BPL's newest exhibition "Declarations: Printing a New Nation" opens today, April 11!
For the first time ever, the BPL's 8 rare printings of the Declaration will be displayed together, inviting visitors to step into a moment when American independence, and the nation itself, was still taking shape.
OK for fun: top funniest tweet ever? I am torn between "moon's haunted" and "Denise I was at your wedding."
One of the most important projects I've ever had the good fortune to work on. We're still working with the original collective to digitize more/more modern editions!
One was a sandwich peddler and small-time bookie in Boston; the other never learned to speak English and worked in the Revere, Mass. Water and Sewer Department
I feel like something I really excel at at this point in my life is spotting difficult to discern birds of prey perched in the trees while I drive down the highway
I'm glad to hear Bouie say "This regime is illegitimate" because it's a word that's been bouncing around in my head. I think it's a helpful framing and one that Democratic leaders internalize. Once you accept that this is an illegitimate, authoritarian regime, it should inform how you resist.
Generally can't stand Moulton but this is the only issue that matters at this moment, so I fully support.
youtube.com/shorts/hyqtA...
disgusting. infuriating.
For some reason, very few people these days will stand up and say it, but: the US federal bureaucracy is one of the great wonders of the world, staffed with incredibly diligent people who do their jobs well and care deeply.
Trump's destruction of the federal apparaus was a historic crime.
Sunrise over a harbor
Snow falling over a foggy harbor
Clear skies and lights across a harbor at night
Quiet day by the water
It is, though I sort of which we were just using forward slashes. Maybe less logically coherent, but travels across different systems and display environments much more easily.
Good question. In fact this was very common. At this point -- and for quite a while afterwards -- books were often "finished" by hand after work of the printing press was completed, with the additional of all kinds of decorative elements.
A lowercase "a" with red pigment applied over a mark of punctuation. Collagen fibers in the parchment, which look like little clear strands, visible everywhere. This is close to 200X magnification
A lowercase "m" in which the printing ink can be clearly seen to be "squashed" toward the edges of the letter, where it's built up into a black outline
A digraph "ca" (two letters fused into one) over a swirl of hand-applied blue, purple, and red pigments
Crackled red pigment and a "rubricate" line ending over a printed mark of punctuation
Johannes Balbus' Catholicon -- an immense Latin grammar and dictionary. Printed in Mainz in 1460 by Gutenberg. BPL's copy is one of relatively few printed on vellum (animal skin). Taking some pics with my iphone(!), you can see collagen fibers, hand-applied pigments, and ink squash from the press.
me again
Program for the inauguration of Michelle Wu
Another day on the job, another normal day of library science
Also typo here. The dimensions of the uncut sheet for this book would have originally been around 56 x 77 cm, not 56 x 70!
This is so great to hear—thank you!!
If I had to guess, I'd say within a couple weeks. Our conservation lab has to do some initial intake documentation. And while we'll do some work to stabilize it, it's otherwise ready for the reading room as-is!
This book was purchased form our excellent colleagues at Maggs in London. Somewhat famous in the incunabula literature, I never thought we'd get a chance to acquire a copy. Happily, it is now BPL pf.Q.407.43 bpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S7...
8/8
A piece of a liturgical manuscript with a red and blue penwork initial pasted over a tear
An opening of the book showing a leaf of manuscript chant inserted next to a printed leaf, the manuscript left itself repaired (with stitched thread!)
The final page of the volume, with colophon, then a 17th-century leaf of plainchant inserted after.
An image of a dated inscription (12 October 1629) in the manuscript section at the end of the volume
This copy had a long life of use, as evidenced by thick drops of candle wax and repairs throughout, often made by gluing pieces of medieval manuscripts over tears. Full leaves of prayers were also added in during the 16th and 17th centuries. 7/8
A woodcut initial “E” at the beginning of the word "Ecce" showing the Adoration of the Magi
A woodcut initial “R” at the beginning of the word "Resurrexi" showing the risen Christ
A woodcut initial “S” at the beginning of the word "Spiritus" showing the Pentecost
The large woodcut initials – notable unto themselves – were made specifically for this book and are based on designs by the renaissance artist and cartographer Benedetto Bordone. 6/8
![An image of a reprinted red initial “D” ([D]um medium . . .) The previous large red initial had been printed in the wrong position and was corrected by painting over in white, which has since flaked away.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:xp4fd6vosomzfncclehxz2gw/bafkreib3dveojexfahifglxems45kng5v6odqascgqh5m3c3cp54g4rjkq)
An image of a reprinted red initial “D” ([D]um medium . . .) The previous large red initial had been printed in the wrong position and was corrected by painting over in white, which has since flaked away.
A rubric that has been erased with white paint
A section of black text accidentally printed over a red rubric. This also shows that the red and black portions of text were set and printed as separate units.
Every recorded copy contains a series of varying hand-made corrections that seem to have been produced in the print shop itself. Often, these corrections are made using white paint to remove or alter notes. But notes are also scraped away, and or altered in pen, or simply reprinted. 5/8
Beyond its highly unusual paper, this book is, as they say, a richly layered textual and typographical object. It was edited by the Franciscan scholar Franciscus de Brugis, whose corrections are found all throughout the book. 4/8
Image of the front cover of the binding, with a hand on it for scale
Every 15th-century book was printed on paper stock from one of a handful of fixed sizes. The largest of these measured about 50 x 70 cm. The sheets used to print this book, when manufactured, fell outside that range at a fairly colossal 56 x 70 cm and so thick as to almost feel like leather. 3/8
Full shot of the volume opened to leaf 28
A gradual is a Christian liturgical book – meant to be used during the Mass – that contains all of the chants to be sung by the choir. Graduals are therefore typically quite large so that they can be placed on a stand, then seen and read by many people at once. 2/8
A sample page of red and black printed music on four-line red staves, woodcut initial, and type; on the right, an image of the blind tooled pigskin binding
Last BPL new acquisition of the year is a copy of the very rare gradual printed by Johann Emerich for Lucantonio Giunta in Venice in 1499. This is the largest book (by dimensions) printed during the 15th century and it required a custom-manufactured paper stock to print. 1/8
I once stopped slightly too far into a crosswalk in Harvard Square and Al Gore had to walk around the hood of my car while crossing the street.
Menorah on a table, toddler slugging back a cup of juice, Spider-Man book on table
Whatever works
Ha, excellent!