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Posted by: Marianna Stell
In Anglophone communities during the 16th - 18th centuries, a common custom was for book owners to add in their book a note of ownership in either English or in Latin. The Rare Book and Special Collections Division holds a number of examples of these notes that offer a curious study for those interested in historical linguistics.
Posted in: 17th Century, 18th Century, Classics, Provenance
Posted by: Marianna Stell
At the end of the fifteenth century, simplified versions of medical charts featuring an image of the "Zodiac Man" began to appear in Books of Hours. The Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division contains many examples of these printed editions, one of which uses a skeleton in place of the Zodiac Man.
Posted in: 15th Century, 16th Century, book of hours, Illustrated Book, Manuscript and Letterpress (Hand Press), Medicine, Seasonal
Posted by: Marianna Stell
During the 17th and 18th centuries, classical languages were an important component of education in the North American colonies. Viewed through the lens of material and printing history, the books highlighted in this blog post provide a very human picture of classical studies in early America.
Posted in: 17th Century, 18th Century, American History, Classics, Education History
Posted by: Marianna Stell
Learn about Sebastian Gryphius, one of the most celebrated printers of sixteenth century Lyon, and about the books printed by him which are held by the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. Gryphius printed Latin textbooks and works by humanist authors and was instrumental in divulging the ideas of the renaissance to Lyon and France.
Posted in: 16th Century, Famous Printers, France, Manuscript and Letterpress (Hand Press)
Posted by: Marianna Stell
In 1546, Charlotte Guillard (ca. 1485–1557) owned one of the most prestigious printing houses in Paris, the Soleil d’Or, and that year she printed an impressive, updated edition of the letters of Saint Jerome under her own name. The editor and commentator of this particular book, however, was the famous Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus (1468?-1536), whose published annotations on Jerome had been censured by the Venetian Inquisition and the Index of the University of Paris two years prior.
Posted in: 16th Century, Censorship, Women in Book History
Posted by: Marianna Stell
Humans have always been fascinated by eclipses and other astronomical phenomenon. In anticipation of the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse that will cross the United States, the Rare Book and Special Collections Division presents one small treasure from the collections: a miniature book of 19th-century eclipse photography!
Posted in: 19th Century, American History, Astronomy, History of Science, News and Events
Posted by: Marianna Stell
Different personalities study best in different kinds of environments. The author of De Disciplina Scholarium, an early handbook for educators, advises about the optimal habits for different kinds of students, and who should reconsider their professional aspirations in education. He also writes under someone else's name.
Posted in: Education History, Manuscript and Letterpress (Hand Press)
Posted by: Marianna Stell
Did the earliest printers know what print was? Book historian Anna Dlabacova, former fellow in the W. Kluge Center and senior university lecturer at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society, offers some observations about what a 15th-century book from the Netherlands can teach us about culture and innovation.
Posted in: 15th Century, Low Countries, Manuscript and Letterpress (Hand Press), Provenance
Posted by: Marianna Stell
In 1866, the Smithsonian physically transferred its library of over 40,000 works to the Library of Congress. A notable event in the history of both information institutions, the Smithsonian Deposit included a range of materials which today are dispersed throughout the Library’s divisions. Among them are some unexpected and intriguing materials in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
Posted in: 19th Century, 20th Century, American History, Library History, Provenance