Heber Copy of Plato’s Works (Incunabula Q. 881 P5.Lf 1491)

Plato. Works. Translated into Latin and edited by Marsilio Ficino. Venice: Bernardo de’ Chori and Simone da Luere for Andreas Torresanus de Asula, 1491.

This 1491 edition of Plato’s works was translated and edited by Marsilio Ficino and published in Venice.  The book has an interesting provenance and contains beautiful hand decoration.  Two identifiable modern owners of the volume were the English book collector Richard Heber and the American government official Joseph C. G. Kennedy.   Two early owners remain unidentified.  We are looking for help from anyone who can identify the intricate coat of arms of an early owner at the foot of the fifth leaf recto, as well as the institution referred to as “Con[ven]tus S[an]cti Dominici Casilensis” in inscriptions on the first and fifth leaves.

 Richard Heber (1774-1833) is one of the greatest book collectors of the nineteenth century and indeed, of all time.  He was a classical scholar and studied at Brasenose College, Oxford.  Heber later served as the MP for Oxford University from 1821-25.  Heber’s library was immense and is estimated to have contained upwards of 150,000 printed volumes housed in at least eight locations at the time of his death.  For more information on Richard Heber, see Arthur Sherbo’s biography (Arthur Sherbo, ‘Heber, Richard (1774–1833)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2005 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12854, accessed 23 Sept 2011])

Joseph Camp Griffith Kennedy (1813-1887) redesigned and oversaw the U.S. Census in 1850 and 1860.  He rose to prominence as a political figure in Pennsylvania and later lived and worked in Washington DC, where he was fatally stabbed over a business dispute on July 13, 1887. Kennedy’s interest in book collecting is unknown, but his inscription in this volume indicates he purchased it in 1855.

If anyone recognizes the coat of arms which adorns the foot of the fifth leaf recto or has more information about the institution referred to in an ownership inscription as the “Con[ven]tus S[an]cti Dominici Casilensis,” please leave a comment using the icon which appears at the bottom of this entry.  Your help is appreciated! AD

 

Unidentified Crest of a Blue Greyhound in an Incunable (Incunabula Q. 871 A59c.I 1483)

 

St Augustine. De civitate Dei. Venice?: Antonio di Bartolommeo Miscomini, about 1476-1478.

While cataloging an Italian edition of St Augustine’s De civitate Dei, I was pleasantly surprised to come across a beautiful illumination.  The table of contents makes up the first ten leaves of this volume, but the opening page of the text proper (leaf a1 recto) displays a stunning hand-painted border and initial “E”.   The border is made up of foliage, pink and blue flowers, and fruit, and is ornamented with black penwork and tiny dots of gold leaf.  The two columns of text are divided by a foliate column, and the initial, which is set in a ground of gold leaf, continues this leafy motif.

The most fascinating and mysterious element of this illumination lies at the foot of the page, where a circular wreath encloses an as-yet unidentified heraldic crest.  Within this roundel—surrounded by a pink, ornamental ground—is a tear-shaped escutcheon argent with a greyhound rampant azure collared gules.¹

A cursory investigation has turned up few clues as to whose crest this could be.  A March 1887 catalog of the library of former Union General Rush C. Hawkins (1831-1920) lists a copy of Aquinas’ Summa contra gentiles (Venice: Nicolas Jenson, 1480) and remarks that “[t]he recto of the fifth leaf has a large capital in blue and at the bottom of the same page, in colors, the arms of a former owner:– ‘Argent a greyhound rampant azure’”.  I have been unable to track this copy to its modern-day owner.  Much of General Hawkins’ large book collection, including his incunabula, is now held by Brown University as part of the Annmary Brown Memorial collection, set up in memory of Hawkins’ wife after her death in 1906.  Unfortunately, the copy of the 1480 Summa contra gentiles at Brown does not correspond to the one in the catalog.  Both the Augustine and the Aquinas date from the same period and were possibly published in the same city.  These two copies could very well have been in the possession of the same 15^th-century owner who had them adorned with his arms.  This is impossible to determine unless the whereabouts of the Hawkins copy become known.  Perhaps there are more incunabula in institutions and private collections around the world with this same crest, waiting to be discovered.

This volume also has a manuscript note on the second front fly-leaf verso stating that this copy was “Bought at the Marquis of Hasting’s sale for £. 10. 10. 0.”  This is presumably the sale of 1868, after the death of the 4^th Marquess.  It was acquired from Stonehill Books in 1949.

It is bound in 18^th-century light-brown calf with gilt tooled and stamped boards and spine, and has the spine title: “S. Agostino – Della citta di Dio”.

We are seeking any information that might help to identify the owner of this crest or the present-day location of the copy of Aquinas mentioned in the 1887 catalog.  If you have any suggestions please contact the Non Solus blog moderators or the Rare Book & Manuscript Library. TB

Unidentified coat of arms found in the Incunabula collection

 

While cataloging a copy of Leonardus de Utino’s Sermones aurei de Sanctis (Venice: Johann von Koln and Johann Manthen, 1475) we came across a coat of arms that is so far unidentified. This coat of arms has been added to the recto of leaf a2 and is located after the incipit to the prologue.  The inscription at the head of the leaf reads:  Emptu[?] Jhr…ne[??] die ii  Juli 16[-]1, and a previous inscription has been struck-through above it. The library is one of seven universities in possession of this text in the United States.

The volume was bequeathed to the Library in 1931 by Mrs. Mary F. Kitchell from the library of her late husband, John Wickliff Kitchell of Pana, Illinois. The rest of the initials in this item have all been added in gilt, continuing the “golden” theme.  It has been bound in parchment on boards, with spine title: “Leonardi de Vtino Sermones de Sanctis 1475”.

 

 

We are seeking any information that might lead to the identification of this coat of arms. If you have any suggestions please contact the Non Solus blog moderators or the Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Histoire des Ballons from the Library of Amelia Earhart (Q. 629.13322 T52h)

 This two-volume set detailing the history of ballooning in Europe from 1783-1890 was written by balloonist Gaston Tissandier. Tissandier was a prolific author of books on balloons and patented the method of application of the electric motor in balloon flight. His work followed that of Henri Giffard who invented the first engine-powered airship. Although Tissandier primarily wrote on ballooning (including a bibliography) he had many other interests and wrote books on meteorology, chemistry, engraving and photography.

 

 The library’s copy (Q.629.13322 T52h) of this set has bookplates indicating that it is from the library of Amelia Earhart and is accompanied by a note describing its acquisition:

 

“…The work was published in 1890 and was a part of the library of the late Amelia Earhart. Miss Earhart (Mrs. Putnam) it will be recalled was a noted aviator who lost her life in a flight over the Southern Pacific Ocean, her library was recently placed on sale and the University was able to purchase this work.”

       

It is oddly coincidental that this work comes from the library of Amelia Earhart, since Tissandier dedicated it to those balloonists who “sacrificed their lives for the progress of science”:

“A la mémoire des martyrs de l’Aéronautique qui ont sacrifié leur vie pour le progrès de la science depuis Pilâtre de Rozier et Romain jusqu’a Crocé-Spinelli et Sivel.”

Those “Aéronautes” mentioned in the dedication are two who died in an attempted flight across the English Channel in 1785 (just 2 years after the first recorded manned flight of a hot air balloon) and two others who died during a high altitude flight with the author in 1875, which is described in Volume II. Tissandier was greatly affected by the death of his comrades and wrote Les Martyrs de la Science in 1879.

 This book also mentions the use of hot-air balloons during the siege of Paris in 1870, over the course of which, according to Tissandier, 64 balloons crossed enemy lines carrying 91 passengers, 363 messenger pigeons and 5000 kilograms of mail. A more descriptive account can be found in Tissandier’s En Ballon! Pendant le Siege de Paris Souvenirs d’un Aeronaute (Paris: E. Dentu, 1871). MS