Code of Conduct diversion

I have a box of Library correspondence from the 1870s on my desk. Thank you, Arthur. Whilst pursuing the provenance of a few items I have come across a hand-written draft of the Library Regulations c.1870 as the Free Public Library was being established.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged" that the behaviour of clients in the reading rooms has not altered but been merely amplified over the past one hundred and forty years.
According to the draft

6. No person will be permitted to sit in the Room with his hat on - nor will any person who is intoxicated, or in a dirty condition be admitted to the Library.

8. Any visitor writing in or upon, folding down a leaf, defacing, mutilating, or otherwise injuring any book; spitting on the floor, smoking in the doorway, or in any way injuring the furniture etc: eating food or fruit; or not conducting himself with proper decorum will be excluded from the Library.

Project update 7 - Council minutes and melodies

The week started off with a "casual" read of the Library Council minutes from 1870 to 1900. I was looking for references to purchases or donations plus picking up interesting discussions. As previously discussed in Project Update 5, W. J. Stephens as Trustee and President, is frequently referred to in the minutes. He personally selects material for the collections from Booksellers catalogues and assists the Librarian with donations and selection lists.
I would like to look at the correspondence from the 1870s - 1880s. Does it exist? Any suggestions? I'm still looking for a lead on why and how we acquired the Slave Trade manuscripts!

On Friday I met John Stinson, formerly from La Trobe University. Some years ago he examined and organised the filming of the Rimini Antiphonal. He was in Sydney to attend the performance on Friday night (Fantastic event - the accoustics were amazing - Gallery seats were excellent!) John was interested in a Gradual from the Richardson collection, Not as beautiful as the Rimini but worth digitising. The folios have been bound in the wrong order. We wouldn't disbind the volume and re-order but this could be done electronically! John is keen to study the manuscript further when it is online.
While I had an expert on hand I took the opportunity of showing John a couple of other items from the collection. According to a brief card entry this image from Richardson 223 is the first leaf of a small 15th century manuscript containing the Office of the Dead. It is much smaller and less ornate than the larger antiphonals from the Richardson collection.

RB/MSS 90 is a small bound manuscript of approximately 21 leaves. The hand Gamut uses a theory from medieval music attributed to Guido of Arezzo. Each section of the hand represents a note within the hexachord. It allows a singer to simply represent and recall the notes of a song or chant.
This manuscript, c. 1790, needs some conservation work.

Darwin diversion

There is some serious content on this exhibition site for the 2005 Darwin exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History - Meet the Curator, Behind the scenes, public programs, podcasts, videos...something to think about for next year's 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.

Project update 6 - Manuscripts and incunabula

A varied week looking at Manuscripts (not Australian) and incunabula. An incunabulum is a book, single sheet, or image that was printed before 1501 in Europe.
There are a number of manuscripts and incunabula in the Richardson collection that have only brief records on the original catalogue cards. I have spent time following up information and potential sources of provenance. For example, we know that Richardson purchased the Rimini Antiphonal in 1923, however, unlike many of his bible purchases, he has not made any notes on the purchase of this item. There was a very helpful note on a Library file from the 1930s which said that notes on items from Richardson received in 1928 had been destroyed after cataloguing! Below are a couple of interesting items from my week.

According to the brief entry on the catalogue card, Richardson 253 is a poem by Mir Hasan (172 7- 1786 AD). If you can read Urdu you may understand this title "Kissa i Badr i Munir was Bai Nazir". Mir Hasan ( 1736 - 1786) wasone of the important poets from the "Golden Period" of Urdu poetry. He specialised in long romantic poems in rhyming couplets. According to the brief catalogue record the manuscript dates from the 1830s. It has a number of beautiful hand-coloured images with plenty of gold leaf. It is good condition but needs some love.

There are a number of incunabula in the SRL, Mitchell and Dixson collections. The image on the right, depicting Ptolemy and Regiomontanus sitting beneath an armillary sphere, is from Epitoma in Almagestum Ptolomei, 1496, by Joannes Regiomontanus. Regiomontanus (1436 – 1476), was an important mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. Perhaps we could tempt Adam Spencer and Dr Karl Kruszelnicki into the Libary with our collection of early works on science and mathematics! The oldest incunabula in the collections is the Librari feudorum by Obertus de Orto (MRB/F348/B), possibly published in Strassburg in 1470.

Mashup diversion

As this blog is also an exercise for the SLNSW Learning 2 (Web 2) pilot ....I have been looking at Mashups. I can see the potential in many Web 2 applications but Mashups are for the high end users. Anyway, I've created a mosaic using images from our " Rare book" collections. I can't see it as a true mashup as I used images from my own PC rather than importing them from another web application.
I do like London: A life in Google Maps - which blends Google maps with collection content. It isn't very intuitive for the user but the site has a number of other features eg. a curator's blog which are a useful way to provide greater exposure and an extended life to onsite and online exhibitions.


Not sure about the citations - this will take up too much time. I need to get on with my next Project Update.

Project update 5 - Annual reports and botany

This week I've been looking through the annual reports for the Free Public Library and Public Library of New South Wales from 1869 to 1911, for any clues on formed collections or significant donations that were made during that period. In many of the reports the President notes significant donations or purchases. For example, in March 1891 the classical and scientific library of W. J. Stephens, including 1431 books and nearly 200 pamphlets, was bought by the Free Public Library. Many of these titles are in the rare books collection although the provenance is only recorded in a few.

Stephens was a trustee of the Free Public Library from 1870 and its president in 1885-90. He was also a member of the Philosophical (Royal) Society of NSW, a founding councillor of the Entomological Society of NSW and a foundation member of the Linnean Society of NSW in 1874. In 1879 Stephens helped to found the Zoological Society of NSW and in 1883-85 was a founding vice-president of the NSW branch of the Geographical Society of Australasia. Is it any wonder that one of the strengths of the Library's collections is Natural History!

I've also been trailling through A Botanical miscellany : a bibliography of those botanical works, herbals and flowerbooks, from the 15th to the 20th century, held in the Rare Books and Special Collections of the General Reference Library compiled by Neil Boness in 1987. Many of the volumes listed in the bibliography do not have an electronic catalogue record or have a very brief record. Many are or will be on the Unique & Significant list. Below is a wonderful example of Library provenance or how to make sure a thief doesn't profit from their work! Pomona Herefordiensis: containing coloured engravings of the old cider and perry fruits of Herefordshire..., 1811 , by Thomas Knight was originally part of the Australian Subscription Library - as you can see by the stamp! It contains 30 hand-coloured aquatint plates engraved and coloured by William Hooker. This bibliography is an exhibition in waiting.

Reader Services diversion

Have you tried to explain why we ask clients not to re shelve books from the Reference and Open Access collections? This excerpt from the Report of the Sydney Free Public Library for 1870 - 71, Page 4, provides the perfect explanation.

"Following the example of other Institutions of a similar kind, the selection from the shelves of the Library of books by adult visitors is unrestricted, but they are not permitted to replace the volumes. This course was adopted with the view of familiarizing the officers of the Library with the class of Literature in daily use, and of assisting them to report accurately to the Trustees on the educational uses of the Library; and it was also of great importance in preventing books being misplaced and thus disturbing the order of the Library."

Well said and still true to this day!