Monday, July 21, 2008

ISTC diversion

I've been looking through a list of material on book production displayed in 1965. The list, arranged by H.G. Kaplan, does not include any location numbers and some of the items are proving difficult to trace.
Many of the incunabula do not have online records on our catalogue but, curiously, I can find them on the Incunabula Short Title Catalogue on the British Library website.
'The ISTC records nearly every item printed from movable type before 1501, but not material printed entirely from woodblocks or engraved plates. 29,777 editions are listed as at January 8th 2008, including some 16th-century items previously assigned incorrectly to the 15th century.'
There are around 198 titles on the ISTC from the State Library although locations are not included.
This image is from Glossa Magistralis Psalterii by Petrus Lombardus ( 1095 - 1160) , printed in 1478 by Frisner and Sensenschmidt in Nuremberg. The title is listed in the scanned card catalogue but has an incorrect location number.
'Peter Lombard', a scholastic theologian of the twelfth century, was appointed Bishop of Paris in 1159. The caption for the display suggests state that:
'The book here displayed is rare in any condition; the freshness of the illuminations, the paper, and the binding make it a well-nigh unique example of a 15th century book, fresh from the binder.'

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