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