Project update 22 - Collection valuation

The Library's rare printed collections are conservatively valued at over $80 million. One of the easy tasks throughout this project has been identifying some of the rare and valuable items in the collection which had not beeen included in the Collection Valuation in 2005. Here are just a few of my favourites that will be included in the 2010 Valuation.

George Ruxner
Anfang, vrsprung vnnd herkōmen des Thurnirs in Teutscher nation
[Siemern : H. Rodler, 1530]
This is the first edition of the famous Book of Tournament by the Palatine herald Georg Ruxner. The volume provides information on the origin and ritual of 36 tournaments in Germany and Switzerland, with descriptions and lists of participants. There are over 200 woodcuts illustrating scenes of the dances and festivities that were as essential as the fighting as well as descriptions of the coats of arms of notable warriors.

MRB/ Q394.7/ R (16th Century)



Thomas L. M'Kenney and James Hall
History of the Indian tribes of North America : with biographical sketches and anecdotes of the principal chiefs ...
Philadelphia : F. W. Greenough, 1838-1844
Thomas McKenney (1785-1859) served as Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1824-1830. He commissioned and collected portraits of Native Americans for his Gallery in the War Department with the goal to publish a record of vanishing peoples including portraits and biographical sketches. The first issue of History of the Indian Tribes of North America was published in three volumes between 1836 and 1844. This is a beautiful example of hand-colored American lithography and is one of the earliest collections of Native American portraits. Digital images of the volumes are available online at the University of Cincinnati. DSM/ F970.3/M SET

R. Bougard
The little sea torch ; or, True guide for coasting pilots
London : Published for the Author, by J. Debrett ..., 1801.
This volume contains 34 coastal profiles on 20 hand-coloured aquatint plates. It also includes 24 hand-coloured charts of ports. This is the first and only edition of this work for coastal navigation. It was translated by Thomas Serres from René Bougard's Le Petit flambeau de la mer. SC/ F29

Project update 21 - E- record status

The Library has recently received funding to create electronic records for the Library collections. ( A press release can be viewed on the Library website). I have been gathering information for the project on the status of electronic records in the Rare books & Special Collections in the State Reference Library. The question is not just if there is an electronic record but is the electronic record good enough? Is it only an interim record created to record the existence of an item or does it provide a useful access point to the collection? Does it have a subject heading, a physical description or any provenance information? Many of the electronic records that do exist for our rare printed collections are only interim records.

This week I discovered that the Richardson collection holds a rare early herbal printed in England in 1527. I found it as I trawled through a long list of items that were only identified through a Richardson call number search. If you were looking for a herbal you wouldn't find it through any keyword search! The record for RICHARDSON/B282 is brief ! Herbals were important in medieval times as they described the appearance, medicinal properties, and other characteristics of common plants.

The Vertuose boke of dystyllacyon of the waters of all maner of herbes with the fygures of the styllatoryes ... is a translation by Laurence Andrewes of Liber de arte distillandi de simplicibus, first published at Strassburg in 1500. It describes the method of distilling herbs, in order to make use of their medicinal properties or virtues. The numerous woodcut illustrations include pictures of stills and distilling equipment as well as numerous illustrations of plants and flowers known for their medicinal properties.

On the trail of a perfect example of an "interim" record I headed to stack. There it was hidden in the depths of a lovely blue cardboard box not known for it's acid free qualities. Even better the Vertuose boke was still wrapped in the brown paper wrapper in which Henry Richardson received the item from the bookseller in 1922!

Henry Richardson was an Englishman who had an extensive collection of early bibles, printed works and manuscripts. During the First World War Australian troops were stationed on his property in Weymouth, Dorset. He entertained the army chaplain and many of the officers. As an expression of his gratitude for the support from Australia during the war he decided to donate his collection to a suitable institution in Australia. The Public Library of New South Wales received the bulk of his collection in 1926. Although the agreement with the Library was made in 1919 Richardson continued to collect rare and valuable items up until 1924 knowing that they were being purchased not just for his benefit but for Australia!
Anyway, here is the 1527 herbal without a binding or title page, wrapped in a lovely acid-full brown paper wrapping. You can still read the personal notes written by Richardson and the bookseller's catalogue entry.

Latin diversion

In 1971 the Library advertised for a Special Collections Librarian - “Applicants must be fully qualified librarians with an appropriate degree and should have at least a working knowledge of Greek or Latin and another foreign language" – R.F. Doust
N0 need to panic - the National Archives Office has an online beginners' guide to the Latin used in documents between 1086 and 1733.

Project update 20 - Frank Heyner

Last week I received a request for information on Frank Heyner. The request came from Sylvia Holton Peterson who is undertaking a census of the Kelmscott Chaucer, published in 1896. The Library's copy of The works of Geoffrey Chaucer newly imprinted is bound in kangaroo skin and blind tooled with an ornamental design of grapes and leaves which replicates some of the detailed woodcut borders on the internal pages designed by William Morris. The binding was the work of Frank Heyner, who was "superintendent" of the bindery at the Mitchell Library, from around 1915.













Not surprisingly information files on Frank Heyner were scarce but Arthur Easton found a manuscript item ( A7143) which contained some wonderful examples of Frank Heyner's work. According to the accompanying article from the British & Colonial Printer & Stationer, March 30, 1916, nine panels completed by Heyner were included in the official exhibit sent by the NSW Government to the Panama - Pacific Exhibition at San Fransisco in 1915. The display of book bindings won a gold medal. Heyner used local flora to create the distinctive designs. Heyner was born in London in 1885, the son of a well-known London binder, Mr A.O. Heyner, of Islington.


You may find some of Heyner's wonderful bindings in the collection. They can be identified by his initials "F.H" at the bottom of the back inside cover.

Project update 19 - A Dixson safe item

Sir William Dixson's printed book collections include significant works on the history of Australia including the exploration of the Pacific. His collections also include some very rare European publications printed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. They are often distinguished by fine bindings in excellent condition.
De magnis coniunctionibus by Abalachus Albumasar was printed in Augsburg in 1489 (Dixson Safe/48/1) . This thesis on the creation of the universe was developed by Albumasar, a ninth-century Arab astronomer. Albumasar believed that the Creation occurred when the seven planets were in conjunction with the first degree of the constellation Aries, and that the world would end when they were in conjunction with the last degree of Pisces. The printer, Erhard Ratdolt, was well known for his publication of early scientific works.

Project update 18 - Writing in RB stack plus...

It's hard not to be distracted from writing when the voices of long gone authors, printers and binders call from the shelves...so here are some online distractions...

A Rare Books blog
Rare Book collections @ Princeton

A Curator's instant messaging service
Special Collections & Rare Books - University of Minnesota

An interesting blog entry on a talk given by Richard Ovenden, Keeper of Special Collections at the Bodleian Library from the Archives Hub Website- Revolutionising access to the archives of UK universities and colleges
Archives Hub Blog - A very rare thing!