Lost in the Pages of a Good Book, Pt. 2

The last blog in which I wrote about things that I had found in the books was only a glimpse at the hidden treasures betwixt the pages. In this blog, I want to explore some more items that I have found that can offer some insights about the owners or the books.

Newspaper clipping in Concilia Magnae

In the Concilia Magnae Britanniae et Hiberniae (1737) I found a small newspaper clipping from a book catalogue. David Wilkins was the editor of the Concilia and was also a professor of Arabic at Cambridge University. His Concilia Magnae outlines the councils between Britain and Ireland and is one of six copies in the Southern Hemisphere. The clipping that I found in the book is an advertisement for a 4-volume set of Concilia Magnae. It was published in London in 1737 and the clipping is dated at least from the mid-nineteenth century, when it sold for £25. In a previous blog (Case Study of Provenance) I used a Converter Calculator to estimate the equivalent price. In 1850, this book was worth the equivalent of £2,825 (2015).

Sometimes books hold more than one secret, and the Concilia Magnae is a good example. In the

Revered James Anthony Walsh's Card

pages of the book I also found a business card or identification card belonging to a Reverend James Walsh from Boston, Massachusetts. James Anthony Walsh (1867-1936) was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was ordained as a Reverend in 1892 by the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. He held a position at St. Patrick’s Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts. In 1903 he was appointed the Diocesan Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. Most importantly, he was the founder of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America (1911), which endeavoured to minister overseas communities, in conjunction with the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic. His work took him to Rome and other places in the world. In these travels, he may have come in contact with Grimes. This card could have been given with the book as a gift, or simply a greeting card from the Reverend to Bishop Grimes, but it certainly suggests that they met in person. The book itself bears the bookseller stamp of John Leslie who was operating at 58 Great Queen Street.

Prayer card in
Praelectiones

The last item that I will share is a small prayer card that I found in Honoré Tournély’s Praelectiones Theologicae de Ecclesia Christi (1739), part of the collection discussed in the previous blog. On the front is the illustration of a woman and a pope. A handwritten note on the back refers to the woman as Sister Chériese – ‘Sister Chériese before the Pope that she venerates’ – who is considered a ‘sweet virgin, my tender mother’. Based on the inscription on the back, we can assume that she took a vow of chastity. Considering that this card has been manufactured and possibly mass produced, it is possible that she was a minor local or regional figure in an area of France.

The items that I found in these books are not necessarily as useful as other finds. They may not be able to tell us anything significant or useful about previous owners. For that they could be considered useless. But all items found in books are rare and special, and tell stories about where the books have been, and who they have come in contact with. Some items are easier to decipher than others and some lead us on journeys of discovery. One thing is for sure: you shouldn’t judge a book by its worn and faded cover.

References

Historical UK Inflation Rates and Calulator

http://inflation.stephenmorley.org/

"James Anthony Walsh." Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers. 2015.http://maryknollsociety.org/index.php/articles/2-articles/164-james-anthony-walsh

Concilia Magnae Britanniae et Hiberniae, 1737. University of Canterbury Rare Books Collection - 129354 - ConciliaMagnae - Vol1 - Insert

Concilia Magnae Britanniae et Hiberniae, 1737. University of Canterbury Rare Books Collection - 129354 - ConciliaMagnae - Vol4 - Insert1

Praelectiones Theologicae  de Ecclesia Christi, 1739. University of Canterbury Rare Books Collection - 118030 - Vol2 - Insert1 - pg362