Rare Books

A handful of 'magical' books in 91�Թ�'s collection harbour an intricate, eye-catching secret

geoff.vendeville — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 15:37:34 +0000

A handful of 'magical' books in 91�Թ�'s collection harbour an intricate, eye-catching secret

geoff.vendeville Mon, 01/20/2020 - 10:37

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About 30 books in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library's vast collection – including this one from 1797 – feature intricate fore-edge paintings that can only be viewed when the pages are carefully fanned out (all photos and GIFs by Nick Iwanyshyn)

Geoffrey Vendeville

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City & Culture

Books

Humanities

Literature

Rare Books

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

91�Թ� Libraries

Of the hundreds of thousands of volumes kept in the 91�Թ�’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, a precious few harbour a hidden secret.

It’s only when a reader fans out one of these book’s pages with both hands that the mystery gradually reveals itself: a colourful illustration.

Elizabeth Our Queen by Richard Dimbleby, circa April 1953.

Known as fore-edge painting, the practice has its roots in medieval Europe, back when heraldic imagery was all the rage, according to David Fernandez, a rare book librarian at 91�Թ�. Then, in the 1650s, the tradition made a comeback and became more sophisticated.

“In some cases, you will have literary scenes represented,” says Fernandez. “But they also work well for portraits of the author, collectors or popular figures associated with the text.”

In one volume about Charles Darwin published in the mid-19th century, a young and beardless Darwin and his famed ship, the HMS Beagle, emerge when the pages are fanned out.

Journal of researches into the natural history and geology of the countries visited during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle round the world, under the command of Capt. Fitz Roy, second edition, from 1845.

The paintings were made by a skilled artist using pigments akin to water colours, Fernandez says. Often, the artist or binder would gild the pages by applying a thin layer of gold leaf for added protection and decoration.

A landscape of Stratford-upon-Avon peeks out from the pages of The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare, from 1823.

Fore-edge paintings can be extremely complex. Some books have double paintings that reveal different images when the pages are fanned out in opposite directions. Sometimes, there is even a third picture in the finishing of the edges, Fernandez says.

“It’s all about the angles,” he adds. “That’s what makes it so magical and fascinating: the precision and skill that goes into producing something like this.”

Bacon's Essays, 1892.

The paintings are more than a nifty work of art. They also say a lot about the book’s owner, according to Fernandez.

“It tells you something about the collectors who valued their books to the point that having a beautiful binding was not enough,” he says.

The death of Abel: in five books. Attempted from the German of Mr. Gessner, 1797.

There are about 30 books with fore-edge paintings in 91�Թ�’s Fisher library, but Fernandez can’t rule out the possibility that more are lurking in the collection of 740,000 volumes.

“I’m pretty sure most of them have been documented,” he says. “But books, especially in large collections like we have at Fisher, are full of surprises.”

91�Թ� Libraries’ giant collection of tiny books

geoff.vendeville — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 10:08:52 +0000

91�Թ� Libraries’ giant collection of tiny books

geoff.vendeville Tue, 08/22/2017 - 06:08

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Letter from Galileo to the Grand Duchess Cristina, published in Italy in 1897, was probably a collector’s item, with its vellum binding. (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Geoffrey Vendeville

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Geoffrey Vendeville

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Great books in very small packages

91�Թ� Libraries has a few thousand mini titles – some even smaller than a paperclip.

The collection spans religious manuscripts from the Middle Ages to a modern edition of Romeo and Juliet that's fit for a doll.

91�Թ� News visited the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library and librarian David Fernandez to learn more about seven of these tiny treasures.

1. Book of hours (France, late 14th century)

Nowadays, most people don't leave the house without their smartphone. But in the Middles Ages, they carried the book of hours, a prayer guide for the eight canonical hours of the day.

“The book was kept close to your body,” Fernandez says.

And like an iPhone, it could be personalized. “The binding would have been customized so the person who orders the book of hours, their personality, their religion, even their region and language, were captured in the book."

2. Rules to Examine and Discern the Interior of One's Soul (Mexico, 1635)

This is 91�Թ� Libraries’ oldest printed book from the Americas, published about a century after the introduction of the printing press to the New World.

The book of spiritual exercises and theology is small so readers could easily carry it with them where they went.

The black mark across its pages wasn't made by a clumsy library patron. It's a marca de fuego. “This was a tradition popular in Spain, Italy and later the New World," Fernandez explains. “A lot of the libraries of seminaries or churches would mark their books using a firebrand so that way they can identify items in their collection, because books were very valuable at the time.”

3. The Divine Comedy (Italy, 1629)

By the 17th century, religious literature wasn't the only material being printed in tiny editions. Hence this Divine Comedy-to-go.

“The Divine Comedy is such an important book and one that people have a very personal connection to,” Fernandez says. “They would learn different cantos by memory and recite them, using something like this to practise. ...The size tells you it was used for very personal and maybe constant reading.”

4. The Young Lady’s Book of Botany (England, 1838)

The 19th century was the heyday of the mini book. This guidebook on botany for “the young lady” was part of a wider tradition of Victorian books on the natural world, from bugs to seaweed. “A lot of these books have a very pedagogical and also Christian approach to them,” Fernandez says.

5. Collection of miniature books from the Borrower’s Press (United States, 1974-1987)

Though the era of the tiny book was long past by the late 20th century, it was not forgotten. Tiny-book nostalgia inspired a small press in Winterport, Me. to produce a set of mini marvels. Although they are novelties, all but a few of them contain actual text.

6. Two almanacs (England, 1778, and France, 1807)

Showing off is a custom even older than the miniature book.

These two almanacs with intricate covers and bindings were early examples of conspicuous consumption, Fernandez says. “Something like this wasn’t cheap. Readers invested in this because it was something they carry, and when they took it out of their pockets they would be making a statement.”

7. Letter from Galileo to the Grand Duchess Cristina (Italy, 1897)

Galileo wrote his friend, Cristina di Lorena, in 1615 about reconciling religion and science – 18 years before he was tried for heresy. This mini version could have been a collector’s item, Fernandez says.

“In the 19th century with more technologies available, people get more creative. If you look at this one, it’s bound in vellum [fine-grained animal skin] and it tries to imitate the style of the original 17th century letter.”

91�Թ�'s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library now has one of Canada's oldest printed books in English

ullahnor — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 17:17:46 +0000

91�Թ�'s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library now has one of Canada's oldest printed books in English

ullahnor Tue, 09/20/2016 - 13:17

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An "X" censors info on Thomas Becket in Fisher's newly acquired 1507 copy of The Golden Legend (photo by Jesse Carliner)

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

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Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

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91�Թ�’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library has acquired a 1507 copy of The Golden Legend, making it the oldest book printed in English at the library and one of the oldest books in English in Canada.

Widely read during the Middle Ages – some consider it even more popular than the Bible – The Golden Legend recounts stories, both factual and fictional, of the lives of the saints.

The book has original woodcuts in it by England’s first printer, William Caxton, considered the Johannes Gutenberg of England, and it shows signs of censorship from the Reformation period. The word “pope” has been marked out throughout the book and a giant “X” at one time blocked out an entire section on Thomas Becket, the murdered Archbishop of Canterbury.

“That’s one of the wonderful things about censorship, says P.J. Carefoote, Fisher’s early books librarian who specializes in Medieval manuscripts and books. “It’s futile. It just makes someone want to see what’s there.”

And sure enough, at some point someone did remove the black ink covering the section on Becket and the black marks over the word “pope” with bleach. The censored material is now visible to readers.

The book is important because it is such an early example of English printing,” Carefoote says. “It also was one of the most important books in the Middle Ages and then after the Reformation, it almost immediately dropped off the radar.”

At least half of the illustrations in the books were done by Caxton who left the woodcuts in his will for his apprentice, Wynkyn de Warde, who actually printed this copy of the book. The beginning of the book also has translations from parts of the Bible, which at the time was illegal in England.

“So the Golden Legend on the continent didn’t have these, but Caxton has it,” says Carefoote. “This means we have the earliest printed translation of parts of the Bible into English.”

The book has stories from the Bible such as one on the life of Moses along with complete translations of the Book of Tobit and the Book of Judith. There were translations of the Bible into English at the time circulated by John Wycliffe and his followers but these were in manuscript form, not print, says Carefoote.

The library expects the book will be used by students in the Department of English as well as the Centre for Medieval Studies. The book, which was acquired last month, is now catalogued and ready for the public.