Lost in a Good Book, Pt. 1

I spoke about signs of provenance in one of my previous blogs, and in particular signs that were useful to a historian or a librarian. As I finish looking at the books in Grimes’ collection, I have noticed how many things that people leave in their books. Whether they are simple inscriptions or pieces of paper, these items show rare insights into the lives of their owners. These types of finds are never guaranteed to provide enough details to help track the ownership of the book, but sometimes you can get lucky.

Gunpowder Voucher
Lambertinis Institutionum (1750)

One of the first items that I found was hidden in the pages of Benedict XIV’s Institutionum Ecclesiasticarum (1750). Approximately 750 pages in, I discovered a small piece of paper with typewritten text, handwritten text and a stamp on it. This piece of paper was in fact a voucher for milles (1000) grams of gunpowder, issued by the Mayor’s Office in Aix-en-Provence. The gunpowder outlined here is ‘poudre de chasse’, a French phrase that is associated specifically with hunting. This voucher was given on 12Xbre 1850, which is short hand for 12 December. In the nineteenth century, this would have been an important official document, and it is interesting to find it hidden in the pages of a book about the institutions of the Church.

Inscription in
He Kaine Diatheke = Novum Testamentum

While official documents are an example of things left behind in books, simple inscriptions can offer just as much insight. He Kaine Diatheke  = Novum Testamentum (1741) is an example (a Greek and Latin title, which in English reads ‘The New Testament = The New Testament). On the back flyleaf of He Kaine Diatheke, a whole page has been filled with a dedication. The author writes that he is dedicating this booked ‘trimmed with gold’ which contains the testament and last will that God bequeathed to ‘us wretched sinners’ which will lead his sister on the path to eternal life. Unfortunately, the inscription is missing the end of the note, as the page opposite it has fallen out or been removed. But it is still a moving and thoughtful gift given to a sister, who may have been entering a new stage of her life, in marriage or travel.

Litanies for Saint Philomena

Not all hidden surprises are handwritten or as interesting as the previous two items discussed. One of the more common finds in the Grimes Collection are little pamphlets for sermons or prayers. In Chrysostom’s text Sancti Patris, Vol. 6 (1636), I found a small French prayer booklet full of litanies for Saint Philomena. Saint Philomena is believed to be a young virgin martyr who died in 304 during the rule of Roman Emperor Diocletian. The fourteen-year-old's remains were discovered in the catacomb of Saint Priscilla in Rome, Italy in the nineteenth century.

I did not expect to find such treasures within the pages of the books in Grimes’ Collection. Perhaps in my mind I expected small blank pieces of paper as bookmarks. But it has made me consider a few questions. Were these treasures left in their pages because Grimes did not read these books at all and did not come across them? Or was he aware of these items and kept them as keepsakes about his books? And are there inserts that have been lost over the years as the Bishop came across them and decided they were not useful to keep?

References

Farmer, David Hugh. "Philomena." The Oxford Dictionary of Saints. 5th ed. rev. ed. David Farmer.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. 

Institutionum Ecclesiasticarum..., 1750. University of Canterbury Rare Books Collection - 125590 - LambertinisInstitutionum - Insert

Novum Testamentum = He Kaine Diatheke, 1741. University of Canterbury Rare Books Collection - 493360 - NovumTestamentum - Provenance - EndPage

Sancti patris nostri Ioannis Chrystomi Archiepiscopi Constantinopolitan, 1636. University of Canterbury Rare Books Collection - 128906 - SanctiPatris - Vol6 - Insert2

A New Zealand Book in the Grimes Collection

An Illustration of a 'Man of the
Island of Mallicolo'

When perusing the texts in the Grimes collection, I was surprised to discover a rare text about New Zealand history, considering that Bishop Grimes’ origins were British. Although I can understand why Grimes collected the texts relating to the Pacific Islands and Māori, based on the need to understand a minority of his congregation, it is a little harder to understand why he became the owner of a book written by Captain James Cook about his 1772-1775 voyage to the South Pole. On one hand, Grimes would have wanted to learn about the British colony that he would be a Bishop of, but on the other hand, a text about New Zealand specifically, not a Captain’s voyage, may have been more useful. Despite this, the book itself is a valuable text to have and seems to be one of the only exploration texts he acquired. Before we look further into the book, it is important to first examine the Captain who wrote it.

Captain James Cook is one of the most prominent historical figures in the discovery of New Zealand. Born in 1728, he rose through the ranks of the Navy to the rank of Captain. He completed three voyages to New Zealand during the last decade of his life before his death in 1779.

Captain's Log
Cape Hope to New Zealand

Captain Cook played a vital role in surveying and mapping the New Zealand coastline. Although New Zealand had already been discovered by Abel Tasman, his role in New Zealand history still remains important. The second author of this text, Captain Tobias Furneaux (1735-1781), another British naval officer, was the first to circumnavigate the world in both directions.

Cook’s Second Voyage (1772-75) was taken on two ships, the Resolution and the Adventure (in the charge of Captain Furneaux). It was in this same voyage that the two captains became the first people in history to cross the Antarctic Circle, an action that they would repeat a number of times during their voyages.

I mention the second voyage specifically because of the text that Grimes has in his collection. The official title of the text is:

A voyage towards the South Pole, and round the world. Performed in His Majesty's ships in the Resolution and Adventure, in the years 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1775. Written by James Cook, Commander of the Resolution. In which is included, Captain Furneaux's narrative of his proceedings in the Adventure... illustrated with maps and charts by Mr Hodges.

Sir John Pringle's
Discourse

It was published in 1777 as a second edition, complete with maps and illustrations. Our set has two volumes, both of which contain the ink stamp of Bishop Grimes, with no other signs of provenance. It is one of seven copies in the Southern Hemisphere. In addition, it contains a discourse written by Sir John Pringles on the improvements of preserving the health of mariners.

 In his Reference Journal, Grimes has this text sorted into ‘General’ which was situated in the Fathers’ Study, with other books categorised into ‘Reviews’ and ‘Biographies’. Grimes’ copy of Captain Cook’s Voyages is only one of many texts about Captain Cook that are housed at the University of Canterbury.  The Macmillan Brown library also holds a second set of this same edition, which had belonged to John Bell Condliffe.

References

Resources of Pacific Discovery in the age of the Resolution from our Collection. University of Canterbury. 2015.

http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/voyages/resolution/resources.shtml

Captain Cook Society. Last updated October 2105.

http://www.captaincooksociety.com/

Tobias Furneaux. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2015.

http://www.britannica.com/biography/Tobias-Furneaux

A Voyage towards the South Pole, and round the World... 1777. University of Canterbury Rare Books Collection - 125519 - Voyage -Illustration47 

A Voyage towards the South Pole, and round the World... 1777. University of Canterbury Rare Books Collection - 125519 - Voyage -CaptainsLog

A Voyage towards the South Pole, and round the World... 1777. University of Canterbury Rare Books Collection - 125519 - Voyage - EndDiscourse

A Case Study of Provenance

In my previous blog, I discussed the importance of provenance and the difficulties in unveiling the journeys behind each book. When I first started looking through the books in the Bishop Grimes Collection, I was at first hesitant in my feelings towards annotations and signatures that I found in the pages because of my love for books. I have been taught from a young age to respect books and not dog tag or draw in them. However I have come to discover how valuable such annotations are.

Sometimes people leave a simple scribble in the margins. And sometimes you find a gem amongst the pages. I found my gem in Anthony Burgess’ A Treatise of Original Sin. Anthony Burgess (1600-1663) was a Protestant theologian, active in the reorganisation of the English church in 1643, whose written texts included sermons on justification and grace.  This text, written about the contentious issue of Original Sin* was published in 1658 and written in Early Modern English. It has a dark leather binding with decorative indents on the front cover. It is well worn; there are pages slipping away from the binding leaving a crooked edge, the cover is fully detached from the spine, and the leather cover is cracking and crumbling with age. But beneath this deteriorating façade, it is hiding a secret – the signatures of its past owners, dating all the way back to 1689.

'Thomas' signature (1689)

On the main title page of the text, there are a series of signatures inked. The first of these names is ‘Thomas’. All that we know about Thomas is that he was from Birmingham, or that he bought this book in Birmingham on 10 June 1689 and that he inscribed his name on the top of the very first page, in small neat handwriting.

Unfortunately, the damage to the page means that we may never know his last name.

Mrs Swain's signature (1742)

The next known step that our book made in its journey to New Zealand was into the hands of Mrs Swain in 1742. She leaves a neat signature with a flourish that leads down to the date of when she received this copy.

The third signature marked with a date is that of Samuel Godwin. Not only does it tell us that he received it on the 31 March 1755, but he has also given us another vital

Samuel Godwin's signature (1755) and the cost (15s 3p)

clue about this book; the cost of the book at 15 shilling and 3 pence. It would have cost a modern day buyer, in 2015  around £143. While this shows us the cost of the book at the time that Samuel obtained it, it also tells us that sometime between Mrs Swain’s ownership and his ownership, the book may have fallen into the hands of a bookseller for it Mr Godwin to have written down how much it cost him.

Bishop Grimes' inkstamp (from 1887)

The next sign of provenance that we have is Bishop Grimes’ ink stamp which specifically states his status as a bishop. This tells us that this text must have come into his hands after he started his office as the Bishop of Canterbury in 1887.

Although these owners placed their mark in the text, it is safe to say that there were certainly more than four owners of the text since it was published in 1658. As I have stated in my previous blog, these are things that we may never be able to discover and therefore our knowledge of a text will never be complete, no matter how many times we may look at it. But at least we can try to put together this puzzle, despite all the missing pieces.

*Original Sin

A theological idea developed by Augustine of Hippo, a medieval theologian. The medieval church suggested that all human beings were born with sin, because Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the fruit in the Garden of Eden. The medieval Church believed that baptism washed away the sin. During the Reformation from the fifteenth century, this doctrine come under scrutiny by a number of theologians who would later be identified as Protestants.

References

McGrath, A.E. Reformation Thought: An Introduction. 2^nd. Ed. (Blackwell Publishers: Oxford, 1993)

Morley, Stephen. Historical  UK Inflation and Price Conversion. Web.
http://inflation.stephenmorley.org/

A Treatise of Original Sin, 1658. University of Canterbury Rare Books Collection - 123742 - Treatise -  Provenance-Thomas

A Treatise of Original Sin, 1658. University of Canterbury Rare Books Collection - 123742 - Treatise -  Provenance-Swain

A Treatise of Original Sin, 1658. University of Canterbury Rare Books Collection - 123742 - Treatise -  Provenance-Goodwin

A Treatise of Original Sin, 1658. University of Canterbury Rare Books Collection - 123742 - Treatise -  Inkstamp - Grimes