A Catalogue Of The Fifteenth Century Printed Books In Glasgow Libraries And Museums

The University of Glasgow Library has one of the richest rare book collections in the UK outside London, Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester. There are 1042 incunabula (including many unique items). As witnesses of the first print revolution, these books are fascinating on many levels - as innovative survivors of the technological shift from manuscript to print, as late medieval texts available in duplicate to a commercial mass market for the first time, and as cultural artefacts containing over 500 years of ownership history. A well-presented catalogue is the key to accessing this rich resource for a wide range of historians and researchers. A further 64 incunabula in other Glasgow museums and libraries are also included. Bibliographically, incunabula have been well documented. The aim of the Glasgow catalogue is to concentrate on the unique aspects of the books. A short-title catalogue approach is taken in providing enough information to identify each edition (with reference to standard bibliographical works such as ISTC) presented in author order. The main focus of each record is on the copy specific features of the book, including full details of provenance (ownership), evidence of use from annotation and other marks, binding, decoration and any other idiosyncratic features (such as hand-colouring of woodcuts or manuscript waste used in endpapers.

The five hundred years from the 1450s to the 1950s represent an extraordinarily rich quarry for evidence of incunabula sales, collecting, and use. What book lists reveal about publishing and reading habits in late-fifteenth-century Venice, how a Scottish librarian went about acquiring incunabula during World War II, and the international workshop connections glimpsed through early Hungarian bindings are among the topics explored in this volume. Library professionals aim spotlights on French plague tracts, Deventer as a printing place, the use of incunabula in learned societies in the nineteenth century, and incunabula collecting by monks and universities in England and Scotland.

The mid-nineteenth century brought a revolution in popular and scholarly understandings of old and second-hand books. Manuals introduced new ideas and practices to increasing numbers of collectors, exhibitions offered opportunities previously unheard of, and scholars worked together to transform how the history of printing was understood. These dramatic changes would have profound consequences for bibliographical study and collecting, accompanied as they were by a proliferation in means of access. Many ideas arising during this time would even continue to exert their influence in the digitised arena of today. This book traces this revolution to its roots in commercial and personal ties between key players in England, France and beyond, illuminating how exhibitions, libraries, booksellers, scholars and popular writers all contributed to the modern world of book studies. For students and researchers, it offers an invaluable means of orientation in a field now once again undergoing deep and wide-ranging transformations.

The Bodleian's incunable catalogue describes the Library's fifteenth-century western printed books to the same standards expected in the best modern catalogues of medieval manuscripts. It records and identifies all texts contained in each volume, and the detailed analysis of the textual content is an innovative feature. Further information about authors, editors, translators, and dedicatees is given in an extensive index of names, complete with biographical and other information; this index will be of interest to textural scholars from the classical period to the renaissance. The detailed descriptions of the copy-specific features of each book (the binding, hand-decoration and hand-finishing, marginalia, and provenance) form another important contribution to scholarship. The provenance index will be of great value to all those interested in the history of the book from the 1450s to the present day.

Excerpt from Lists of Fifteenth Century Books in Edinburgh Libraries The late Mr J. P. Edmond in his Presidential Address, delivered on 14th December 1905, advocated the desirability of registering all fifteenth century books in the great libraries of Scotland, and appealed to the Society to undertake the work. He had himself set the example by making a list of these books in the Signet Library, and this List the Society of Writers to the Signet printed in the year 1906. Interest in the subject was stimulated by Mr Dickson's account of the early printed treasures under his care in the Advocates' Library. The project having been considered by the Committee of the Society, it was resolved that, to begin with, an attempt should be made to obtain lists of fifteenth century books in the Edinburgh libraries. Mr Dickson, Mr Nicholson, and Mr Graham heartily entered into the scheme and undertook the lists for their respective libraries, namely, the Advocates' Library, the University Library, and the Library of the Royal College of Physicians. Mr Cowan prepared the list for the United Free Church College Library, with the assistance of the librarians, Dr Kennedy and Mr D. Laird; and Mr Eeles has noted the incunabula in the Libraries of the Theological College of the Episcopal Church and of St Mary's Cathedral. The list of the books in the Crawford Library of the Royal Observatory is compiled by the Secretary from the Catalogue which was begun by Lord Crawford, finished by Professor Copeland, and revised by Mr Edmond. The Deputy Keeper and Commissioners of the Society of Writers to the Signet kindly gave permission to reprint their List. Mr Jcnkinson and Mr Aldis rendered very great service in identifying printers and places of printing, and in otherwise solving difficulties. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.