We’re eyeing the gorgeous green Dutch-gilt paper wrappers on our copy of Prayers and Hymns for the Use of Children (1800) on this #WrapperWednesday
Dutch-gilt paper was a popular decorative paper produced in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and can be found in a variety of colors with embossed or printed decoration mimicking popular brocades and damask fabrics of the period.
NICANDER OF COLOPHON (flourished 138-130 BCE) Theriaka; Tou autou Alexipharmaka [Greek title transliterated]. Theriaca; Eiusdem Alexipharmaca. Printed by John Soteris in 1530. 21 cm tall.
April is National Poetry Month, so we are highlighting the classic works of Nicander of Colophon. Nicander was a physician poet from the 2nd century BCE. We know he wrote many different works, but only two complete examples have survived.
The two works, Theriaca and Alexipharmaca, deal with poisons and venoms. Poems like these were thought to make scientific content and concepts easier to understand and remember. Nicander, though, was more interested in form and style, not necessarily accuracy. Indeed, his poems can be difficult to read and he did not seem to have much knowledge at all of toxicology. As Gow and Scholfield note in their Poems and poetical fragments, “his contorted style and fantastic vocabulary put him beyond the reach of scientists unless they are also Greek scholars…” (p. xi).
Nicander was born and raised in Clarus in western Asia Minor (near the larger Colophon, in what is now Western Turkey) during the reigns of the last kings of the Attalid Dynasty of Pergamon. Clarus was home to a large temple devoted to Apollo and there are several references to Nicander’s family as priests in the cult, including perhaps Nicander himself.
The longest of the hexameter poems, Theriaca, covers venomous animals. Nicander describes the animals, the symptoms associated with a bite or sting, and pharmacological recipes for treating them. The Alexipharmaca covers poisons that have been ingested orally from animals, plants, or minerals and their antidotes. Much like Theriaca, Nicander breaks the entries into a description of the poison, the symptoms, and recipes for antidotes. Nicander is also thought to be the first to suggest the use of leeches in a medicinal context, although many scholars believe he borrowed heavily from the Greek-Egyptian physician Apollodorus (fl. 250 BCE).
The first known print copies of the poems are in the 1499 edition of Dioscorides' De materia medica. The poems are also bound together in this item with the first Latin translation made by Johann Lonitzer (1499-1569). Lonitzer was a classical languages scholar, poet, and professor at Marburg in Germany. As can be seen from the image above, the cover of the book is cut from a piece of vellum manuscript waste (parchment from an older, handwritten work used in the binding of another book). It is heavily stained with ink spilled from an inkpot (tip of the hat to Collections Conservator Beth Stone for identifying the stain). Perhaps an apprentice or student faced the wrath of their instructor for using the book as a stand for their ink?
It also appears the cover was given conservation treatment at some point before we acquired it. As part of this treatment, the cover was removed. However, when it was reattached, the covers were reversed! Thus, the spine title is now upside down and the ink stains on the front actually originated on the back. Another example of all the amazing stories our books have to tell us beyond what is written on the page. Other than the mistreatment at the hands of the nameless, ink-spilling writer/illustrator, the book is in great condition. And other than some minor staining in the back (ink that bled through from the spill on the cover) and on the edges, the paper is especially in good shape. If you stop by the open house tonight, you’ll have a chance to take a look for yourself.
–Damien Ihrig, Curator of the John Martin Rare Book Room
This little scroll seems to have been created by Frank Ankenbrand in celebration of a friends birthday, with haikus throughout. There is also a haiku for Ankenbrand in the introduction, so no-one involved was left out of the haiku party!
“Scroll with handmade paper beige and red paper wrappers and green silk ribbon tie; wrapped around red wooden peg. Comes enclosed in small cylindrical plastic case.
500 copies.
Library has copy number 160.” –Catalog
–Diane R., Special Collections Graduate Student
This one is for all of the type enthusiasts out there!
Freese walks us through a short history of the use of metal decorative borders that can be used with metal type, with many beautiful examples from different time periods!
“(Illustrations) consist of samples of type borders.
Cloth boards, printed paper label pasted on front cover; pink silk endpapers.” –Catalog
–Diane R., Special Collections Graduate Student
Looking to read something a little lighter to take a break from school work? There are a lot of suggestions in this mini bookcase!
It includes 26 mini books, including classics such as Little Red Ridinghood, Poetry by William Blake, and Aesop’s fables, as well as other fun titles such as Hunting the deceitful turkey, Orange cow, Mr. Higginbotham’s catastrophe, and The notorious jumping frog of Calaveras county. It also includes a winding key for a music box on the back, what’s better than a little music with your reading?
“Bookcase is wood lacquer with four pedestal feet; has gilt decorative trim, and gilt sculpted flowers on front door, front door has plastic inlay that allows books to be shown. Back of bookcase has small metal knob with "Reuge Ste. Croix” engraved on it, and original price sticker. Interior of bookcase has two shelves with gilt decorations, interior of bookcase is lined with orange silk fabric and gold ribbon trim on plastic inlay.
–Diane R., Special Collections Graduate Student
This is unfortunately, not a book about a bookshop on a ship, as I thought when I pulled it from the shelf, but rather a bookseller who often took a break to travel and work on different ships.
He reminisces about both, with many interesting little stories about the book trade and life at sea. Illustrated in a few colors, often with the seahorse motif.
–Diane R., Special Collections Graduate Student
MORGAGNI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (1682-1771). Opuscula miscellanea quorum non pauca nunc primum prodeunt, tres in partes divisa [Miscellaneous works, some of which are new, divided into three parts]. Printed by Giovanni Antonio Remondini at Remondiniana, Bassano del Grappa, 1763. Three volumes bound together. 39 cm tall.
This month we highlight a book currently receiving treatment from the UI Libraries Conservation and Collections Care. Collections Conservator, Beth Stone, is working to clean and stabilize one of our books from Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771).
Morgagni was an 18th-century Italian anatomist and physician. He is referred to as the “father” of modern pathologic anatomy. He stressed connecting the symptoms observed in the sick to the findings from their dissection. Symptoms, he felt, were “the cry of the suffering organs.” His work helped dispel the longstanding notion that most diseases were scattered throughout the body. Instead, he was able to demonstrate that they emerge from specific organs and tissues.
During his very long life, Morgagni was a prodigious worker and prolific writer. His three-volume Adversaria Anatomica (1706-1717) put him on the map. His most monumental work, De sedibus, et causis morborum per anatomen indagatis libri quinque, was published in 1761 and made him a legend among anatomists. Vast in scope, it is one of the most fundamentally important works in the history of medicine.
The book this month, however, is Morgagni's Opuscula miscellanea quorum non pauca nunc primum prodeunt, tres in partes divisa [Miscellaneous works, some of which are new, divided into three parts]. As stated in the title, this is a collection of writings on a variety of subjects, including letters to Giovanni Lancisi, an Italian physician, discussing how Cleopatra died.
Morgagni’s scholarly ability was apparent at an early age. At sixteen he was a pupil of Antonio Maria Valsalva at Bologna, and there he received the stimulus to devote his life to pathology. While pursuing postgraduate studies, he worked with Giovanni Santorini performing dissections. (Giovanni was clearly a very popular name at this time!)
By 1715 he took the chair of anatomy at Padua, a seat which he held with utmost distinction for many years. He was a brilliant and tireless investigator and, in addition to his work in medicine and anatomy, was a student of the classics and an archaeologist of repute.
Over his long career at the University of Padua, he taught thousands of students from dozens of countries. His teaching emphasized empirical data, direct observation, and experimentation.
Among several other structures, his name is most widely connected with the “Columns of Morgagni,” the fine, vertical folds of the anal canal.
As mentioned, if he was not teaching or dissecting, Morgagni was writing. Opuscula miscellanea shows his range and diverse interests. Along with discussing Cleopatra’s cause of death, it includes a biography of his mentor, Valsalva, a tract on gallstones, and a few more on legal issues.
Opuscula miscellanea has a lovely, soft paper cover. The cover shows the effects of age, use, and exposure to the environment, with scuffs, stains, and an overall darkening. Do not let that fool you, though, as this is still an effective binding. With a new housing from Conservation, Opuscula miscellanea will be around for a very long time.
Go here to read about Beth’s treatment for Opuscula miscellanea and more.
The annual JMRBR open house is April 20, from 4-7 pm. This is our first in-person event in quite some time and we’d love to see you there!
Image of Quintana taken from her twitter.
Patricia Quintana – A critically acclaimed Mexican chef, author, teacher, businesswoman, and once a culinary ambassador in the Mexican Ministry of Tourism, Quintana is an inspiration to many. Having started her journey in cooking with her great grandmother and grandmother’s kitchens in Oaxaca and Veracruz, Quintana dedicated her career to teaching and researching Mexican gastronomy, and the 32 distinct cooking styles contained within it. Quintana has stated that her “style of cooking brings sophistication to traditional recipes and giv[es] Mexican food the recognition and honor it deserves.”
The Best of Quintana is the tenth book Quintana wrote, and it consists of 60 of her favorite recipes. Some are traditional cultural dishes from different Mexican states, and others are created from Quintana’s research and brilliant mind. The recipes included are favorites of those she worked with, and her own personal favorites– dishes that she’s served at birthdays, weddings, and baptisms, and ones that simply hold special memories for her. The dishes vary from guacamole to mole poblano to churros. If you’re looking for a new chef to learn from, and some Mexican food recipes to try, give Quintana’s books a look.
We also have other books written by her, which can be found by browsing her name in our catalog!
Happy International Women’s Month everyone!
-Matrice Y, Special Collections & Archives Olson Graduate Assistant
William Joseph “Dard” Hunter (November 29, 1883 – February 20, 1966) was an American authority on printing, paper, and papermaking, especially by hand. He is often credited as one of the influences in the resurgence in fine hand papermaking as a craft and an art form in the United States. That legacy can be felt on our campus with the continued tradition of hand papermaking at the Center for the Book.
Today’s item includes many interesting elements, including two books, and a 3-D model of Hunters paper mill at Lime Rock, both made in part using paper that was made at the mill.
“Two-volume set of shaped books: volume 1 is shaped like the front of Hunter’s mill at Lime Rock with leatherette spine and hand-colored pictorial label. Volume 2 is round to resemble a millstone in two sections, with common spine and printed label, and samples of paper made by hand at the mill.
Both of the volumes sewn by hand. Boards covered with and pages made of handmade Hunter paper. Printed pages in both volumes tipped onto the handmade leaves.
Slipcase for the set is a full 3-dimensional model of Hunter’s mill at Lime Rock. It is also covered with the same handmade paper from the last lot produced at the mill at Lime Rock. Hand-colored and detailed.
Paper label on model has text: "Dard Hunter [D]oll [H]ouse. Model of Dard Hunter’s paper mill at Lime Rock, Connecticut; covered with handmade paper, unfinished from the last lot produced at the mill. It was purchased in 1928, and closed in 1931. In 1955 it was completely destroyed by a flood.” –Catalog
Library copy signed by Robert E. Massmann.
–Diane R., Special Collections Graduate Student
Here is a tiny look into the world of gold leaf in the mid 1900’s. It focuses in particular on the process of gilding the pages of books, with the whole process carefully explained. Maybe not as flashy as you would expect for a book about gold leaf, but it’s still very interesting and educational!
Bound in blue leather with gilt title on front cover.
–Diane R., Special Collections Graduate Student
^Not the recommended technique^
What does it mean to de-colonize a meal?
Sean Sherman – an Oglala Lakota chef born on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and the founder of The Sioux Chef, focuses his culinary skills on the “revitalization and awareness of Indigenous foods systems in a modern culinary context.” Sherman took it upon himself to study the foundations of the food systems particular to the local Dakota and Ojibwe tribes, gaining knowledge of Indigenous farming techniques, land stewardship, hunting and fishing, salt and sugar making, the usage of wild food and harvesting, food preservation, elemental cooking techniques, Native American migration history, and Native American Culture and history in a more general sense to get a more holistic understanding of Native American cuisine and how to bring that back in the present.
The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen is an introduction into modern indigenous cuisine of the Minnesota and Dakota territories. The recipes are all focused and centered around ingredients indigenous to America. No European staples like dairy products, sugar, or domestic pork. Instead, there’s duck, venison, blueberries and wildflowers to name a few.
In his introduction, Sherman states “This book is about the joy of indigenous cooking. It reveals the delight in finding ingredients right outside our kitchen doors. … These recipes, inspired by methods handed down through the ages, generation after generation, are integral to our culture, and, as with all good recipes, the dishes will change from cook to cook. These recipes are meant to be guidelines, not formulas. … These recipes along with the stories of goodness and resilience are told with hope and joy.”
-Matrice Y, Special Collections, Olson Graduate Assistant
