CILIP Rare Books and Special Collections Newsletter
Issue 116
March 2021
Dante and Beatrice: Paradiso 26. Dante, La comedia di Dante Aligieri (Venice: Marcolini, 1544) UCL STRONG ROOM C 1544 Image courtesy of UCL Special Collections Issued March 2021 © CILIP Rare Books and Special Collections Group and contributors. ISSN 0959 1656
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Contents
Editors notes 2
News from the Committee 3
Day Events update 5
Obituary: Robert Donaldson 6
Upcoming Events 7
Reviews 9
CILIP RBSCG Committee Members 12
Editors’ notes Welcome to the Spring 2021 issue of the Newsletter and we hope you are all well after a challenging twelve months. Since our last issue in the autumn exploring the exciting opportunities of reopening and lockdown working, many of us have once again been working away from our collections, staying at home and experiencing furlough. With this in mind, we have a slightly lighter issue for you, particularly aware that many colleagues are experiencing restructures, job cuts and the continuing uncertainty which the pandemic brings. At the time of writing, all UK nations are looking forward to a gradual reopening which we hope bodes well for the future.
Despite the challenges (or perhaps because we’re getting used to them) the Committee has continued to be active. In these pages you’ll find an update on advocacy from our Chair, Sarah Mahurter, who has been leading the robust and speedy response of the Group to various threats to collections. In our ‘new normal’ or digital get togethers, there are updates about our much missed annual conference which will go ahead online, and the continuing success of ‘In Conversation’ day events. We would also like to thank Brian Hillyard for contributing an obituary for Robert Donaldson, past Chair of the Group.
We wish you a hopeful spring and would love to hear about your collections plans for the year ahead, or any interesting activity you’ve been able to work on through the lockdown. Please do let us know if you would like to advertise any exhibitions or events, which we can also share via our social media platforms.
Keep safe and well!
Jane and Karen (co-editors)
[email protected] [email protected] 2
News from the Committee Advocacy for Collections at Risk Advocacy is a core value of the CILIP RBSCG. It has never been so necessary to live out this value and champion rare book and art collections and the expertise of staff who care for them. Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, we have witnessed reviews considering the role of expert staff and access to rare collections across major and national institutions including The National Trust, The Wallace Collection and The National Art Library at the V&A Museum, as well as National Library of Wales and some university library and archive services. Members will see from the open letters published on our web pages that we have actively joined the campaigns for these staff and collections.
Whilst professionals across the GLAM sector understand that change is an ongoing force in our lives, bringing us opportunity for development and new vision, we strive to preserve the fabric of the heritage embodied in our collections and the roles of skilled staff who make them available as a reference point for knowledge and learning.
Each of the institutions that RBSCG has written to has revisited its plans and travelled from its original position in response to the campaigns to which we have added our voice. There is some further distance to travel and I suspect that there will be many more campaigns to join, as we emerge from the pandemic and fully understand its legacy across our sector.
I am heartened by the shifts in position that we have seen, which vindicate the work and values to which our profession is dedicated. Through our advocacy, this Group has contributed to conversations with Nick Poole (CEO CILIP), ARLIS/UK & Ireland, RLUK and SCONUL to bring a strength of unity to the advocacy. Together, we will influence the direction of the developments that we see around and before us.
Advocacy remains a core value of the Group and we will continue to be active in supporting the skills, expertise and collections that we want to hand on to future generations.
Sarah Mahurter Chair, RBSCG
You can see the letters on the RBSCG website at: https://www.cilip.org.uk/members/group_content_view.asp?group=201312&id=690468
Conference update The CILIP Rare Books & Special Collections Group 2021 annual study conference, “The appliance of science: what might developments in science and technology mean for Special Collections?” will take place online via Zoom on 7th and 8th September, with attendance free to all.
The conference will consider how developments in technology, and new techniques in heritage science and biomedical science, are adding to and changing our understanding of our collections. It will shed light on recent developments and will consider the implications for our collection knowledge, collection stewardship, and how we preserve and share these collections into the future. Confirmed speakers include Paola Ricciardi (Fitzwilliam Museum) and Lora Angelova (National Archives) on different analytical techniques and their applications; Kathryn Rudy (St Andrews University) and Eileen Tisdall (University of Stirling) on the possibilities of pollen analysis in recreating past journeys of books and manuscripts; and Martin Hamilton (independent writer,
3 futurist, and innovation adviser) on Artificial Intelligence and special collections. Other topics include passive preservation, ethical sampling and destructive testing, and ink analysis in forgery detection.
A full programme and instructions on how to register will be published on the web and social media ahead of the conference.
Bob MacLean Conference Organiser 2021, RBSCG
New IFLA Competency Guidelines produced In December 2020, IFLA published their new ‘Competency Guidelines for Rare Books and Special Collections Professionals’. These guidelines are intended to form a basis for training to ensure that professionals can develop the relevant competencies and continue to uphold stringent ethical standards as stewards of cultural heritage materials.
“These guidelines outline the competencies developed for all library professionals who work with special collections materials, both analog and digital. They provide direction and focus for special collections professionals to facilitate their own career development, as well as to manage their special collections in line with their institutional policies and user needs.” IFLA, 18 December 2020 The full Guidelines can be downloaded via the IFLA website at www.ifla.org/publications/node/93544.
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Day Events update: In Conversation: Tech Tools for Engagement
25 February marked the return of the RBSCG in Conversation series of online events with a discussion of Tech Tools for Engagement led by Tabitha Tuckett, Rare-Books Librarian: Academic Support And Events at University College London. For those who have not yet attended an “In Conversation” event, they are an informal discussion forum for members of the rare books and special collections community to share questions, concerns, and creative solutions to current issues. The events are free and open to all, regardless of membership status or geographic location.
February’s session looked at various methods of showing collection items live online, whether for teaching, events, readers, or other purposes, and producing and hosting videos and asynchronous resources to support teaching and engagement. There was clearly an appetite for information on this topic; the session attracted approximately 130 participants from the UK, USA, Europe, and even India, making it RBSCG’s largest online event to date.
The discussion included a comparison of various platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams for holding live events, and the pros and cons of different types of equipment such as visualisers, webcams, and even smartphones for capturing video of collections materials. Other topics included techniques for conveying the materiality of collections, and ways of engaging audiences and collecting feedback in a virtual environment. At the end of the session, participants were invited to try connecting to Zoom with a smartphone or other second device to use as a document camera. The notes from the discussion, including directions for connecting additional devices, generating attendance reports in MS Teams and Zoom, and enabling automated captioning and transcripts, as well as a list of additional resources, are freely available at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y11EkimC4nJWhXfyT-2d6VO7zBQ2- rNzj10ivqVhIIU/edit?usp=sharing
The following RBSCG in Conversation event, at 3:30-4:30pm on 25 March, was a discussion of why and how we document provenance information, led by Hugh Cahill, Senior Librarian at Lambeth Palace Library. Notes from this event will be shared in a future newsletter.
The notes from other past events can be found here:
● Remote Work for Special Collections: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vK1PGvCT29tR04ZssA0T5qIwqF8hnBRecDwJsHoNb7 0/edit?usp=sharing ● Re-opening Reading Rooms: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SevfqV5htTlPu6hKY8rFYFwekSwjWdXP_R0MJ3FKIBc /edit?usp=sharing
We are always looking for discussion leaders and note-takers for RBSCG events. To get involved, get in touch with Christine Megowan, RBSCG Day Events Coordinator, at [email protected].
If there is an event or training session that you would like to see from RBSCG in the future, you can email Christine directly or use our Day Event Suggestion form here: https://forms.gle/XgSNQ4Psp8vqTmYN6 Christine Megowan Day Events Co-ordinator, RBSCG
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Obituary: Robert Donaldson, 1926-2021
Robert Donaldson died in Edinburgh on 11 January this year, aged 94. Robert was a stalwart of the Group's Committee, from 1975 until 1988, holding the offices of Vice-Chair in 1980-1982 and Chair in 1983-1986, all this involving frequent travel between Edinburgh and London. His time as Chair was particularly memorable as he oversaw the publication (1984) of the first edition of the ground- breaking Directory of Rare Book and Special Collections in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. In addition, he himself contributed to the Directory as regional organiser for the entries for the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland. I worked under him from 1977, and if my memory serves me correctly he also compiled the entries -- dropped from later editions -- for some unnamed Scottish private libraries.
Robert had a long and distinguished career as a rare book librarian. After graduating in History with Honours at Edinburgh University in 1948, he joined the staff of the University Library while undertaking postgraduate studies in the field of medieval history under the supervision of Denys Hay. In 1955 he was awarded his PhD for a thesis 'Patronage and the Church: a study in the social structure of the secular clergy in the diocese of Durham'. In 1959 he moved from his Edinburgh University Library post as Reference and Bibliographical Assistant to the newly-created post of Sub- Librarian in charge of Special Collections in Glasgow University Library. That same year he was appointed Editor of The Bibliotheck, a journal of Scottish bibliographical notes and queries, published by the Scottish Group of the University, College and Research Section of the Library Association; a role he carried out until 1970. In 1962 he resigned his Glasgow post -- his successor there was Philip Gaskell -- and moved to the Department of Printed Books at the National Library of Scotland where he was successively Assistant Keeper, Deputy Keeper, and then, from 1975, Keeper in charge of the British Antiquarian Division until he retired in December 1989.
His time as Keeper was notable for the accession of many important and often large collections. In some cases this was driven by the desire to maintain intact collections of national importance that were at risk of dispersal, in others by factors such as the benefits of improved security, preservation and access. Robert's organisational abilities and careful attention to detail enabled him to successfully manage, for example, the transfer of some 27,000 volumes from Blairs College Library, Aberdeen (about which he spoke to the Group in January 1976), which were deposited in 1974 but have now been transferred to Aberdeen University Library, and of some 7,000 volumes from the Dalrymple family library in Newhailes House, which were received by HM Treasury in lieu of estate duty and allocated to the National Library in 1978. In the case of collections that were being sent to auction Robert led teams of his staff on expeditions to the libraries concerned, and they painstakingly identified volumes falling within the National Library's acquisition policies: this happened with the Signet Library sales of 1978-1979, the Edinburgh Free Church College Edinburgh sale of 1979, and, in 1987, Tyninghame House Library, where some 400 volumes were selected for pre-auction purchase. In 1988, shortly before retirement, he oversaw the transfer to the National Library of the Crawford (Bibliotheca Lindesiana) special collections previously on deposit at the John Rylands University Library, Manchester, some 45,000 volumes in all. His meticulous approach also served him well when in the late 1970s/early 1980s, during the Scottish Libraries Co-operative Automation Project (SCOLCAP), he took a leading role in devising the standard rules governing the cataloguing of antiquarian books in Scottish libraries.
Robert was extremely conscientious in carrying out his responsibilities -- it was common to see him leaving the Library in the evenings carrying not one, but two briefcases with papers to work on at home -- and set very high standards. He was highly respected within the Library and among the
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Brian Hillyard Upcoming events 4th May: Dante’s Commedia illustrated by Botticelli
The 1481 edition of Dante's La Comedia was printed in Florence by Nicolaus Laurentii, Alamanus and was also the first edition to emerge from the city of Dante's birth. With engravings attributed to Baccio Baldini from designs by Sandro Botticelli, the ambitious book could potentially have been the first fully illustrated edition of the poem.
This event will explore the images and blank spaces which appear in some of over 150 copies around the world, highlighting a number of these remarkable copies, each of which has developed its own unique history and provenance in the 540 years since it was first printed.
Inferno Canto 1. Dante, Commento di Christophoro Landino fiorentino sopra La commedia di Dante Alighieri (Florence: Nicholo di Lorenzo della Magna, 1481) Bodleian Library Auct. 2Q 1.11, fol. A2r (detail). Image courtesy of Bodleian Libraries, Oxford.
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To mark the 540th anniversary of the edition's publication and the 700th anniversary of Dante's death, this event will digitally bring together copies from Italy, the U.S.A. and the U.K. The event will include short talks on Botticelli's illustrations (Professor Gervase Rosser, University of Oxford), on surviving copies (Professor Cristina Dondi, University of Oxford and Secretary of CERL) and on the context of the book's production (Dr. Tabitha Tuckett, UCL).
Participating libraries include: Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, UK (co-organiser) University College London, UK (co-organiser) Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Italy The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, USA The British Library, UK John Rylands Library, University of Manchester, UK Trinity College, Cambridge, UK
For more information and to book tickets, go to Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dante-1481-the-comedia-illustrated-by-botticelli-tickets- 148095921889
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Reviews
Anthony Grafton, Inky Fingers: The Making of Books in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge MA and London: Harvard University Press, 2020. 392 p., illus. ISBN 9780674237179. £31.95.
In the early sixteenth century, German humanist Johann Boemus set to work writing an ethnography of Africa, Asia and Europe. Boemus adopted a system of compilation, drawing together the work of recognised authorities: 'reliable texts' by those such as Ptolemy, Pliny and Tacitus. By page three of Inky Fingers, Anthony Grafton is comparing Boemus's trust in the masters to the manner in which Unhygienix, the fishmonger in the village inhabited by Asterix the Gaul, insisted on acquiring his fish for sale from dealers in Paris (albeit with a very different outcome). So begins Grafton's entertainingly written work on the making of books in Early Modern Europe.
If Boemus provides our introduction to the world of Renaissance humanists, he is very quickly joined by a varied cast of protagonists which illuminates all aspects of book production, from the printing house corrector to the writer of polemical texts. Grafton's book brings together nine essays reflecting on 'forms of scholarly authorship in Western Europe between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries' (p.4). Seven of the chapters have appeared elsewhere though all have been revised and the book has a pleasing coherence. Chapters 1-3 look broadly at the work of printers and scribes; 4-6 give further examples of the practices of compilation; 7-9 explore how 'material was reused and transformed' (p. 27).
Chapter 1 discusses the corrector and makes clear the role they had in the creation of books, even to the extent of adding material of their own to proofs. Grafton uses case studies to good effect throughout his work. Many of his chapters highlight a single individual, such as in chapter two which begins and ends with Isaac Casaubon's work as an editor of classical texts. However, the first chapter ranges more widely across the printing centres of Early Modern Europe. Nevertheless, it still makes use of specific examples, for instance the corrections made to Copernicus's De revolutionibus (1543). The changes, most notably the inclusion by the corrector Andreas Osiander of an anonymous preface, demonstrate the extent to which an author's work might be amended as part of the process of publication.
Grafton soon leaves the print shop behind and by chapter 3 has entered the library. Titled 'Jean Mabillon invents paleography', here he discusses the production and influence of Mabillion's De re diplomatica. The use of tracing to obtain samples of scripts for publication in Mabillon's work is wonderfully described, though the application of the technique to a sixth-century Florentine manuscript will have many librarians wincing and reaching for the nearest set of handling guidelines.
Grafton's middle section, on compilation, begins with his case study on the writing of early church histories, particularly that of Polydore Vergil. Chapter 5 considers compilation on a greater scale, not as the bringing together of sources in a single published work but in the development of a library. The collection of Archbishop Matthew Parker, much of it now at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, is shown to have been the result of Parker's desire to gather together a scholarly resource. The last of the three chapters recounts the activities of Francis Daniel Pastorius in compiling a vast commonplace book, his Bee-Hive.
The final three chapters introduce the reader to Annius of Viterbo, John Caius and Baruch Spinoza. Where Annius forged history, Caius invented it in his attempt to demonstrate Cambridge University's antiquity over Oxford. Both sought to use as much 'evidence' as could be claimed to exist. Spinoza on the other hand carefully selected the sources with which he might write his biblical study,
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Tractatus theologica-politicus. All had in common the desire to reuse or reinterpret documentary material to further their agendas.
Grafton's subtitle - The making of books in Early Modern Europe - should be read in the broadest sense. Indeed, the German-born Pastorius produced his commonplace book whilst living in Pennsylvania, though he followed a practice of compilation recommended by Erasmus (p. 168). Inky Fingers is about how books are formed and the protagonists who contribute to forming them. The volume is accompanied by copious endnotes though it remains a bugbear of this reviewer that publishers opt for the endnote instead of the more easily accessed footnote. A further, minor, criticism of the work is that it lacks a bibliography. This is a shame. Having benefited from Grafton's close textual study, fine array of examples and years of research, many will want to read more. Richard Wragg University of Sussex
Julia C. Walworth, Merton College Library: An Illustrated History. Oxford: Bodleian Library, 2020. 144 p., illus. ISBN 9781851245390. £15.00. pbk.
In December I was able to attend Julia Walworth’s Book and Print Initiative talk about the publication process for Merton College Library: An Illustrated History. Walworth set out her intentions in creating this volume, telling the listeners that the question people always ask about Merton College Library is “tell me about the ghost”! I spent a brief few months cataloguing early printed books in the library at Merton but sadly can report no exciting ghost sightings. There are no spectres in this richly illustrated volume either but a detailed and accessible history of a Library and the treasures within it. Walworth set out to write the life of an academic library. The resulting work manages to combine the history of the library with the treasures within in it. There is enough detail here for the student of library history but much to engage those with a more casual interest.
What was most striking to this reader, and what sets the work apart from other similar treasures volumes, is how the history of the library and the librarians who work there is seamlessly part of the book. Whereas some anecdotes could best be described as “librarians behaving badly” what comes across is the importance of the librarian in building and safeguarding the library at Merton. Some tales would horrify librarians today -17th century librarians were expected to foot the bill for any books which had gone missing that year! While some will delight – a library committee made up only of one person! The importance of the role of librarian is well illustrated by the treasures featured in the volume which underlines the importance of collecting as well as custodianship.
And what treasures! From Eusebius’ Chronicon to dried plant specimens and beautiful medieval tiles in the Library itself, there is something for every sphere of interest in the almost overwhelming richness of Merton’s collections. The treasures appear not just in the form of collection items but as anecdotes too. Look out for Beatrix Potter’s thoughts on the Library or the arrival of Queen Henrietta at Merton.
The only criticisms I can put forward are very personal. My copy was misbound, meaning I jumped from the 16th to the 17th century and back again, too much for my slightly softened lockdown brain. As an 18th and 19th century specialist I would have loved to see more of those later treasures although I appreciate they may not be as spectacular as some of the earlier collection items featured in the book. Small criticisms though for a book which informs and inspires in equal measure and comes highly recommended for the beautiful photography alone. Lucy Evans The British Library
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A u n i q u e online event uniting copies of the Florence 1481 edition from libraries in the UK, USA and Italy
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CILIP RBSCG Committee Members March 2021 Karen Newsletter co-editor [email protected] Brayshaw
Stephanie Digital Champion & Web Editor [email protected] Curran
Erika SocialLink Community Manager [email protected] Delbecque Lucy Evans Vice-Chair and Conference [email protected] Coordinator (outgoing) Richard Conference Coordinator (incoming) [email protected] Wragg Jane Newsletter co-editor (book reviews) [email protected] Gallagher
Tanya Kirk HLF Liaison [email protected]
Sarah Chair [email protected] Mahurter [email protected]
Robert Conference Organiser 2020 (co-opted) [email protected] MacLean
Christine Day Events Co-ordinator [email protected] Megowan
Iris O’Brien Chair of the Bibliographic Standards Iris.O'[email protected] Committee
Dunstan Honorary Treasurer [email protected] Speight [email protected]
Helen RBS Liaison & Equality & Diversity [email protected] Vincent Officer
Melanie Honorary Secretary [email protected] Wood [email protected]
Vacancy Blue Shield Representative and ABA Liaison Officer
Vacancy CILIP Member Networks Forum Representative
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