Bound But Not Forgotten #3: Further 18C Prospectuses

My first post in this short series ended with a note on further prospectuses found in the binding of the 1785 folio edition of Johnson's Dictionary. Both were initially identified as being for an edition of Ephraim Chambers's Cyclopaedia, or a Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences revised and supplemented by Abraham Rees, though the exact edition advertised was unknown.

I have since been able to identify the edition, though it turns out my initial identification was only half correct.

First Prospectus
One of the prospectuses is indeed for the Cyclopaedia (fig. 1), advertising the first revised London edition (London: Printed for W. Strahan, J. F. and C. Rivington, A. Hamilton, J. Hinton, T. Payne [and 31 others], 1778–88; ESTC T136235), issued in parts.

(Fig. 1)

The edition was identified by the conditions of sale, made visible thanks to some very delicate peeling. Condition IV notes that the first part of the Cyclopaedia was to be issued on 10 January 1778 (fig. 2).

(Fig. 2)

Chambers's Cyclopaedia was first published in 1728 and went through numerous editions throughout the eighteenth century. It was one of the first general encyclopaedias published in English and a precursor to the great Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert.

Abraham Rees's revised edition added much new material to Chambers, and his scholarly efforts garnered Rees fellowships in the Royal Society and the Linnean Society. Rees went on to published his New Cyclopaedia in parts between 1802 and 1820. The complete work consists of thirty-nine text volumes accompanied by five volumes of plates and an atlas.


The Second Prospectus
The second prospectus turned out to be a surprise. It was not for Chambers's Cyclopaedia at all, but for Thomas Theodore Middleton's A New and Complete System of Geography (London: Printed for J. Cooke, 1778–79; ESTC N5096).

(Fig. 3)

In her Carto-Bibliography of the Maps in Eighteenth-Century British and American Geography Books (2009), Barbara Backus McCorkle describes Middleton's System of Geography (and other 18C folio-sized geographical works) as:

'[A] bibliographical nightmare. The title-pages in similar volumes by Thomas Bankes, q.v., closely resemble in both wording and lay-out those in Middleton and may well have been intended as successors to Middleton's work. [Thirteen] map plates first used here in Middleton later make their appearance in Bankes's publications. Some of the Middleton title-pages carry dates; some do not. But they seem to have been published within a fairly short span of years, 1772–1782. The title-pages of the numerous copies seen frequently vary. The initial wording is the same, but type-setting, lay-out, and dates are not. Most copies were undated; on dated copies, dates ranged from 1777–1779; often [the] vol. I date was later than vol. II'.

For McCorckle's full analysis of Middleton's System of Geography see entry 280 in her Carto-Bibliography, available online thanks to the Bibliographical Society of America.

Samuel Johnson. A Dictionary of the English Language .... London: Printed for J. F. and C. Rivington, L. Davis, T. Payne and Son, W. Owen, T. Longman [and 21 others], 1785. Seventh edition (shelfmark: RJJ Dic 1785 OS). ESTC T116652; Fleeman 55.4D/9.

Bound But Not Forgotten #2: 15C Manuscript Leaves

This week's binding fragments are two mid fifteenth-century manuscript pastedowns found in a seventeenth-century binding. The fragments are nearly contemporary with the printing – a 1476 edition of Jacobus de Voragine's Legenda aurea – and were possibly recycled as pastedowns at least twice in their history.

According to Christopher de Hamel the fragments preserve clear impressions offset from typical diaper ruling of late medieval bindings and may well have been with the volume since the fifteenth century. This suggests the parent manuscript had a fairly short existence, perhaps being irreparably damaged.

The fragments were visible beneath the overlaid seventeenth-century pastedowns, which were removed in 1984 to allow for access to the manuscripts. The text remained unidentified until this month and appears to be from Bonaventure's De Christi Humanitate, part of chapters 22 to 24. The front leaf (fig. 1) concerns Christ's descent into Hell and the beginning of the chapter on his Resurrection. The rear leaf (fig. 2) comprises further text on the Resurrection and the opening of the chapter on Christ's Ascension.

Fig. 1

          

Fig. 2

The book itself has a very interesting and well documented provenance, which will be the subject of a future post.

--

Legenda aurea sanctorum, sive Lombardica historia. Cologne: Conrad Winters, de Homborch, 8 Nov. 1476 (shelfmark: RBC Jac 1476). ISTC ij00086000; GW M11193.

Upcoming Rare Book Events in Australia

-- The Brisbane Antiquarian Book Fair begins in a few days' time. Sixteen exhibitors are offering something for every level of collector, from an attractive 1886 hand-coloured engraving of the Parliament House in Brisbane priced at $100AUD (Brighton Antique Prints & Maps) to a very fine second edition of John Gould's A Monograph of the Trogonidae for $60,000.00 AUD (Andrew Isles Natural History Books). The event is being hosted by the State Library of Queensland.

-- Australian Book Auctions is holding a sale of books, maps and prints on 26 and 27 September, in 672 lots. Lots 443 to 672 are individual plates from Gould's Birds of Australia.

Bound But Not Forgotten: Prospectuses as Binder's Waste

In my previous post I noted some Dutch manuscript fragments used by the binder of the 1631 Isocrates. This put me in mind of other items in the Heritage Collections with bindings that have their own secrets to reveal. 

This post is the first in a short series on additional interesting binding fragments still in situ and found in the Alfred and Isabel Reed Collection.

Johnsonian Prospectuses
The latest of the eighteenth-century editions of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language held by the Dunedin Public Library is the 1785 folio seventh edition. The Reed copy is bound in two slim volumes. The binding, a once attractive tree-calf with gold-tooled spines, is now in a poor state. The leather is peeling away from the boards, as are the front and rear pastedowns. The condition of the volumes is such as would make many a bibliophile cringe, but their decrepitude turns out to be a boon in this instance. Inserted between the boards and pastedowns of the first volume are two blue wrappers, each bearing a prospectus for the 'Genuine Edition' of Johnson’s Dictionary.
.

Fig. 1

These blue wrappers are mentioned in J. D. Fleeman’s A Bibliography of the Works of Samuel Johnson, under his entries for the quarto sixth edition (55.4D/8) and folio seventh edition (55.4D/9), both published in 1785. Though still partially attached the wrappers were loose enough to be examined. Based on the trimmed measurement (27.3 x 44cm) and position of the chain lines, it was determined that the wrappers were used for sheets of a folio edition rather than quarto. Printed on the top margin of one of the sheets is the number 3 twice, positioned to be visible along the section of wrapper forming the spine, and 'N3' above the title (fig. 1). The relevance of the numbers lay with the publishing of the 1785 folio Dictionary, which was released as a single volume and in weekly parts (Fleeman, p. 433). This particular wrapper, therefore, possibly enclosed the third set of weekly sheets. Unfortunately, the other wrapper was glued in top margin first (fig. 2), thereby obscuring the numbers.

Fig. 2

The number of Johnson-related proposals and prospectuses recovered from bindings remains unknown. Robert DeMaria, Jr., noted that Fleeman spoke of finding some, but is unaware of anyone currently searching for them in a systematic fashion. Regardless of their number, the discovery of these prospectuses proves the saying that you never know what will turn up where, and invites further discussion about what light such printing house discards might shed on eighteenth-century printing and Johnson’s bibliography.

Samuel Johnson. A Dictionary of the English Language .... London: Printed for J. F. and C. Rivington, L. Davis, T. Payne and Son, W. Owen, T. Longman [and 21 others], 1785. Seventh edition (shelfmark: RJJ Dic 1785 OS). ESTC T116652; Fleeman 55.4D/9.

This post originally appeared as a longer article called 'Between the Covers: Newly Discovered Johnsonian Prospectuses' in The Johnsonian News Letter (61:2, September 2010).

The second volume of the 1785 Dictionary also includes blue wrappers used as binder’s waste. These are prospectuses advertising an edition of Ephraim Chambers’s Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences with supplement by the Welsh minister Abraham Rees. Further research needs to be done on the edition advertised.

Recent Acquisitions II: A Bible for Rarotonga and Isocrates in the Seventeenth Century

Opening of the Gospel of Matthew

Te Bibilia tapu ra: koia te Koreromotu Taito e te Koreromotu Ou (Lonedona: Societi Bibilia i Bertani e te au Enua Katoa, 1851).

The first full edition of the Bible in Rarotongan, or Cook Islands Maori. The initial translation work was carried out on Rarotonga by members of the London Missionary Society John Williams (1796–1839), Charles Pitman (ca. 1796–1884) and Aaron Buzacott (1800–64) in 1828. Williams, who was the primary translator, returned to England from the South Pacific in 1834 to oversee the printing of his translation of the New Testament. He returned to the Pacific in 1837. Two years later Williams and fellow missionary James Harris were killed and eaten by cannibals while visiting parts of the New Hebrides islands (now Vanuatu).

Pitman and Buzacott continued the translation work and printed portions of the Bible on Rarontonga. According to Darlow and Moule 'the missionaries had intended to print the concluding portions of the OT ... like the earlier portions, at Rarotonga; but the MS. was almost entirely destroyed in a cyclone ... in March 1846, and it had to be rewritten' (Darlow & Moule 7671). In 1847 Buzacott returned to England where he revised the Bible with the assistance of a Rarotongan native named Kiro and T. W. Meller, Editorial Superintendent of the British and Foreign Bible Society (Darlow and Moule).

The B.F.B.S. printed 5,000 copies, which were shipped to the Rarotonga. The translation was so well received by the local Christian population that the entire printing cost was refunded within a few years (Darlow and Moule).

Purchased from Blackwell's Rare Books, Oxford.

Isocratus logoi kai epistolai. Isocratis orationes et epistolae ... (Paris: Sébastien Chappelet, 1631). This edition of Greek rhetorician Isocrates's speeches and letters was edited by Ambroise Pezier and is based on the work of German humanist Hieronymus Wolf (1516–80), who first published his translation of Isocrates in 1551.

The printer, Sébastien Chappelet (1589–1647), was active as a printer and publisher in Paris from 1614 to 1642. The text is in Greek with Latin interlinear translation and marginal notes in both languages.

The copy is bound in contemporary vellum. The binding is mostly detached, revealing some fragments from a fifteenth-century Dutch manuscript used as reinforcing strips along the spine.

The front free endpaper has the ownership inscription of a young James William Robertson (1774–1855), later Minister of Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland. Robertson was licensed by the Presbytery of Edinburgh in 1796 and received his MA from the University of Saint Andrews in 1797.

Received as a donation.

Byron Book Found at Church Sale

A book acquired at a 2008 church sale in Savannah, Georgia, turns out to be long-lost tribute to Lord Byron.

The story broke earlier this month. For further details see the BBC report or National Library of Scotland website.

Notes on Exhibitions: The Farjeon Family and Experimental Philosophy

Dunedin Public Library

The latest exhibition 'Morning Has Broken: The Farjeon Family Collection' opened yesterday. The more than seventy items on exhibit commemorate the beloved children's author and poet Eleanor Farjeon, and her talented brothers: the composer Harry, the crime novelist Joseph Jefferson and Herbert, a celebrated figure in the British theatre. Also on display is material relating to their father, Benjamin Farjeon, manager, sub-editor and later partner of the Otago Daily Times newspaper; after his return to England Benjamin established himself as a popular Victorian novelist.

On display is a selection of published works (many with presentation inscriptions from one member of the Farjeon family to another), original drafts, theatre ephemera, photographs, sheet music, and personal correspondence. A rather touching item is Benjamin Farjeon's informal Last Will and Testament, written in pencil, and found by Eleanor after her father's death in 1903.

The exhibition coincides with the 130th anniversary of Eleanor Farjeon's birth and the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Otago Daily Times.

Further information, a PDF of the item list, and video clip of the speaker are available here.

'Morning Has Broken: The Farjeon Family Collection' runs until 23 October.


University of Otago

An exhibition entitled 'Experimental Philosophy: Old and New' launched on 1 July in the de Beer Gallery. The exhibition features (among others) works by Bacon, Newton, John Locke and Abraham Cowley (his A Proposition for the Advancement of Experimental Philosophy [1668]), through to modern philosophers such as Russell, Shaun Nichols, and Kwame Anthony Appiah. One cabinet is dedicated to the Molyneux Problem.


The exhibition coincided with the Australasian Association of Philosophy Conference, which took place in early July, and the publication of Professor Peter Anstey's John Locke and Natural Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).


'Experimental Philosophy: Old and New' runs until 23 September. There is an online version for those unable to visit the Gallery.