A gem comes to light
A
400-year-old manuscript has recently been uncovered in the University of
Edinburgh which details a list of jobs James I of England and V1 of Scotland
had tasked his jewellers to do the year after his coronation.
It outlines a series of repairs and embellishments to be carried out by the King's jewelers – Sir John Spilman and William Henrick – for himself and his wife Anne of Denmark. Techniques used by the jewelers, such as soldering, mending, trimming and setting, are also detailed. The total cost for the work comes to £1,374, 14 shillings and one pence – approximately £140,000 in today's money. The manuscript was discovered by archive staff completing a project to document the university's Laing Collection, hundreds of historic documents bequeathed to the university by antiquary and bookseller David Laing.
It outlines a series of repairs and embellishments to be carried out by the King's jewelers – Sir John Spilman and William Henrick – for himself and his wife Anne of Denmark. Techniques used by the jewelers, such as soldering, mending, trimming and setting, are also detailed. The total cost for the work comes to £1,374, 14 shillings and one pence – approximately £140,000 in today's money. The manuscript was discovered by archive staff completing a project to document the university's Laing Collection, hundreds of historic documents bequeathed to the university by antiquary and bookseller David Laing.
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Sotheby's London Auction
A
unique private British library of over 140 first-edition books, shining light
on the stories behind Britain’s most-loved novels and poems, will be offered
for sale at Sotheby’s in London on 24 November 2015. From “The Importance of
Being Earnest”, to “The Wind in The Willows”, “Tarzan” and James Bond, each and
every book includes a hand-written inscription from the author, and was gifted
in thanks to their friends, family or individuals who inspired their work.
Collected over 40 years by an English bibliophile, they provide a glimpse into
the forgotten narratives behind over 300 years of literary production. With
individual estimates ranging from £700 – £150,000, they are together expected
to fetch £1.5-2 million at Sotheby’s “Library of an English Bibliophile” sale.
Some Highlights:
Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest (1899), est. £150,000-200,000 Given by Oscar Wilde to his first lover Robert Ross: ("To | The mirror of | perfect friendship: | Robbie: | Whose name I | have written on the portal | of this little play. | Oscar. | Feb. 99.") Acknowledged by Wilde as his first male lover, Ross showed fierce loyalty to Wilde throughout his life even once their affair had mellowed into friendship. When Wilde was arrested for gross indecency, Ross broke into the poet’s home to stop his papers and manuscripts falling into the hands of the police, and later worked to rescue Wilde’s estate from bankruptcy and regain the rights to the works which had been previously sold, which eventually led to the publication of Earnest in 1899. Wilde dedicated the play to Ross, and presented him with this, his own inscribed copy. On Wilde’s death Ross commissioned the Epstein sculpture for his grave in Paris. On the 50th anniversary of Wilde’s death Ross’s own ashes were placed in a special compartment in the same sculpture.
Queen Victoria [Agnes
Strickland],
Queen Victoria from Her
Birth to Her Bridal (1840) Extensively annotated and corrected in
Queen Victoria’s hand, est. £10,000-15,000 Queen Victoria was so
displeased with Strickland’s biography of her early life that she scribbled
corrections over 100 pages of this book ("not true", "quite
false", “absurd” and "nonsense"), and returned it to the author.
So upset with the offense she had caused, Strickland made arrangements to have
all the other copies of the book she could find pulped, likely making this one
of very few surviving copies. The book made such an impression that nearly 100
years later, in 1932, George V contacted Strickland’s descendants with a
request to read the work which had so enraged his grandmother.
Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in The Willows (1908), Est. £20,000-30,000. Given by Kenneth Grahame to his old friend, the novelist and journalist, Thomas Anstey Guthrie (1856-1934) in the hope that he would arrange for the book to be reviewed in Punch. Unfortunately, this backfired a little. Punch published an unflattering review, simply declaring the tale "a sort of irresponsible holiday story".
Ian Fleming, You Only Live Twice (1964) Given to Richard Hughes, the inspiration behind his character Richard Lovelace “Dikko Henderson”. ("To | Dikko-san | from | Fleming-san. | With all affection"), est. £20,000-30,000. Hughes was the Sunday Times' ebullient, hard-drinking Far East Correspondent, whose job it was to accompany the author on his five-week Thrilling Cities tour. The Australian ex-boxer, and former part-time spy for MI6, was rewarded for his services by Fleming by becoming a dedicatee of “You Only Live Twice”, and being immortalised as the character "Dikko" Henderson (an Australian spy stationed in Japan). Hughes was also the model for Bill Craw in John le Carré's The Honourable Schoolboy.
Some Highlights:
Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest (1899), est. £150,000-200,000 Given by Oscar Wilde to his first lover Robert Ross: ("To | The mirror of | perfect friendship: | Robbie: | Whose name I | have written on the portal | of this little play. | Oscar. | Feb. 99.") Acknowledged by Wilde as his first male lover, Ross showed fierce loyalty to Wilde throughout his life even once their affair had mellowed into friendship. When Wilde was arrested for gross indecency, Ross broke into the poet’s home to stop his papers and manuscripts falling into the hands of the police, and later worked to rescue Wilde’s estate from bankruptcy and regain the rights to the works which had been previously sold, which eventually led to the publication of Earnest in 1899. Wilde dedicated the play to Ross, and presented him with this, his own inscribed copy. On Wilde’s death Ross commissioned the Epstein sculpture for his grave in Paris. On the 50th anniversary of Wilde’s death Ross’s own ashes were placed in a special compartment in the same sculpture.
Queen Victoria [Agnes
Strickland],
Queen Victoria from Her
Birth to Her Bridal (1840) Extensively annotated and corrected in
Queen Victoria’s hand, est. £10,000-15,000 Queen Victoria was so
displeased with Strickland’s biography of her early life that she scribbled
corrections over 100 pages of this book ("not true", "quite
false", “absurd” and "nonsense"), and returned it to the author.
So upset with the offense she had caused, Strickland made arrangements to have
all the other copies of the book she could find pulped, likely making this one
of very few surviving copies. The book made such an impression that nearly 100
years later, in 1932, George V contacted Strickland’s descendants with a
request to read the work which had so enraged his grandmother. Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in The Willows (1908), Est. £20,000-30,000. Given by Kenneth Grahame to his old friend, the novelist and journalist, Thomas Anstey Guthrie (1856-1934) in the hope that he would arrange for the book to be reviewed in Punch. Unfortunately, this backfired a little. Punch published an unflattering review, simply declaring the tale "a sort of irresponsible holiday story".
Ian Fleming, You Only Live Twice (1964) Given to Richard Hughes, the inspiration behind his character Richard Lovelace “Dikko Henderson”. ("To | Dikko-san | from | Fleming-san. | With all affection"), est. £20,000-30,000. Hughes was the Sunday Times' ebullient, hard-drinking Far East Correspondent, whose job it was to accompany the author on his five-week Thrilling Cities tour. The Australian ex-boxer, and former part-time spy for MI6, was rewarded for his services by Fleming by becoming a dedicatee of “You Only Live Twice”, and being immortalised as the character "Dikko" Henderson (an Australian spy stationed in Japan). Hughes was also the model for Bill Craw in John le Carré's The Honourable Schoolboy.
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Brighton's Jubilee Library
A
display of rare books is on show at Brighton's Jubilee Library. The Curious V
exhibition showcases some of the works in the library's rare books collection.
Items on display include a copy of the world's first comic book, 'The Looking
Glass', published in 1825, and one of the world's first pictorial textbooks for
children, Visible World,
published in 1658.
Other exhibits include Slave Songs of the United States, a 19th century collection of African-American slave songs, recording the daily misery of slavery and dreams of escape and freedom. The rare book and special collections are made up of more than 45,000 volumes, dating from the 13th century to the 20th century.
The exhibition is on show in Tony Miller Reading Room at the Jubilee Library in Jubilee Street, Brighton, BN1 1GE, and is open during library opening hours.
Other exhibits include Slave Songs of the United States, a 19th century collection of African-American slave songs, recording the daily misery of slavery and dreams of escape and freedom. The rare book and special collections are made up of more than 45,000 volumes, dating from the 13th century to the 20th century.
The exhibition is on show in Tony Miller Reading Room at the Jubilee Library in Jubilee Street, Brighton, BN1 1GE, and is open during library opening hours.
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19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop
This extraordinary manuscript is one
of the three earliest known Torah scroll sheets and one of the most important
ancient Hebrew scrolls in the world after the Dead Sea Scrolls. The only other
Torah scroll sheets of this date or earlier are the Jews' College Scroll
(Exodus 9:18-13:2) and its twin, the virtually unreadable Duke University
fragment by the same scribe (Exodus 13:19-16:1). As the Dead Sea Scrolls are
extremely fragmentary for Exodus, the present scroll is by far the most
complete, and the only obtainable, early Exodus manuscript scroll sheet. This cornerstone relic of Judeo-Christian religion and history contains the story of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. This evocative relic tells the story of God's deliverance of the Jews from bondage and their emergence as a free people. The text of the manuscript begins in Egypt with the plague of locusts, continues through the slaying of the first-born of Egypt, and then details God's requirements for the festival of Passover. The text continues through the flight from Egypt, the rescue at the Red Sea, the singing of the Song of the Sea to celebrate their deliverance, and the appearance of manna.
This is one of the foremost manuscript relics of the monotheistic peoples. The vast majority of early Biblical manuscripts remaining in private hands are tiny fragments. The present manuscript is a large and striking exhibition piece presenting the Exodus story from the plagues through deliverance from Egypt and the appearance of manna from heaven.
Price: $450,000
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Orwell Poetry
George Orwell: The Complete Poetry was compiled and edited on behalf of the Orwell Society by Dione Venables. The book A gem comes to light
A
400-year-old manuscript has recently been uncovered in the University of
Edinburgh which details a list of jobs James I of England and V1 of Scotland
had tasked his jewellers to do the year after his coronation.
It outlines a series of repairs and embellishments to be carried out by the King's jewelers – Sir John Spilman and William Henrick – for himself and his wife Anne of Denmark. Techniques used by the jewelers, such as soldering, mending, trimming and setting, are also detailed. The total cost for the work comes to £1,374, 14 shillings and one pence – approximately £140,000 in today's money. The manuscript was discovered by archive staff completing a project to document the university's Laing Collection, hundreds of historic documents bequeathed to the university by antiquary and bookseller David Laing.
It outlines a series of repairs and embellishments to be carried out by the King's jewelers – Sir John Spilman and William Henrick – for himself and his wife Anne of Denmark. Techniques used by the jewelers, such as soldering, mending, trimming and setting, are also detailed. The total cost for the work comes to £1,374, 14 shillings and one pence – approximately £140,000 in today's money. The manuscript was discovered by archive staff completing a project to document the university's Laing Collection, hundreds of historic documents bequeathed to the university by antiquary and bookseller David Laing.
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Ibookcollector ©
is published by Rivendale Press.
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