ragionevoli per apprendere la musica (1775) is comprised of two parts: an introduction to the elements of music and to keyboard accompaniment. Regole armoniche is an important source of information on 18th century performance practices. In this work he summarizes the then rules of accompaniment.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. Like Trattato di music secondo la vera scienza dell’ armonia, which was printed in Padua (Padova) in 1754, this book, printed in Venice, has the stylistic look of paper hung-dried and not pressed. The aesthetic look of the uneven pages is allowed for by the construction of the book with its unrestrictive paper casing. This beautiful cream-colored paper is very pleasurable, both visually and tactilely. This paper is the embodiment of the beauty possessed by the northern Italian cities in the 18th century.
KURZE UND SYSTEMATISCHE ANLEITUNG ZUM GENERAL-BASS
Johann Michael Bach (1745-1820)
Cassel: Waysenhaus, 1780
First edition
MT49 B25 1780
Johann Michael Bach was a German lawyer, music theorist, and composer. He was a son of Johann Elias Bach (1705–1755), and a nephew of Johann Sebastian Bach, not to be confused with his great uncle Johann Michael Bach (1648–1694), brother of Johann Christoph Bach. He is sometimes referred to as the “Wuppertaler Bach” to distinguish him from his great uncle, the “Gehrener Bach.”
J. M. Bach was active as a lawyer in Güstrow (Mecklenburg) before becoming a music teacher at the school in Elberfeld, Wuppertal. Kurze und systematische Anleitung zum General-Bass was his main theoretical work, in which he discusses tones and their intervals.
Possibly wove paper. Type unknown. This paper does not appear to have laid lines, but suffers from a high number of “wrinkly” creases throughout. On the folio consisting of page 9 & 10 a flaw in the paper has affected the printing. While this paper is of a decent thickness it clearly is not the highest quality paper.
FREYMAURER - LIEDER
Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752-1814)
[Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not identified], 1780
Third edition
M1900 M3 F74 1780
The importance of freemasonry to German music and literature is certainly obvious in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” The very first poem in this compilation is “O Heiliges Band der Freundschaft treuer Bruder,” by Ludwig Friedrich Lenz, which Mozart set to music when he was sixteen (several years before his initiation into a Masonic Lodge).
For political reasons all of the poems in this compilation are unattributed and the printing information was kept anonymous.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. This paper is thin and suffers from discoloration. It is nicely uniform throughout however, which despite the discoloration adds to the aesthetic of the paper. While not of the highest quality, this paper was undoubtedly produced in a paper mill capable of producing quality paper.
Cotton paper, also known as rag paper, is made using cotton linters or cotton from used cloth (rags) as the primary material. Important documents are often printed on cotton paper, because it can last many years without deterioration. Cotton paper is superior in both strength and durability to wood pulp-based paper, which may contain high concentrations of acids. It also absorbs ink or toner better. Different grades of cotton paper can be produced. Cotton was first used with a mixture of silk to make paper called Carta Bombycina. In the 1800s, used cloths (rags) were the primary material source for the making of cotton paper. By the turn of the 20th century, wood pulp had replaced cotton as the most prevalent fiber source in paper making. Cotton did, however, continue to be used in specialty papers. As cotton rags now often contain synthetic fibers, papermakers have turned to second-cut cotton linters as raw material sources for making pulp for cotton papers.
THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SEVERAL INDEPENDENT STATES ...
Continental Congress
Philadelphia: Printed by Francis Bailey, in Market-street, 1781
JK18 1781
First edition
This book contains the first official publication of the newly ratified Articles of Confederation – the document under which a fledgling country governed itself until the adoption of the Constitution. Authorized by the Continental Congress of 1780 in a resolution of December 29: “Resolved; That this committee of three be appointed to collect, and cause to be published, two hundred correct copies, of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of confederation and perpetual union, the alliances between these United States, and his Most Christian Majesty, with the constitutions or forms of government of the several states, to be bound together in boards. The members chosen, Mr. Bee, Mr. Witherspoon, and Mr. Wolcott. Extract from the Minutes, Charles Thomas, secretary.”
The book also contains the first printings of the 1778 Treaty of Amity and Commerce with France (the first treaty between what would become the United States and any other country) and the Treaty of Alliance with France (assuring the French of an alliance should their recognition of the states lead to war with Great Britain.) The collected documents were vital to the construction of the Federal Constitution of 1787. Although the imprint reads Philadelphia, the edition was published by Bailey in Lancaster, where he had moved with Congress after the British occupation of Philadelphia began in September 1781.
Edition of two hundred copies.
Laid Paper. Most likely cotton. This paper feels softer to the touch and has much less ruffle than its linen counterpart. The softness of cotton also has the added benefit of making cotton paper more pliable.
MISCELLANEOUS TRACTS
Arthur O’Leary (1729-1802)
Dublin: Printed by Tho. M’Donnel, at Pope’s Head, No 32, New-Row, Thomas Street, 1781
First edition
BR55 O54 1781
Father Arthur O’Leary, O.F.M., was an Irish Franciscan preacher and polemical writer. O'Leary was born in Ireland and was educated with the Franciscans of Saint Malo, where he was ordained. He published tracts characterized by learning, religious feeling, toleration, and allegiance to the Crown. The tracts contained in this volume include: “A Defense of the Divinity of Christ, and the Immortality of the Soul…”; “Loyalty asserted: or, a Vindication of the Oath of Allegiance…”; “An Address to the common People of Ireland, on occasion of an apprehended invasion by the French and Spaniards…”; “Remarks on a letter written by Mr. Wesley…” (also included is “The Rev. John Wesley’s Letter, and the Defense of the Protestant Associations”); “Rejoinder to Mr. Wesley’s Reply to the above Remarks”; and “Essay on Toleration: tending to prove that a man’s Speculative opinions ought not to deprive him of the rights of civil society.”
Laid paper. Most likely linen. Many creases in the paper can be seen throughout, most likely caused by inferior couching (the transfer of the sheet of paper from the mould onto sheets of felt for pressing). These creases are considered a flaw in the final product of paper sheets. The publisher also chose to use varying batches of paper as clearly seen by differences in coloration in different sections of this book. Several of the sections contain paper with a greenish tint, which is most likely an unwanted effect of some part of the papermaking process gone wrong.
HISTORICH - BIOGRAPHISCHES LEXICON DER TONKUNSTLER
Ernst Ludwig Gerber (1746-1819)
Leipzig: J. G. I. Breitkopf, 1790
First edition
ML105 A2 G36
Ernst Ludwig Gerber was a German music teacher and composer. In 1765, Gerber went to Leipzig to study law, but music soon came to occupy almost his sole attention. Upon return to his home (Sondershausen), he was appointed music teacher to the children of the prince, and in 1775 he became court organist. Afterwards he devoted much of his time to the study of the literature and history of music.
Gerber is most famous today for his Historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonküstler. This work is a lexicon of musicians, arranged alphabetically.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. Includes unusual inclusions (which are fibers added to paper for the sole purpose of creating a decorative or visual effect), including what looks like brown chaff from the flax plant in addition to what appears to be fibers that have been dyed blue. Here, on pages 323/4 and 325/6, creasing can be seen in the left and right margins, nearest the fore-edge. Of particular interest is the imperfection on the bottom right between the page 326 column and the fore-edge. This drastic creasing is a severe imperfection.
ALLGEMEINE LITTERATUR DER MUSIK ; ODER, ANLEITUNG ZUR ...
Johann Nikolaus Forkel (1749-1818)
Leipzig: Schwickert, 1792
First edition
ML105 F72
Johann Nikolaus Forkel was a German musician, musicologist, and music theorist. He studied law for two years at the University of Göttingen, and remained associated with the University for more than fifty years. There he held a variety of positions, including instructor of music theory, organist, keyboard teacher, and eventually director of all music at the university. He was an enthusiastic admirer of Johann Sebastian Bach, whose music he did much to popularize. He also wrote the first biography of Bach (in 1802), which is of particular value today due to his decision to correspond directly with Bach’s sons Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (thereby obtaining valuable information that would otherwise have been lost).
Forkel’s Allgemeine Litteratur der Musik (Dictionary of Musical Literature) is a survey of musical texts arranged by author’s last name in alphabetical order, with dictionary-style entries.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. Includes unusual inclusions. The decorative ink speckling along the book’s fore-edge was perhaps meant to correlate with the blue fibers in the paper. Some creases can be seen throughout. Here, on pages 220 and 221, creasing can be seen in the left and right margins, nearest the fore-edge. While it is clear the makers of this paper meant for it to be aesthetic, the paper is not of high quality.
ALLGEMEINE MUSIKALISCHE ZEITUNG
Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1798-1799
First edition
ML5 A43 v. 1 (1798-1799)
The Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung is a periodical published between 1798 and 1848, and again from 1866 to 1862. The periodical reviewed music-related events, primarily in German speaking areas, but at times including events in France, Italy, Russia, Britain, and even occasionally the United States.
Important essays often appeared in the periodical, including the serialized first version of Georg August Griesinger’s biography of Joseph Haydn. The journal employed the famous critic E. T. A. Hoffmann and published his influential review of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Both Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt wrote for the journal. The journal was published by Breitkopf & Härtel, possibly the world’s longest standing music publishing house, founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. While this paper is not of the highest quality, what is noteworthy is that this journal was printed on paper as good as it is. Periodicals were often printed as cheaply as possible due to the ephemeral nature of the publication. The quality of this paper does leave much to be desired, but the fact the paper was of high enough quality for it to survive as well as it has, demonstrates that the editors were somewhat conscious of creating information important enough to collect and keep – creating the demand on the publisher to print it on this medium quality paper rather than cheaper paper of an even lower grade.
TRAVELS THROUGH THE STATES OF NORTH AMERICA AND THE ...
Isaac Weld (1774-1856)
London: J. Stockdale, 1799
First edition
E164 W44 1799
Dubliner Isaac Weld sailed to Philadelphia in 1795 and spent two years traveling the east coast of Canada and the newly formed United States on horseback, foot, and canoe along rivers and through dense forests. During his travels he met George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. One of the reasons for his trip was to find places suitable for Irish immigration.
In the end, he preferred Canada to the United States, finding Americans too materialistic. Travels was very popular, quickly printed in three successive editions and translated into French, German, and Dutch. It was illustrated with charming engravings of American scenes, such as a stagecoach pulling away from a tavern (he found U.S. taverns “indifferent”).
Rare Books copy gift of Dr. Ronald Rubin.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. One of the interesting aspects of the paper in this book is the difference in the two types used in its production. The pages of the text block, on which the text and illustrations were printed, are of a heavier stock relative to common use for press printing. The second type is a very thin, almost tissue-like paper, bound in as interleaves to protect the text against ink transfer from the engraved illustrations. One can easily observe the difference in how well the thinner paper interacted with the ink used to print. It is also intriguing to see the very fine lay lines created in the thinner paper by the wires in the mould used to create the sheet of paper.
ANTHROPOLOGIE IN PRAGMATISCHER HINSICHT ...
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
Konigsberg: F. Nicolovius, 1800 Second edition
GN23 K3 1800
First published in 1798, Anthropologie is a compilation of Immanuel Kant’s course notes. It was the last of his work published before his death. In 1773, Kant’s course in theoretical physics was cancelled due to lack of enrollment. Kant taught anthropology in its place. He continued to teach the course every winter semester until he retired in 1796. Kant intended Anthropologie to be both a handbook for students and as a popular work for laymen. Kant laid the groundwork for anthropology as a branch of philosophy and as a scientific discipline. He was the first to introduce it as a distinct academic discipline in Germany.
In this work, Kant attempts to classify mental illness as a cultural problem: “The sole general characteristic of madness is the loss of the public spirit (sensus cummunis) and the corresponding private spirit (sensus priuatis) e.g., he sees in broad daylight a burning light upon his table, that no one else sees, or hears a voice that no other hears.” Here he anticipates modern psychology and psychiatry as prime sources for the knowledge of human nature. He addressed the question of the impact of external and non-organic factors in the development of mental pathologies, ascribing mental illness to organic brain dysfunction, but also suggested that it could result from maladjustment to a person’s surroundings. He forwarded observations and conjectures on puberty as a critical phase of human development. The work was reviewed eleven times within the next two years. A pirated edition was published in Frankfurt in 1799.
Edition of 2000 copies.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. This paper is very similar to that used in the production of Gerber’s Historisch-biographisches Lexicon der Tonku̇nstler (1790) and Forkel’s Allgemeine Litteratur der Music (1792). It contains the same type of inclusions and creases. Konigsberg, where this book was published, is approximately 215 miles from Leipzig, where the two above mentioned books were produced.
ORAZIONE FUNEBRE IN MORTE DI FERDINANDO I ...
Luigi Uberto Giordani
Parma: Co’Tipi Bodoniani, 1802
First edition
DG975 P25 G56 1803
A funeral oration in honor of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma (1751-1802), the favorite grandson of Louis XV, who was thought to have died from deliberate poisoning with a chocolate.
Laid paper. Almost certainly linen. This vibrantly white paper is very stiff, but not at all brittle. It possesses the strong rattle characteristic of heavily starched linen paper. Despite minor flaws throughout, this paper is clearly of high quality. The dreadful wallpaper-like synthetically marbled paper used to cover this pamphlet is obviously a much later addition. The pamphlet is of quarto format and the lack of cleanliness on the outer pages of the front and back indicates that the pamphlet was not originally covered.
THE PENITENTIAL TYRANT ; OR, THE SLAVE REFORMED ...
Thomas Branagan (1774-1843)
New York: Printed and sold by Samuel Wood, no. 362, Pearl-street, 1807
Second edition, enlarged
PS1121 B4 P4 1807
First published in 1805 in Philadelphia, the title poem is bound together with other abolitionist pieces. The poem is consecutively paginated with an essay, “The Method of Procuring Slaves on the Coast of Africa; with an account of their sufferings on the voyage, and cruel treatment in the West Indies.” The essay is illustrated with woodcuts illustrating and describing impossibly barbaric treatment of captured and imprisoned Africans.
Thomas Branagan was born in Ireland. He worked his way through the ranks on board slave ships and became a foreman on a plantation in Antigua. He converted to Methodism, became a preacher, and moved to Philadelphia and then New York. He wrote four volumes of poetry between 1804 and 1810 and a profusion of essays against slavery.
In this second printing of “The Penitential Tyrant,” Branagan added the word “pathetic” to the title.
Rare Books copy contains an engraving of an enslaved man tied to a ladder while being whipped. This image is, apparently, rare, not found in all copies.
Laid paper. Either linen or cotton. This paper has chaff inclusions that look very much like that in many European linen papers, but also possesses less rattle and feels softer to the touch. Without in-depth research into the publisher and its paper suppliers, knowing the exact type of paper is illusive for this book, as with any other. This paper is not of high quality, however, nor is it of the lowest quality. While minor imperfections such as creases can be seen, the paper has a nice feel and vanilla-like smell. The paper of this particular copy suffers from slight foxing (which is an age-related process of deterioration that causes spots and browning on old paper – the name derives from the fox-like reddish-brown color of the stains, most likely caused by the rust chemical, ferric oxide).
THE FEDERALIST, ON THE NEW CONSTITUTION, WRITTEN ...
Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), James Madison (1751-1836) and John Jay (1745-1829)
Philadelphia: Published by Benjamin Warner, No. 147, Market Street, and sold at his stores, Richmond, Virginia, and Charleston, South Carolina, 1818
Fifth edition
KF4515 F4 1818
Despite the poor sales of the first edition, The Federalist was published again and nearly continuously to the present day. The fifth edition of The Federalist contains an appendix of the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States with Amendments, not found in the fourth edition. The Philadelphia imprint contains revisions by Madison, along with his claims of authorship of some of the essays previously attributed to Hamilton. This is the second single-volume edition printed, complete with full-page engraved portraits of Hamilton, Madison and Jay. It was published the same year as a Washington, D.C. imprint.
Rare Books copy of is gift of Dr. Ronald Rubin.
Laid paper. Type unknown. This paper is so bad it is a textbook case of what a papermaker of the early 19th century should not have been doing. Additionally, it is astonishing that a Philadelphia publisher would use this paper for these essays. This paper is severely flawed in multiple ways, including both non-aesthetic inclusions and creasing. The most obvious problem this paper suffers from is the lack of proper chemical composition. Not only is it suffering from heavy foxing, but it has also interacted poorly with the ink used.
ROMANCERO DE ROMANCES MORISCOS : COMPUESTO DE TODOS ...
Agustin Duran (1789?-1862)
Madrid: Amarita, 1828
First edition
PQ6181 D87 1828
Inspired and influenced by collections of romances coming out of Germany and other European countries, Agustin Duran began his monumental work, editing the most comprehensive collection possible of Spanish poetry. The first volume was so well received that Duran published more volumes. Not only did Duran publish the romances, he offered the public a scholarly yet readable discussion of their origins, nature and significance, organizing them by subject and alphabetically. Much of the older poetry Duran collected was scorned in his day. Duran saved it for future scholars, as a basis for future studies of popular literature, a reflection of collection fever flooding Europe in the nineteenth century.
Laid paper. Most certainly linen. This beautiful paper is of very high quality. It possesses a strong, satisfying rattle. It contains minor, aesthetic inclusions throughout and contains almost no flaws or imperfections. Notice the very interesting collage-like marbled paper used for the paste down papers in the front and back. This marbling was done on laid paper, which looks to be contemporary with the production of the rest of the book. As a non-paper side note, also notice the amazing tree calf used for the casing of this delightful little book. It also smells amazing, like good leather and amazing European paper.
DIVAN
Hāfiz (1315-1390)
[Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not identified], 1840
PK6465 D5 1840
Khwāja Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī, known by his pen name Hafez or Hafiz ("the memorizer; the (safe) keeper"), was a Persian poet. His collected works are regarded as a pinnacle of Persian literature and are often found in the homes of people in the Persian speaking world, who learn his poems by heart and still use them as proverbs and sayings. His life and poems have been the subject of much analysis, commentary, and interpretation, and have heavily influenced post-14th century Persian writing.
Hafez primarily wrote in the literary genre of lyric poetry, which was believed at the time in which he lived to be the ideal style for expressing the ecstasy of divine inspiration in the mystical form of love poems. Themes of his ghazals (a type of amatory poem or ode) are the beloved, faith, and exposing hypocrisy.
Laid paper. Most likely linen. This paper is stiff and has a strong rattle. It contains very few inherent flaws. This high-quality paper seems somewhat out of place for a book produced in the Near East in the mid-19th century. The quality of paper used for this book is exceptional for the time period and place. One may be tempted to conclude that this book was actually produced in Europe rather than Persia (modern day Iran), but the cover and nature of insect damage suggest that its origin is indeed Middle Eastern. The care those who produced this book took in selecting high quality paper speaks to their feelings about its content.
Wood pulp paper is made from the fiber of softwood trees such as spruce, pine, fir, larch, and hemlock, and hardwoods such as eucalyptus, aspen, and birch. Large-scale wood paper production began in the 1840s with the independent development of mechanical pulping in Germany by Friedrich Gottlob Keller and by the Canadian inventor Charles Fenerty in Nova Scotia.
CONFESSIONS OF AN ENGLISH OPIUM - EATER
Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859)
London: W. Scott, 1800z
PR4534 C6 1800z
Thomas Penson De Quincey was an English essayist, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821). Many scholars suggest that in publishing this work De Quincey inaugurated the tradition of addiction literature in the West. His immediate influence extended to Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Baudelaire, and Nikolai Gogol, but even major 20th-century writers such as Jorge Luis Borges admired and claimed to be partly influenced by his work.
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater is an autobiographical account of De Quincy’s laudanum addiction and its effect on his life. It was the first major work he published and the one which won him fame almost overnight. First published anonymously in September and October 1821 in the London Magazine, Confessions was released in book form in 1822, and again in 1856, in an edition revised by De Quincey. Confessions maintained primacy of place in De Quincey’s literary output, and his literary reputation. Yet from the time of its publication, Confessions was criticized for presenting a picture of the opium experience that was too positive and too enticing to readers.
Wood pulp paper. The paper used by the Walter Scott Publishing Co. for the production of this book is from the same time and of about the same grade as was used for Kin’s Songs of the Heart, despite their differing origins. The use of wood pulp paper suggests publication of this edition in the second half of the 19th century, after the advent of wood pulp paper, although it lacks the later revisions. The uneven edges of the paper in this book should not be confused with the deckle edge. This is an example of a book with pages which the reader was required to “open” before reading them. The cutting open of the untrimmed quires resulted in the uneven edges of the pages.
TELEGRAPHIC
Great Salt Lake City, [Utah]: [Deseret News], No. 221 & 224, November 25 & 29, 1862
AN2 U8 T45
The Telegraphic, sometimes called Telegraphic Dispatches, was published as a supplement to the Deseret News from 1861 to 1864. The Deseret News used the paper to report specifically on the Civil War. The Telegraphic relied on the news that was telegraphed from the East, whence its name. In October 1861, telegraph lines met coming from East and West in Utah. From that time on the United States coasts were joined in electronic communication.
Paper type unknown. The paper used in these two issues of Telegraphic was undoubtedly produced from recycled materials. One of the interesting characteristics of this paper is the color. An observer of today may be tempted to wonder if the makers of this paper added dyes to the pulp, because they are so aesthetically pleasing. It is highly unlikely, however, that at this time and place the additional cost of dye would have been used for paper intended for such an ephemeral serial publication. The opposite is actually more likely – that this paper was produced from recycled materials as a cost-effective measure and the color is simply the result of whatever material was recycled. For the issue published November 25, it is tempting to guess that denim may have been used because of its blue jean-like coloring. However, denim was not invented until 1873. One theory concerning the pinkish red color of the November 29 issue is that perhaps is was made using red “long john” underwear, but the first union suit was not patented until 1868. Whatever fiber types were used to produce the paper, it is interesting to compare the two and observe that the pinkish red paper seems to have taken the ink less well than its blue counterpart.
SONGS OF THE HEART
Hannah Tapfield King
Salt Lake City, UT: Starr Book & Job Printing Office, 1879
PS2179 K45
Hannah Tapfield King was born in Cambridge, England. She was educated by her mother who taught her social graces, read to her, and listened to her read. King was a prolific writer of letters and articles for local newspapers, the author of two published books, and a talented poet. She left the Anglican Church to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She arrived in Salt Lake City on September 19, 1853. She joined the Elocution Society and the Polysophical Society (a victim of the Mormon Reformation whose zealous brethren feared its intellectual pursuits) which she described as “a spur to cultivate our thinking faculties more.” She felt strongly that women should cultivate their minds. Her transition from England to America was not easy. After one cultural club meeting she wrote, “Silly women! They only exposed their ignorance and ill manners, and what do they know of the English…” In spite of this and the rugged Utah environment, King was eager to help shape its cultural perspectives. She wrote for the Woman’s Exponent and was president of the Seventeenth Ward M.I.A. She became counselor to M. Hyde, president of the 17th Ward Relief Society. She was a plural wife of Brigham Young.
Rare Books copy is signed by Emmeline B. Wells.
Wood pulp paper. This paper is neither of the lowest nor the highest quality. Affordability meant replacing handmade paper with paper made from industrially produced wood pulp. This paper is less acidic than that which was used for newsprint. One can see the difference when examining the small inserts used for binding. The small, inserted strip has darkened more and has negatively affected the paper on both sides of it, where the acid in this paper has interacted with the paper on both sides of it.
HUSN AL-MUHADARAH FI AKHBAR MISR WA-AL-QAHIRAH
Suyūtī (1445-1505)
[Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not identified], 1881
DT77 S87 1881
Abū al-Faḍl ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr ibn Muḥammad Jalāl al-Dīn al-Khuḍayrī al-Suyūṭī, often referred to as Al-Suyūtī, was an Egyptian religious scholar, juristic expert, teacher, and a prolific writer. Al-Suyūṭī wrote about diverse subjects in many works during the second half of the 15th century. According to the Dalil makhtutat al-Suyūṭī (Directory of al-Suyuti's Manuscripts), he wrote over 700 works -– but many of them were short pamphlets (legal opinions). In Ḥusn al-muḥaḍarah, Al-Suyūṭī lists 283 of his works.
Wood pulp paper. This mid-grade, industrially produced paper is neither of the lowest nor highest quality wood pulp paper. The paper used in the production of this book is very typical of most books produced in the Middle East in the second half of the 19th century. An economical study of the Middle Eastern book trade at this time would most likely show that only books made of mass-produced wood pulp paper would be affordable to the average person, much the same as cotton rag paper was the only affordable option in America in the hundred years leading up to the mid-19th century (when that was replaced by wood pulp paper there as well as the Middle East).
THE USES OF TISSUE PAPER : WITH PLAIN DIRECTIONS FOR ...
Dennison Manufacturing Company
Boston: Dennison Mfg. Co., 1890
TT892 U84 1890
The Dennison Manufacturing Company was a manufacturer of consumer paper products such as tags, labels, wrapping paper, crêpe paper, and greeting cards. The company was founded by Aaron L. Dennison and his father Andrew Dennison in Brunswick, Maine in 1844. Aaron Dennison, who was working in the Boston jewelry business, believed he could produce a better paper box than the imported boxes then on the market. The Dennisons first produced boxes made to house jewelry and watches. Aaron Dennison sold the boxes at his store in Boston (beginning in 1850), and then in New York (starting in 1854). After early business success, Aaron Dennison retired and yielded control of the company to his brother E. W. Dennison.
Expanding the types of tags produced and their quality, the company grew over the next thirty years from a small jewelry box maker to a large supplier of paper products. Throughout the 1870s, Dennison imported white tissue paper from England to sell with their jewelry boxes, as well as colored paper ideal for crafts. By 1881, the company had created an Art Department in its Boston branch store to test the artistic properties of the tissue paper. This was a big success and Dennison published books on how to make flowers and decorations out of the tissue paper.
Wood pulp paper. This instructional booklet displays the colors of tissue paper available for purchase from the Denison Manufacturing Company in 1890. While the colorful tissue paper is beautiful, the industrially produced wood pulp paper comprising the rest of the booklet is not. Interestingly, the rear cover advertises the company’s imported “Genuine Japanese Napkins.”
At Kelmscott Press in the 1890s, William Morris used paper made by Joseph Batchelor of Mssrs. Batchelor and Son, Little Chart, Ashford, Kent. The cost of this excellent paper, which is of the highest quality, was two shillings per pound, about five to six times the cost of machine-made book paper.
Regarding his search for the paper used in the books produced by the Kelmscott Press, Morris wrote, “I … considered it necessary that the paper should be hand-made, both for the sake of durability and appearance. [As for] the kind … I [concluded] … 1st, that the paper must by wholly of linen (most hand-made papers are of cotton to-day), and must be quite ‘hard,’ i.e. thoroughly well sized; and 2nd, that though it must be ‘laid’ and not ‘wove’ (i.e. made on a mould made of obvious wires), 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. (see Norman Kelvin, The Collected Letters of William Morris, Volume III: 1889-1892. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996. Pages 224-225.)
Observe the beautiful deckled edges of this paper.
POEMS BY THE WAY
William Morris (1834-1896)
Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press; London: Sold by Reeves and Turner, 1891
First edition
PR5078 P4 1891
Poems by the Way is the second book printed at Kelmscott Press and the first printed in red and black. The book includes the first appearance of several of the poems, including “Goldilock,” written especially for this book. This collection contains early narrative poems based on medieval or classical stories, poems influenced by medieval tales of Iceland and Scandinavia, and socialism. A wide, white vine woodcut border on page one introduces many decorative ten-line and six-line initials. Printed in black and red in Golden type. Title in gilt on spine, blue silk ties.
Edition of three hundred copies printed on paper, thirteen printed on vellum.
A deckle is a removable wooden frame used in manual papermaking. In a related sense, it can also mean the untrimmed, or “deckle” edge of paper. During the papermaking process, a deckle is placed onto a mould to keep the paper pulp within the bounds of the wire facing (sieve) on a mould. The mould, with its deckle in place, is dipped into a vat of water and beaten (fibrillated) plant fiber – the solution of which is called paper pulp. The pulp is quickly scooped out of the vat with the mould and deckle. The deckle is then removed and the newly formed sheet is "couched" (set) onto felts (a stack of which is referred as the “post”). When the paper is couched, i.e. placed on the felts for pressing (to further drain the water from the sheets), it will often cause an irregular edge to form. Paper with a feathered edge is described as having a deckle edge, in contrast to a cut edge. Machine-made paper may artificially have its edges produced to resemble a deckle edge. Before the 19th century, the deckle edge was unavoidable. It was a natural after effect of the papermaking process, in which sheets of paper were made individually using a mould and deckle.
Beginning in the 1800s, with the invention of the Fourdrinier machine, paper was produced in long rolls and the deckle edge became mostly obsolete; although there was some deckle on the ends of the rolls, it was cut off, and the individual sheets cut out from the roll would have no deckle in any case. With the appearance of smooth edges in the 19th century, the deckle edge slowly emerged as a status symbol. Many 19th-century presses advertised two versions of the same book: one with edges trimmed smooth and a higher-priced deckle version, which suggested the book was made with higher-quality paper, or with more refined methods. This tradition carried forward into the 20th and 21st centuries. In the case of mechanically produced paper, a modern deckle is sometimes created by a purpose-built machine to give the appearance of a true deckle edge by cutting the smooth edge into patterns. A deckle edge is unrelated to the practice of unopened pages, in which a reader must cut open pages with a knife.
EARTHLY PARADISE
William Morris (1834-1896)
Hammersmith, England: Kelmscott Press, 1896-97
PR5075 A1 1896 vols. 1 & 2
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 William 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.
LOVE IS ENOUGH, OR THE FREEING OF PHARAMOND ...
William Morris (1834-1896)
Hammersmith: The Kelmscott Press, 1897
PR5078 L5 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 achieved this through a mastery of craft techniques, such as letterpress 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.
THE PROLOGUE TO THE TALES OF CANTERBURY
Geoffrey Chaucer (d. 1400)
Ashendene, Hertford: Ashendene Press, 1898
PR1868 P8 S5 1898
The ninth publication of the Ashendene Press and the first illustrated work from the Press, The Prologue to the Tales of Caunterbury was printed by C. St. John Hornby and his sisters with the assistance of Cicely Barclay for private circulation only amongst their friends and neighbors.
The text is that of the Clarendon Press edition of The Complete Works of Chaucer edited by Dr. W. Skeat, Oxford, 1895. The book is illustrated with twelve zinc cut reproductions of the woodcuts used in William Caxton’s 1483 edition of The Tales of Canterbury.
Rare Books copy bound by Miss Margie Le Lacheur, a student of T. J. Cobden Sanderson, in full green morocco with gilt tooling consisting of a blossom, leaf, and vine pattern on the front cover and spine, gilt dentelles, and boards ruled in gilt. Gilt letters “L” and “M” at the top and “L” and “E” at the bottom of the front board and rear boards. The inside of the back board, in gilt, indicates “M.L – 1900.” Apparently, the book was bound by Lacheur for a family member. Lacheur was employed by the Doves Bindery. She exhibited at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in 1899. Only three other bindings by Lacheur are known. Edition of fifty copies, signed and dated by the printer. Rare Books copy is no. 25.
Laid paper. Linen rag. At the Ashendene Press, C. St. John Hornby, like William Morris, used paper made by Joseph Batchelor of Mssrs. Batchelor and Son.
THE ROYAL SHAKSPERE ; THE POET'S WORKS IN ...
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
London: Cassell and Company, limited, 1898
PR2753 D4 1898
The Royal Shakspere was first issued in parts between 1883-84. It was produced in volume form in 1894, then in 1898 and again in 1905. The 1898 edition is by far the scarcest of the three issues. The text and chronology are those compiled by Professor Nikolaus Delius (1813-1888), Professor of English at the University of Bonn and one of the foremost Shakespearean scholars of his generation. The extended introduction is by F. J. Furnivall, founder and director of the New Shakespere Society.
The 48 engraved illustrations are by Bauer, Sherratt, and Sharpe (among many others) after illustrations by Green, Richter, Watson, and other artists. The series title includes a depiction of the Globe Theatre in 1613 engraved by Godfrey after Percival Skelton.
The first volume contains a three-page facsimile of Shakespeare's will, accompanied by a modern transcription. The frontispiece to the third volume also shows the five known autographs of Shakespeare. This copy has all three volumes of the set bound together as one.
Predominantly wood pulp paper. This book is interesting because while the majority of the paper used in its production is low quality, machine made paper, the facsimile of Shakespeare’s will was printed on laid paper of a much higher quality. This is a truly magnificent production (royal, if you will) of Shakespeare’s work in all ways except the selection of the paper used. As one uses this book he or she cannot help but wish most heartily that Cassell and Company had used paper of higher quality because the quality of the paper most certainly does not match the quality of the rest of the publication.
THE NONNES PREESTES TALE OF THE COK AND HEN
Geoffrey Chaucer (d. 1400)
New York: The Grafton Press, 1902
PR1868 N6 B3
Type is Gothic. Title is enclosed in red ornamental border with red initials. Printed in March 1902 by Theodore L. DeVinne on Whatman paper with illuminated title-pages and initials. Edition of 26 copies, lettered. University of Utah copy is letter T.
James Whatman the Elder (1702-1759) was an English paper maker who made revolutionary advances to the craft. He is noted as the inventor of wove paper, an innovation used for high quality art and printing. The earliest examples 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 business, in addition to producing the finest paper, is probably responsible for the invention of the wove wire mesh used to mould and align the pulp fibers. This is the principal method used in the mass production of most modern paper. The Whatmans held a part interest in the establishment at Turkey Mill, Maidstone, which was acquired through the elder Whatman's marriage to Ann Harris. Paper bearing the Whatman's mark was produced until 2002. The company later specialized in producing filter papers and is now owned by GE Healthcare. Last production at Maidstone was in 2014. Observe the watermark on the bottom of the left page.
A TREATYSE OF FYSHHYNGE WYTH AN ANGLE
Juliana Berners (fl. c. 1560)
Chelsea [England]: Printed at the Ashendene Press 1903
SH431 B522 1903
Dame Juliana Berners was an English noblewoman and prioress of the Sopwell Nunnery near St. Albans, England. Little is known or recorded about her life other than her writing and publication of A Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle. Various accounts describe her as a woman of keen intellect and an accomplished practitioner and avid devotee of outdoor sports, including hunting and angling.
Berners’s work predates Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler (1653), the best-known example of early angling literature, by approximately 150 years. Despite its early origin, the Treatyse remains a remarkable work for its detail and vision. The book contains substantial information on fishing destinations, rod and line construction, and selection of natural baits and preferred artificial fly dressings categorized by the season of their optimum utility.
Perhaps most remarkable are the essays on the virtues of conservation, respecting the rights of streamside landowners, and angler’s etiquette. These concepts would not come to be commonly accepted and advocated in the angling world until 400 years after the publication of the Treatyse, yet today they embody the ethical bedrock of sport fishing.
This edition, published by the Ashendene Press, consists of 150 copies on paper and 25 copies on vellum. Rare Books copy bears the bookplate of Walter B. Lindley.
Laid paper. Linen rag. The Ashendene Press, like most other fine presses of this time period, used very high-quality paper for the production of its books.
UN MAZZETTO SCELTO DI CERIT FIORETTI DEL GLORIOSO ...
St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)
Chelsea: Ashendene Press, 1904
BX4700 F63 A1 1904
Illustrated with ten woodcuts, drawn by Charles M. Gere and engraved by W. H. Hooper. Printed with Subiaco typeface on Batchelor handmade paper in double columns with column headings and initials designed by Graily Hewitt, in red. Bound in linen-backed boards with printed paper spine label, title in black on front cover. Rare Books copy inscribed by Sidney Carlyle Cockerel (1867-1962), who collaborated with Emery Walker (1851-1933) in designing Subiaco type. Cockerel worked as a secretary to William Morris and the Kelmscott Press. Without a university degree, he became the director of the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge in 1908. During his twenty-nine-year administration, he collected illuminated manuscripts and changed the look of museums everywhere. He rehung crowded walls and introduced seating and flowers in the museum’s galleries. Engraver and printer Emery Walker’s collection of 16th century typefaces inspired the fonts Morris created for his Kelmscott Press. Walker later joined forces with bookbinder T.J. Cobden-Sanderson to begin Doves Press. Edition of one hundred and fifty copies.
Laid paper. Linen rag. This paper is Batchelor’s “hammer and anvil.” This watermark is very prevalent and can be seen throughout the book. Observe the bottom margin of page 14. Although difficult to see without holding the paper up to a light source, here the hammer sits at a 45-degree angle up to the right, with the anvil to its left. Were the paper to be turned counter-clockwise into landscape orientation, it would appear as if the hammer was suspended in mid-swing above the anvil.
AL-'URWAH AL-WUTHQA LI-INFISAM LAHA
Jamāl al-Dīn Afghānī (1839-1897)
Bayrūt: Matbaʻat al-Tawfīq, 1910
DT82 A7
Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī, commonly known as Al-Afghani, was a political activist and Islamic ideologist in the Muslim world during the late 19th century. One of the founders of Islamic Modernism and an advocate of Pan-Islamic unity, he has been described as being less interested in minor differences in Islamic jurisprudence than he was in organizing a Muslim response to Western pressure.
Al-Afghani, with Muhammad Abduh, published the influential journal Al-urwah al-wuthqa (The Strongest Bond), which emphasized pan-Islamism and the need for active opposition to British rule in Muslim lands. This work is comprised of eighteen issues which were published between March and October 1884. It is unclear why the journal ceased publication, but it was most likely caused by lack of funding. The British government banned circulation of the journal in India and Egypt.
Wood pulp paper. The publisher of this journal used two different types of paper in its production. The lighter of the two is clearly of higher quality than the darker which surrounds it. While the lighter paper has remained stable, the darker paper is acidic and is becoming brittle. The brown paper is very similar to newsprint paper. It tears and cracks very easily even with gentle use. It is not immediately clear why the publisher would mix paper types in the production of this book. This work does not consist of the original journal issues, but is the collection of those re-printed together twenty-six years later. The start of the section of lighter paper is not the beginning of a new journal issue. It may have simply been a matter of what paper was available to the printer while the text block of this collection was being created.
G.B. BODONI'S PREFACE TO THE MANUALE TIPOGRAFICO OF 1818
Giambattista Bodoni (1740-1813)
London: E. Mathews, 1925
Z232 B66 1925
Giambattista Bodoni was an Italian typographer, type-designer, compositor, printer, and publisher in Parma. He first took the type-designs of Pierre Simon Fournier as his exemplars, but afterwards became an admirer of the more modelled types of John Baskerville. He and Firmin Didot evolved a style of type called ‘New Face’, in which the letters are cut in such a way as to produce a strong contrast between the thick and thin parts of their body.
Bodoni designed many type-faces, each one in a large range of type sizes. He is admired as much as a compositor as a type-designer, as the large range of sizes which he cut enabled him to compose his pages with the greatest possible subtlety of spacing. Like Baskerville, he sets off his texts with wide margins and uses little or no illustrations or decorations. There have been several modern revivals of his type-faces, all called “Bodoni.” They are often used as display faces.
After his death, Bodoni's widow published Il Manuale Tipografico, presenting 373 characters, 34 Greek, and 48 Oriental or exotic type faces. This edition, the first in English, contains an introduction by Harold Vincent Marrot (1898-1954), who was an English student of typography. This edition was printed at Curwen Press in Bodoni type on Japanese vellum.
Edition of twenty-five copies. Rare Books copy is no. 14.
Japanese vellum. The paper used for the text block of this book is very heavy and has a texture much like card stock. What is of particular interest, however, is the paper used to cover the boards and create the book’s casing. This light blue paper appears to have been decorated by hand. As paper is much less durable than either leather or cloth (which are the more common materials used to case books), it is a wonder that this beautiful paper has held up so well. It may be possible that it is Japanese kozo paper, which is stronger due to the longer length of the kozo fibers the paper is comprised of.
In 1919 Dard Hunter and his family moved from Marlborough-on-Hudson, New York, to Chillicothe, Ohio, where Hunter purchased and renovated the impressive Mountain House, which was built in the early 1850’s. Hoping to establish a paper mill, Hunter returned to England in 1920 where he purchased and shipped home disused papermaking equipment. But before any concrete plans were made, he postponed this idea to concentrate on writing. The result was the publication of Old Papermaking (1923), The Literature of Papermaking 1390-1800 (1925), and Primitive Papermaking (1927). Between 1927 and 1932 the Mountain House Press was on hiatus while Hunter established a commercial hand papermaking mill in Lime Rock, Connecticut. In 1930 the first sheet of paper was made by members of a family of English papermakers. Unfortunately, the mill did not thrive due, in part, to the Great Depression, and it was sold in late 1933. The mill did, however, provide Hunter with enough handmade paper for many of his later limited-edition books. Much of that paper was formed on his moulds with the Bull's Head and Branch watermark.
FIFTEENTH CENTURY PAPERMAKING
Dard Hunter (1883-1966)
New York: Press of Ars Typographica, 1927
TS1092 H8 1927
William Joseph “Dard” Hunter was an American printer and papermaker. At his Mountain House Press, Hunter produced two hundred copies of his book Old Papermaking (1923), for which he prepared every aspect of the book himself: he wrote the text, designed and cast the type, did the typesetting, handmade the paper, and printed and bound the book.
Hunter’s Fifteenth Century Papermaking is one of the many works he wrote on the history of papermaking. It includes reproductions of engraved plates from early printed works on papermaking.
Laid paper. Unknown type. What is very ironic about this pamphlet it that Dard Hunter’s essay on the history of papermaking was printed on completely inferior paper. While clearly laid paper (it even contains a watermark, bottom of right folio), it has become so brittle that almost every folio has cracked along the fold, leaving the majority of the pamphlet coming unbound. The Press of Ars Typographica chose to publish Hunter’s work, undoubtedly believing it was important, but apparently was unable to assimilate the knowledge available to them via Hunter’s research that would have made it possible for them to select quality paper.
PRIMITIVE PAPERMAKING : A ACCOUNT OF A MEXICAN ...
Dard Hunter (1883-1966)
Chillicothe, Ohio: Mountain House Press, 1927
TS1090 H83 1927
Primitive Papermaking was Dard Hunter’s first book on international, non-Western papermaking. Most of this volume concerns the production of tapa in the Pacific and in Southeast Asia. Hunter makes the case that although usually termed ‘bark-cloth’ by Westerners, this material, made by beating the fibers of the inner barks of trees, is actually paper. The first explorers to encounter this material termed it “cloth” primarily because of its uses, not because of its construction.
Hunter spent years acquiring the samples of tapa, many of which were quite old. Hunter noted the affinity of “silverfish” for tapa. Thus, older pieces do not survive well in their tropical places of origin. The craft had already disappeared in places Hunter visited in the first quarter of the 20th century, although he was able to obtain historical samples.
Includes thirty-one specimens of bark paper and two specimens of mulberry bark.
Edition of two hundred copies, signed by the author.
Laid paper. The paper for this book was made in Kent, England, with Hunter’s own pair of moulds and his Bull’s Head and Branch watermark. Hunter ordered it from England as there were no mills in America making handmade paper at the time. Hunter sent his large, antique laid moulds to W. Green, Son & Waite, who had made paper for him earlier in the 1920’s. The moulds were then forwarded to the J. Barcham Green Company’s Hayle Mill in Maidstone, Kent, which made about 30 reams, or 15,000 sheets, of the paper. It is the paper from Hayle Mill that was used in the production of Primitive Papermaking.
THREE THINGS
W. B. Yeats (1865-1939)
[London]: [Faber & Faber], 1929
PR5904 T44 1929a
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was born in Sandymount, Ireland and educated there and in London. He spent childhood holidays in County Sligo and studied poetry from an early age when he became fascinated by Irish legends and the occult. These topics feature in the first phase of his work, which lasted roughly until the turn of the 20th century. His earliest volume of verse was published in 1889, and its slow-paced and lyrical poems display Yeats’s debts to Edmund Spenser, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and the poets of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
From 1900, he largely renounced the transcendental beliefs of his youth, though he remained preoccupied with physical and spiritual masks, as well as with cyclical theories of life. In 1923, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
The poem “Three Things” is comprised of three stanzas. The first stanza is about the remembered pleasure of nursing a child and the second stanza is about the remembered pleasure of the sexual act. While the first two stanzas are about giving pleasure to another, the third is about taking very personal pleasure. According to John Unterecker's A Reader's Guide to William Butler Yeats, “Three Things” assembles three kinds of pleasure that woman can get from love: “the satisfaction she gets and gives in offering a child her breast (stanza I), the satisfaction she gets and gives in offering a lover her body (stanza II), and the satisfaction she gets from deceiving her husband, yawning in his face after a night with her lover (stanza III).
From the colophon, “This large-paper edition, printed on English hand-made paper, is limited to five hundred copies. This is number 183.” Published by Faber and Faber of London, the book was printed at the Curwen Press. Drawings by Gilbert Spencer.
Laid paper. Most likely cotton or linen. This book shows that fine press printing begun with the Arts and Crafts movement (as seen with Kelmscott, Ashendene, and Grafton Presses) continued through the 20th century. The paper used in the production of this book is of very high quality.
THE HANDMADE PAPERS OF JAPAN
Thomas Keith Tindale
Rutland, VT: C.E. Tuttle Co., 1952
TS1095 J3 T56 1952
Four individual books printed on Japanese handmade paper and bound in the Japanese fashion in hand-stenciled paper covers, accompanied by an envelope of Japanese fibers. The first volume contains a history of Japanese papermaking, illustrated with photographs. The second volume contains examples of handmade paper dating from 710 to 1951. Volume three contains specimens of papers from contemporary Japanese papermakers. Volume four is a portfolio of magnificent watermarks from papers made in the mills of the Government Printing Agency.
A former owner of the Rare Books has laid in several additional examples of watermarks and papers. The books are enclosed in a folding box covered with original fabric, marked with a paper label.
Edition of one hundred and fifty copies.
HANDMADE PAPERS OF THE WORLD
Tokyo, Japan: Takeo Co., 1979
TS1124.5 H36 1979
“A publication commemorating the 80th anniversary of Takeo Co., Ltd.”
Portfolios containing nearly two hundred full-page specimens of handmade papers from twenty-two countries, made from various substances, including bamboo, banana, tree bark, cotton, grass, jute, linen, pulp, rice straw, waste paper, maize, pho sa, kozo, gampi, mitsumata and lokta (daphne); one specimen (Richard de Bas, France) has embedded flowers, one (Cartiere Miliani Fabriano, Italy) has light and shade watermark.
Portfolio titled, “Forefathers of Paper,” contains specimens of papyrus, parchment, bai-lan, amatl and tapa. Noted on each specimen is the country of origin, name of paper, presence of watermark, maker or source, and size.
HANDMADE PAPERS OF THE HIMALAYAS
Nigel Macfarlane
Winchester, Hampshire, England: Alembic Press, 1986
TS1095 T53 M33 1986
Edition of 108 copies, hand-set in Kennerley and printed on an Arab Foolscap Folio press at the Alembic Press. This copy is number 6.
This book was printed on paper handmade in Nepal and Bhutan.
CHINESE HANDMADE PAPER
Floyd Alonzo McClure
Newtown, PA: Bird & Bull Press, 1986
TS1109 M32 1986
Floyd McClure, an authority on bamboo, lived for many years in China, where he studied the papermakers and wrote this previously unpublished thesis. It and thousands of paper samples had been stored in trunks until discovered by Elaine Koretsky, who provides an introduction to the book. The work includes 40 paper samples, all collected by McClure during the 1920’s & 30’s. The samples represent a wide variety of substances and uses. There are detailed notes for each specimen. Quarter black morocco & morocco tips, decorated paper boards.
From the colophon: “The text was composed in Van Dijck types by Mackenzie-Harris Corp. and was printed on mouldmade Hahnemühle paper.”
Edition of three hundred and twenty-five copies. Rare Books copy is number 301.
HANDMADE PAPERS OF INDIA
Nigel Macfarlane
Winchester, Hampshire, England: Alembic Press, 1987
TS1109 M22 1987
Handmade papers of India is an introduction to the history of papermaking in India. Included are samples of papers handmade in that country.
From the Colophon: “The paper used for the text of this book is 130 gsm Gunny [jute & cotton] waterleaf. Both it and the Indian paper samples were made at the Sri Aurobindo Mill in Pondicherry. The endpaper design is by Barbara Bliss and is printed on Islamic Sunn Hemp paper made by Bundo in Sanganir.”
Edition of one hundred and fifty copies. Rare Books copy is number 137.
WALKING
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
Sherman Oaks, CA: Ninja Press in Association with...
The Friends of the Library of the University of California, Santa Barbara, 1988
PS3051 W35 1988
Henry David Thoreau died only a month before Walking was first published in June, 1862. He had been too ill to read proof, and as a result, unapproved editorial alterations were made to the original. Most subsequent publications continued with the same alterations.
For this edition Carolee Campbell studied the printers’ copy manuscript written in Thoreau’s hand at the Concord Free Public Library in Concord, Massachusetts, along with scholarly documentation, to produce a version of the essay that reflects Thoreau’s intention as closely as possible.
The type for this edition is Spectrum and Antigone, printed in three colors on dampened handmade paper. The titling, opening capital letter, and ending dash were taken from the printers’ copy manuscript written in Thoreau’s hand.
Edition of one hundred and fifty copies, numbered.
Laid paper. This paper is handmade Charter Oak from the Barcham Green Hayle Mill in England. The boards are covered in handmade Barcham Green Renaissance III paper with an Irish linen spine. As the paper mill closed in 1987, this paper is no longer available.
EURYDICE UNBOUND
Patrick E. White
Lawrence, KS: Holiseventh Press, 1988
PS3573 H472 E8 1988
The book, like the myth, traces the paths of Orpheus and Eurydice on their circuitous journeys. The text and prints are a response to their serpentine meanderings. Designed for those who take delight in both reading and looking, this large-format edition features vibrant prints that run behind and around the text.
Relief prints by John Talleur. Printed on Hosho paper backed by Kochi, it is presented partially bound in four, accordion-fold signatures that each measure ten feet in length unfolded. Landscape orientation. Wrapped in a blue and yellow handmade paper folder and housed in a yellow and grey clamshell box.
Edition of twenty-five signed by author and artist.
PLANT PAPERS' PAPER PLANTS
Oxford: Alembic Press, 1989
TS1109 P67 1989
Based in Abingdon in Oxford, the Alembic Press is run by Claire and David Bolton. In its earlier homes of Edinburgh, Winchester, and then Marcham (Oxford), the press produced limited edition books by traditional letterpress, and ran letterpress printing, binding, and typecasting workshops. In 2010 the press downsized as a result of its move to Abingdon, during which the press let go of its Albion, Vandercook, and Arab presses, but kept much of its type, smaller presses, and also its Monotype casting equipment.
The press still offers printing and typecasting workshops, and continues to print small ephemeral items, but now concentrates on researching early printing practice.
Plant papers’ paper plants showcases the plant papers of Maureen Richardson, and includes 13 samples. The book discusses Maureen Richardson’s techniques and provides information on the plants used to make the paper displayed. Text by Claire and David Bolton. Lino-cuts by John Gibbs.
From the colophon: “Hand set in Kennerley and printed on a special making of Japanese hand-made Kozo paper. Printed on an Arab Foolscap Folio press & bound at The Alembic Press…”
Edition of one hundred and forty-five copies. Rare Books copy is no. 129.
A WINTER WALK
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
Bangor, ME: Theodore Press/Sarah Books, 1991
PS3051 W56 1991
Henry David Thoreau recounts the events of a day-long journey through the winter landscape around his Concord, Massachusetts home. This essay was originally published in the October 1843 issue of The Dial. The text, which incorporates Thoreau’s corrections and revisions found in his own, annotated, copy of the journal, is printed from hand-set “Californian” and “Open-Kapitalen” types on handmade paper. Illustrated with woodcuts by Michael Alpert. Sets of leaves joined at edges to form accordion-folded text block.
Edition of one hundred and forty copies, numbered and signed. Rare Books copy is no. 60.
Laid paper. Arches MBM paper is mould-made in France, and is comprised of 25% Cotton and 75% Sulfite (made from a chemical process that employs an acid bisulfite solution to soften the wood material used by removing the lignin from the cellulose, thus rendering it pH neutral). Sulfite paper provides maximum sizing for excellent paint retention and drawing, two of the prevalent uses of the paper. The history of the Arches paper mill can be traced to the year 1492. The paper mill at Arches provided the paper for the famous Nüremberg Chronicle, an incunable illustrated by Dürer and published in 1493. Observe the watermark on the fore edge margin of the right page.
OPACITY & TRANSLUCENCY : LETTERPRESS PRINTING ON HANDMADE PAPER
Washington, D.C.: Hand Papermaking, Inc., 1996
TS1124 O62 1996
A collaborative and creative interaction between paper and printing, Opacity & Translucency: Letterpress Printing on Handmade Paper was juried by thirty-two papermakers and printers. Explanations of papermaking techniques including folders of examples done by each artist. The Papermakers include Inge Bruggeman, Chip Schilling, Jules Remedios Faye, Christopher Stern, Jana Pullman, Robbin Ami Silverberg, John Risseeuw, Peter and Donna Thomas, and many others. Designed by Steve Miller. Issued in clamshell produced by BookLab.
Edition of one hundred and fifty copies.
THE HANDMADE PAPERS OF JAPAN : A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...
Sidney E. Berger
Newtown, PA: Bird & Bull Press, 2001
TS1095 J3 T562 2001
This re-print of Tindale’s The Handmade Papers of Japan includes additional material, researched and added by Sid Berger, and contains information about Tindale, of whom previously little was known. An assortment of contemporary Japanese papers that were not used in the 1952 volume are included in this one. One hundred and seventy copies of this book were printed on Zerkall mould-made paper at the Bird & Bull Press in August, 2001. The book was composed in Dante types by Michael and Winifred Bixler and bound by the Campbell-Logan Bindery.
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. 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 balansae … Handmade multilayered Daphne paper from Nepal was used for the cover of the book.”
Edition of fifty copies, signed by the author.
WAR : FROM WALDEN
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
Bremen, ME: Red Angel Press, 2006
PS3048 A3 2006
Taken from the chapter “Brute Neighbors” in Henry David Thoreau’s On Walden’s Pond, this text is a metaphorical and satirical observation of red ants battling black ones in the author’s woodlot. References to historical battles – the Trojan War, Napoleonic Wars and the American Revolution – suggest the absurdity of man’s bellicose nature.
Concept and editing by Betty Keller. Design and printing by Ronald Keller. Illustrated with woodblocks printed on Sekishu paper. The illustrations progress from an extreme close-up of the protagonists locked in deadly combat to an overall view of battalions of adversaries arrayed as if in Armageddon-like confrontation. Text hand-set in Plantin type and printed on Nideggen paper. Bound by Ronald Keller in brick-colored cloth stamped with “W” on front panel and “AR” on back panel in slightly deeper color, brownish-red endpapers.
Edition of one hundred copies. Rare Books copy is no. 20, signed by Ronald Keller.
Laid paper. Cotton and High Alpha Cellulose, neutral pH (acid free). A long-time favorite of book printers, Nideggen is a unique lightweight paper with the defining characteristic of irregular laid lines. Its natural color and soft-textured surface make it great for book arts and drawing. It’s also recommended for letterpress, linocut, pastel, and woodcut. Nideggen is made by Zerkall, a German paper mill dating to the 16th century. They produce some of the finest quality mouldmade papers in Europe. The mill is particularly well known for its specialty printing papers. Sekishu is Japanese paper. One of the oldest papers in the world, it is still made today by hand. It is a strong, crisp, deep cream-colored paper made from kozo fibers. Observe the wonderful deckled edge along the bottom of the woodblock printed page on the right.
ELEMENTS IN CORRELATION, PRINTING WITH THE HANDPRESS
Rollin Milroy
Vancouver, BC: Heavenly Monkey, 2009
Z232 H424 M55 2009
Elements in Correlation, Printing with the Handpress at Heavenly Monkey is comprised of three sections: “A Conversation with Reg Lissel, Papermaker,” “Why I Print How I Print,” and “You Cannot Choose Your Progeny.
Printed on a Washington press with black and red ink in Giovanni Mardersteig’s Dante type and printed damp (exactly as described in the “Why I Print How I Print” section), on handmade paper. Contains four tipped in sample pages, one tipped in paper sample, and two pages of samples of metal types held at Heavenly Monkey. Bound in quarter leather with boards covered in past paper created by Claudia Cohen.
Edition of forty copies.
EXPERIMENTS IN PAPER : A CURATED EXPLORATION ...
Kate Barber
Tuscaloosa, AL: Lost Arch Papermill and Fifth Floor Studios, the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, 2012-2013
N7433.4 B234 E96 2013
Artist’s statement: “This project began as an experiment to test the impact of handmade paper variables – fiber mixture, internal sizing, and calendaring – on print quality using a wide range of printing techniques. I chose to base the text and imagery for this exploration on a selection of Alabama weeds, a subject linked to ideas of pattern and texture.”
Letterpress printed on a variety of handmade papers. Typography is a combination of handset metal and wood type with digitally set polymer type. Imagery is a combination of carved linoleum and scratch-negative polymer plate drawings.