Christopher de Hamel delivered an early Christmas present today, thanks to his identification of a young John Waynflete Carter (1905–1975) as one of at least four previous owners of a Greek New Testament (Oxford, 1675) now held by Dunedin Public Library. Carter is perhaps best known today as the author of an ABC for Book Collectors (1952) and along with Graham Pollard (1903–1976) as co-author of An Enquiry into the Nature of Certain Nineteenth Century Pamphlets (1934), which exposed the literary forgeries of Thomas J. Wise (1859–1937).
The person who likely gave Carter this book was the ecclesiastical historian Cuthbert Hamilton Turner (1860–1930), whose ownership inscription is also present. Turner authored a volume on The Early Printed Editions of the Greek Testament (1924) and watched benevolently over the young Carter, whose inscription is most fitting for this time of year: 'J. W. Carter Eton College, elect of King's Coll[ege] Christmas 1923'.
Wishing everyone who has visited Antipodean Footnotes a happy holiday season and all good wishes for a joyous New Year. Here is to more bibliographical discoveries in 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment