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1.
Aelius Donatus (fl. 354 CE).
Ars Minor. [Mainz: Johann Gutenberg, ca. 1450] Printed on parchment, Folio 12, lines 4-28. Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Plimpton Collection
The momentous accomplishment of Gutenberg's first printing of the Bible was
preceded by a number of necessarily experimental publications which developed
the technique of printing with moveable type. This fragment, printed using the
type of the 36-line Bible, is a relic of those trials. The text is part of a
Latin grammar written by Donatus, who was the teacher of St. Jerome. His grammar
was one of the most popular teaching aids during the medieval period, and
Gutenberg seems to have found it advantageous to publish many editions of it,
not only as practice but also as a source of much needed revenue. There are
twenty-four known editions of the text in Gutenberg's earliest type, all
preceding the famous Bible. Described by earlier scholars as a "Pfister
imprint," dated ca. 1460, recent investigations indicate that this fragment
belongs with Gutenberg's work, probably dating not later than 1452.
Gift of George Arthur Plimpton, 1936
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2.
Canon Missae. Mainz: Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer, 1458. Printed on parchment; in Missale Cracoviense. Mainz: Peter Schöffer, 1484.
Printed on paper. RBML
In 1457, Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer completed the printing of the
Psalterium latinum, the first printed book to give both the names of
the printers and the date of its printing. The following year they used the same
type and ornamental initial letters to print the exceedingly rare Canon of
the Mass, in this copy bound at the center of the Missal for the use
of Cracow (printed in 1484). The missal is, in the reality of its
physical production and in reflection of its liturgical use, two separate books.
One of nine editions produced by Schöffer between 1483 and 1499, the missal is
printed on paper, using font sizes that are smaller than those of the canon.
They printed the 12-leaf canon of the mass - the section with the consecration
prayers-on parchment for durability, and in a larger font size for legibility.
It was sold as a separate unit so that the purchaser could remove the canon of
whichever missal he was using and insert this much nicer version. The
advertisement put out by Schöffer in 1470 still included this 1458 canon among
the books he offered for sale; presumably one could purchase it as late as the
1484 date of the present missal. Although Columbia's copy of the canon lacks
three leaves, it is one of only three known copies to survive (together with a
few isolated fragments). Of all the acquisitions that Henry Lewis Bullen made
for the American Type Founders Company Library, he was most proud of this one.
Purchased with the American Type Founders Company Library & Museum, 1941
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3.
Alexander de Villa Dei (1175-1240).
Doctrinale. Printed on parchment, Folios 21-22. Lower pastedown in the binding of UTS
MS. 14. [Holland?: Laurens Janszoon Coster?, by 1463?] The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Leander van Ess Collection
The 1499 Cologne Chronicle, while assigning the first printing from
moveable type to Mainz, yet mentions that its forebears were "the Donatuses in
Holland." Fragments of elementary grammar texts composed by Donatus and
Alexander de Villa Dei survive, and are tied through study of their fonts to
what may be the remnants of Dutch prototypography. Almost all such fragments,
however, are now removed from their context, rendering their place and date of
origin yet more obscure. The startling exception is the present pastedown in a
manuscript containing works by Albertus Magnus and Raymond Lull. Paul Needham
has taken into consideration evidence of the manuscript scribe's colophon:
Conrad Itter signed his work four times during the course of 1463; Needham has
identified the manuscript's paper stock and the paper stock of the flyleaves
used by the binder; and he has studied the blind-stamped tools used on the
manuscript's binding of calf over wooden boards.
The result is a verifiable proposal for the place and date of production of
the manuscript: Cologne, 1463. By extension, we now have a terminus ante
quem for the manuscript's pastedown and thus for Dutch prototypography that
is some four years earlier than paper evidence amassed to date, and some eight
years earlier than ownership inscriptions have attested. The Burke Library's
fragment, because it survives in a context, advances knowledge of the means we
have used for five hundred years to spread knowledge: printing itself. The
manuscript and fragment came to Union Theological Seminary in 1838 with the
library of Leander van Ess at that time the largest and most comprehensive
theological library, with the largest number of incunabula, in the New World.
Purchased with the Leander van Ess Collection, 1838
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4.
Iamblichus Chalcidensis (ca. 240-325).
De mysteriis Aegyptiorum, Chaldaeorum, Assyriorum. Venice: Aldi et Andreae soceri, 1516. RBML, Phoenix Collection
The 1516 edition of works of neo-platonic philosophers, including
Iamblichus, Proclus, Porphyrius, Synesius and others, translated into Latin by
Marsilio Ficino, is one of the significant books issued by the Aldine press.
This copy is bound in an architectural style, ca. 1545, one of four known
showing porticoes and the only one without perspective features, made by Claude
de Picques for the noted French bibliophile Jean Grolier (1476-1565). The motif
is derived from an illustration of the Corinthian temple in Diego da Sagredo's
Raison d'architecture antique (1539). Among the owners of the volume
after Grolier were Count Hoym, ambassador to France from Saxony and bibliophile,
the dealer-bibliophile A.A. Renouard who documented the Aldine publications, and
the notorious thief Count Libri.
Bequest of Stephen Whitney Phoenix, 1881
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5.
John De Beauchesne (1538? -after 1610) and John Baildon (fl. 1570).
A Booke Containing Divers Sortes of Hands. London: Thomas Vautrouillier, 1570. RBML, Plimpton Collection
This work, an enlarged adaptation of De Beauchesne's Le Thresor
d'Escripture (Paris, 1550), was the first book on handwriting to be printed
in England. De Beauchesne, a French Huguenot immigrant, was a writing master who
became tutor to Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia, only daughter of King James I.
Baildon's role in the work is uncertain; he may have cut the woodblocks, or
edited the work. Containing thirty-seven leaves (this copy lacking nine leaves,
dedication and letter press), the work includes admirable examples of gothic and
secretary hands, as well as chancery, italic, secretary written with the left
hand (a reversed hand read through a mirror) and other hands. One other
incomplete copy of this edition and a fragment are known to exist.
Gift of George Arthur Plimpton, 1936
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6.
William Caslon (1693-1766).
A Specimen by W. Caslon, Letter-Founder, Ironmonger-Row, Old-Street, London. London: W. Caslon, 1734. RBML, Book Arts Collection
Daniel Berkeley Updike wrote in his Printing Types, "In the class of
types which appear to be beyond criticism from the point of view of beauty and
utility, the original Caslon type stands first." William Caslon, an engraver,
began his career as a typefounder in about 1720 by cutting a font of
Arabic-language types for use by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
In order to sign his name to a printed proof of these letters, he cut his name
in a pica roman. These roman letters were so admired that he turned his
attention to various other sizes of roman and italic, followed by Hebrew, black
letter, Coptic and many other exotic types, as well as ornaments. He did not
issue his first specimen until 1734-the date is printed at the end of the
brevier Greek at the lower right corner. Shown here, this is the only known
complete copy of this type specimen, with Caslon's Ironmonger-Row, Old-Street,
London address. In the only other recorded copy, at the British Library, the
line of ornaments at the bottom has been cut off.
Purchased with the American Type Founders Company Library & Museum, 1941
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7.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790).
Composing stick. RBML, Typographic Realia
This composing stick may have been purchased in France in the 1780s by
Benjamin Franklin while he was serving as United States minister to France.
During this period, Franklin had his own private press in his house at Passy,
outside of Paris. He used his press to produce leaflets, broadsides, and even
passports for American citizens. Made of wood, the composing stick has a head,
knee, and rail faced with brass, and uses the slotted knee and screw system,
standard at the time, to fix the length of the line of type being set. According
to Henry Lewis Bullen, who acquired it for the American Type Founders Company
Library and Museum, it was used by Franklin and his grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache.
Purchased with the American Type Founders Company Library & Museum, 1941
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8a.
Alexander Anderson (1775-1870).
Diarium commentarium vitae Alexander Anderson. Autograph manuscript, 3 vols., 1793-1799. RBML
8b.
John Plumbe (1809-1857).
Daguerreotype portrait of Alexander Anderson. New York, ca.1846. RBML, Woodblocks, Related Material
8c.
Alexander Anderson (1775-1870).
Wood engraving of garden-house scene, signed in the block "AA". (6.5 x 8 cm.) RBML, Woodblock No. 6
Alexander Anderson has long been considered the father of wood engraving in
America, being the first in this country to adopt the technique developed in
England by Thomas Bewick. Wood engraving produces a finer image than the
standard woodcut by working on the denser end-grain section of the wood.
Anderson acknowledged his debt to Bewick in 1804 by creating an American edition
of Bewick's A General History of Quadrupeds (1790) with his own
re-engraved blocks, adding "some American animals not hitherto described."
Anderson's connections to Columbia are many. He received an M.D. from
Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1796, engraved Columbia's
commencement ticket in 1794, and a bookplate for the College Library. As noted
in his diary, he began sketching the design for the bookplate on March 14, 1795,
delivered the finished work to President Johnson on March 25th, and
was, after some effort on his part, paid £2, 8s on May 7th.
Columbia's daguerreotype portrait of Anderson is one of two likenesses
"taken in duplicate" in New York by photographer John Plumbe no later than 1847,
when Plumbe went bankrupt. Anderson continued to produce wood engravings until
at least 1868, two years before his death at the age of 94. Also on display is
an early wood engraving by Anderson, depicting a summer, garden-house scene, and
signed "AA" in the lower left of the block. It was published in A Memorial of
Alexander Anderson, M.D., New York, 1872.
(Diary) Vols.1-2, gift of Phillips Phoenix; Vol. 3, gift of Mrs. Castle, 1911; (Woodblock) Purchased with the American Type Founders Company Library &
Museum, 1941
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9.
Washington Hand Press. New York: R. Hoe & Co., 1843. Foolscap size (platen 35.3 x 49.4 cm., bed 45.6 x 60.9 cm.) RBML
This press was used for over a hundred years by the American Bible Society,
founded in 1816 to encourage a wide circulation of the Holy Scriptures. The
Society started doing its own printing of Bibles in about 1844; thus this press,
built in 1843, would have been one of the first it acquired for the purpose.
The Washington-style press employs two major innovations that distinguish
it from the presses used since the 15th century: it is built of
metal, and it uses a toggle action. A number of improvements in press design
took place rapidly in the early 1800s, which simplified and reduced the cost of
manufacture while developing maximum power with minimum effort. Samuel Rust of
New York designed the main features of the Washington press: a "figure 4"
toggle, which provided greater power than previous levers; and a lighter,
stronger, frame, which could also be disassembled for moving.
R. Hoe & Co. bought Rust's patent and manufactured over 6,000 of
these presses between 1835 and 1902. Simpler and cheaper though slower than the
increasingly sophisticated presses becoming available through the
19th century, these presses found a niche in small shops doing short
runs, and for extra fine printing. A number of contemporary fine printers use
Washington presses today. This is one of the four presses owned by the Rare Book
& Manuscript Library.
Gift of the American Bible Society, 1953
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10.
Kelmscott Press.
Specimen copy of the Kelmscott Chaucer. Pigskin binding. J & J. Leighton, 1896. RBML, Book Arts Collection
In addition to a regular copy of the Kelmscott Press's edition of the works
of Chaucer, bound in half-holland paper, the Rare Book and Manuscript Library
also owns this specimen binding, made for William Morris by J. & J.
Leighton, the text block made up of mostly repeating sheets from the print run
of the book. Morris's wish was that the binding be executed in 15th-century
style, using pigskin over oak boards, with blind-tooling. The tools were cut
specially for this binding, and were based on designs found on two incunables
owned by the British Library, the Apocalypse block book and the Richel Bible.
According to Sir Sydney Cockerell in his "List of All the Books Printed at the
Kelmscott Press," in A Note by William Morris on his Aims in Founding The
Kelmscott Press, this was the only design executed by Leighton's. It was
then used by the Doves Bindery to bind forty-eight copies, including two printed
on vellum, in full white pigskin.
Purchased with the American Type Founders Company Library & Museum, 1941
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11a.
Arthur Rackham (1867-1939).
Self-portrait, 1924. Pastel, from Sketch book F1. RBML, Arthur Rackham Collection
11b.
Arthur Rackham (1867 -1939).
Sketchbook for A Midsummer Night's Dream, ca. 1908. Pencil, 18 pages, Sketch book F4. RBML, Arthur Rackham Collection
This haunting self-portrait reveals the genius of one of England's most
renowned children's book illustrators. Born in 1867, Arthur Rackham entered the
Lambeth School of Art in 1884. From 1885 to 1892 he worked as a clerk in an
insurance office. In 1893 he began what would be his life's work, illustrating
the Ingoldsby Legends, and Charles and Mary Lamb's Tales from
Shakespeare. He became famous with Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1900, and
Rip Van Winkle in 1905, and through an exhibition held at the
Leicester Galleries in 1905. The Rackham collection at Columbia University
contains 413 drawings, watercolors, and oil paintings, as well as 30 sketch
books, including this one of sketches for A Midsummer Night's Dream. In
addition, the collection contains some 400 printed books and ephemera.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred C. Berol, 1967
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12.
W. R. Johnson (b. 1933).
Lilac Wind, poems by W.R. Johnson on a pulp painting made by Claire Van
Vliet with Kathryn Clark. Newark, VT.: Janus Press, 1983. 1 folded sheet, 9 pp. RBML, Book Arts Collection
Claire Van Vliet established the Janus Press, one of the country's most
creative private presses, in 1955, at West Burke, Vermont. Over the past fifty
years, the Press has become known for its harmoniously balanced textual and
visual elements, as well as for the careful consideration of inks, complex
bindings, papers, boxmaking, and typography. Lilac Wind consists of a
single printed sheet in which the illustration is integral to the paper itself,
produced by the "painted papers" technique. The text poem by W.R. Johnson was
printed on a pulp painting made by Van Vliet with Kathryn Clark, rendering each
of the 150 copies unique. The Rare Book and Manuscript Library holds a complete
collection of the books and ephemera produced by the Janus Press.
Purchase, 1983
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13.
Vincent Fitz Gerald & Company.
Maquette for The Reed, by Jalaluddin Mohammad Rumi, translated by Zahra Partovi. Watercolor, ink and pencil on cut paper, by Susan Weil, 1989. RBML, Vincent Fitz Gerald & Company Archives
The fine press company created by Vincent Fitz Gerald, a Columbia alumnus,
is the embodiment of that nexus of creativity that makes New York City such a
vital place. Through the generosity of Sylvia and Joseph Radov, the Rare Books
and Manuscript Library now owns a nearly complete run of the publications of
Vincent Fitz Gerald & Company, and also holds a significant portion of
its archives.
As Village Voice theater critic, translator, and Columbia alumnus,
Michael Feingold, a member of the company, has written: "In our degraded age of
uncaring mass manufacture ... one artist was able to find so many kindred souls
to share his love for works that are beautiful, meaningful, individual and
scrupulously made." Fitz Gerald has brought together the work of such authors as
Jalaluddin Mohammad Rumi, James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Edith Sitwell, Lee Breuer,
and David Mamet with artists such as Susan Weil, Judith Turner, Edward Koren
(also a Columbia alumnus), Neil Welliver, Dorothea Rockburn, and James Nares.
Texts have been newly translated by Zahra Partovi, yet another graduate of
Columbia, and Michael Feingold. Other members of the company include artisans
such as book designer and calligrapher Jerry Kelly, paper artist Paul Wong of
Dieu donné Papermill, and printer Daniel Keleher of Wild Carrot Press, in
addition to Partovi, who is also a book binder.
Purchased with funds provided by Sylvia and Joseph Radov, 2003
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