New research into the world's most famous medieval manuscript, the Book of Kells, has revealed a suprising new possibility: the manuscript may be two separate works, created a half century apart and later combined.

Dr. Bernard Meehan of Trinity College, Dublin, announced last week that detailed analysis of the text has uncovered evidence supporting a new hypothesis: St. John's Gospel and the first few pages of St. Mark's Gospel may have been created by an elderly scribe on Iona in the 8th century, while the rest of St. Mark's Gosepl, as well as the Gospels of St. Luke and St. Matthew were created 50 years later in Kells.

Handwriting evidence suggests that the creator of the St. John's Gospel likely learned his craft in the middle part of the 8th century, meaning he would have been quite old by the time the Gospel was written and illuminated at the end of the 700s. The monk's handwriting abruptly ends at the conclusion of verse 26 in the 4th chapter of St. Mark. The monk may have been one of many in the monastery who died in a series of epidemics and Viking raids on the monastery in Iona that occured in short span of years between 795 and 805. By 807, the community had relocated to a safer position, rebuilding the Abbey of Kells in Ireland. It was there, surmises Meehan, that the remaining Gospels in the Book of Kells were written and illuminated several decades later.

[Image of the opening of the Gospel of St. John from The Book of Kells from Wikipedia]

February 16 marks the 150th anniversary of photographer Edward S. Curtis' birth. Curtis, a middle-school dropout who died in relative obscurity, is best known now for his visionary (and budget-breaking) twenty-volume set of photographs and ethnographic descriptions called The North American Indian. Volume one appeared in 1907, with the support of Theodore Roosevelt and J. P. Morgan. (Read more about Curtis' life in our 2011 feature.)

Support for Curtis' project waned as the project dragged on--the final volume was released in 1930--and he was largely forgotten until the 1970s when increased interest in Native Americans and fine art photography edged him back into the spotlight. With originals scarce and many negatives destroyed, Curtis became collectible. It was right around this time at Christopher Cardozo, in his twenties and doing a mixture of photography, ethnography, and musicology in Mexico, discovered Curtis. As he remembers it, someone mentioned the photographer to him, and he took off for a bookstore, traveling twenty miles. "I remember where the book was on the shelf ... that moment I saw my first Curtis photograph," Cardozo said, adding that he soon went into debt buying vintage Curtis prints.

Cardozo was more than smitten and spent the subsequent 45 years buying and selling Curtis books, portfolios, and photogravures. His personal collection now numbers around 4,000 prints, and yes, he does own an original set of The North American Indian, which has been known to sell for $1 million+ at auction. His is a (deluxe) tissue paper set that he collected in parts over a 5-7-year period. "I really wanted an all-tissue set, because that's what I love," he said.

Then, about four years ago, he upped the ante and decided, in "a moment of temporary insanity," to undertake a fine art republication of Curtis' entire North American Indian. He said he had several clients over the years who wanted to own a vintage Curtis volume but could not afford it (they can run $10,000-50,000 each), and the only reprint that exists is a poor-quality academic facsimile from the seventies. So began a 35,000-hour project that culminated earlier this year in a contemporary copy of Curtis' magnum opus that can be an "attractive alternative" for collectors and institutions. Each set contains 20 volumes, 20 portfolios, 2,234 photographic prints, 5,023 pages of text, and over 2.5 million words. (Here's a short video on the production.)

There are two editions. The 150th Anniversary Custom Edition, which Cardozo believes is "the largest republication project in North American publishing history," includes a full-size recreation of the original with photos printed "one sheet at a time," and bound in gilt-decorated three-quarter leather. It sells for $28,500. The Complete Reference Edition is a less expensive reproduction featuring the same content and offered pre-sale for $5,200 until May 15, when the price increases to $6,500. For both editions, Cardozo and his team digitized and refined the original letterpress, which featured small and often degraded type. The reproduction is thus easier to read, while retaining the "essential character of the original," according to the prospectus.

"We wanted something that we felt would be respectful to Curtis," Cardozo said. "I didn't wanted to publish something where the sequencing or the text was changed. We knew people would prefer that."     

The guiding mantra of this project was supplied by Curtis himself, who once wrote, "It's such a big dream, I can't see it all." But he eventually did--and now so has Cardozo.

To further celebrate Curtis' 150th, several exhibitions and lectures are planned this year.
   
Images: (Top) "Oasis in the Badlands," 1905, by Edward S. Curtis, courtesy of Christopher Cardozo Fine Art;  (Middle) The Custom Edition of Cardozo's reproduction, courtesy of Christopher Cardozo Fine Art.

This week's big auction day is Wednesday, Valentine's Day, which sees a quartet of sales:

                                                                                                                                                       - At Dominic Winter Auctioneers in Cirencester, Unreserved Printed Books including books from The Alan & Joan Tucker, in 181 lots. This is the first of several sales of books (these mostly poetry) from the collection of Alan & Joan Tucker, who ran a bookselling business in Stroud from 1962 until Alan's death in 2017.

                                                                                                                                                    - Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh, in 547 lots. Pascal Coste's Monuments Modernes de la Perse (Paris, 1871), being sold by the Newbattle Abbey College Trust, is estimated at £5,000-7,000, and a large set of more than 125 early photographs of India could fetch £5,000-8,000. An (incomplete) Bible printed at Edinburgh in 1764 in a spectacular herringbone binding with a leather traveling case rates at £600-800 estimate. A large number of lots will be of interest to the George Mackay Brown collector.

                                                                                                                                               - In Paris, Binoche et Giquello offers the Collection d'un Bibliophile: Livres & Manuscrits Précieux, 1478-1977, in 166 lots. A 1543 Paris edition of Livy, with a binding by the binder Nicolas Fery in Rome, is estimated at ??100,000-150,000. A number of other extremely attractive bindings and early printed books in this one.

                                                                                                                                               - Rounding out Wednesday's sales is an auction of Libri, Manoscritti e Autografi at Pandolfini in Florence, in 144 lots. A 1579 Ortelius atlas published by the Plantins gets the top pre-sale estimate, at ??20,000-25,000. A complete set of the Encyclopédie (35 volumes) could sell for ??15,000-20,000. For the bibliographer, a second edition of Konrad Gessner's Bibliotheca instituta et collecta (1583) rates ??800-900.

                                                                                                                                                           On Thursday, February 15, Swann Galleries sells Icons & Images: Photographs & Photobooks, in 322 lots. A silver print of Lewis Hine's "Mechanic at Steam Pump in Eclectric Power House" from approximately 1921 is estimated at $70,000-100,000. Many other Hine photographs are also included in this sale. Among the Ansel Adams photographs offered is "Georgia O'Keeffe and Orville Cox," estimated at $18,000-22,000 (pictured).

                                                                                                                                                           Much more (and I do mean much more) than books are included in the 310 lots which comprise the Political Memorabilia including the Daniel Schofield Collection sale at Eldred's in East Dennis, Massachusetts on Friday, February 16. Pins, coins, signs, photographs, postcards, &c. &c. Among the printed items are some notable early American imprints, including Ebenezer Pemberton's 1710 election sermon, missing its title page ($700-1,000) and Samuel Danforth's 1714 election sermon ($100-150), as well as a wide selection of political pamphlets, broadsides, and election tickets.

                                                                                                                                                                    Image credit: Swann Galleries

Ok, Philadelphia Eagles fans may think nothing can top their team's proud designation as Super Bowl champions, but we've got something for bookish folks that's sure to please.

                                                                                                                                                                    On January 29, the Library Company of Philadelphia opened its latest exhibition to the public on sharing special collections in a digital world. Entitled #GiltyPleasures--a play on the word for gold-covered binding and illumination--the show is the logical extension of a social media initiative launched two years ago by Concetta Barbera and Arielle Middleman, the Library Company's digital outreach librarians. Almost daily, devoted Instagram followers find postings ranging from century playing cards, watercolors, photographs, and recently, a slightly doctored WWI recruitment poster showing--what else--a bald eagle trouncing a black-feathered foe sporting Patriots insignia on its chest.                                                                                                   
"We wanted to share our passion for the Library Company's collections with the online community," Barbera and Middleman said. "We also wanted to introduce new and whimsical ways to engage with special collections. However, no virtual environment can fully mimic the experience of seeing and interacting with these materials in person, and we hope that #GiltyPleasures fills that gap."                                                                                                                
Billed as the library's "greatest hits," #GiltyPleasures hopes to inspire visitors while celebrating the qualities of this institution founded by Benjamin Franklin back in 1731. Bonus: This week the Library Company is participating in #ColorOurCollections, a weeklong social media coloring festival where institutions share free coloring content with their social media followers, so break out a fresh box of crayons! 
                                                                                                                                          

#GiltyPleasures runs through April 6 and can also be viewed here. 

We're focusing on California this week on the blog in the run-up to the California Antiquarian Book Fair in Pasadena. Today, we're profiling Suntup Editions, a new fine press publisher in Southern California owned by Paul Suntup. Mr. Suntup answered our questions over email:

When did you start Suntup Editions?

It was toward the end of 2016, and things got kicked into gear around the beginning of 2017.

What do you specialize in?

I don't really have a specific genre specialty, although I do have an affinity toward the works of Stephen King because I have been a fan for 30 years now. In a broader sense, I specialize in publishing finely crafted limited edition books and art prints. My books are printed letterpress, and I utilize some of the finest bookmaking materials to craft the editions. 

Tell us about The Covers Collection, featuring the Stephen King prints:

This was an offshoot of a project I was working on where I was rebinding first edition copies of some of King's novels. For one of the editions, I decided to include a small giclée print of the cover art, signed by the original artist. Then that started me thinking, wouldn't it be nice to make a larger print of other titles, and issue them as a limited run signed the the artists. I began to get in touch with as many of the cover artists as I could find, and this has now evolved to where I have more than 30 covers in the series and around 20 artists involved. These are published in a limited run of 50 prints per size, and there are two sizes. They are beautiful giclée prints, printed on 300gsm cotton paper, and presented in a way we haven't really seen before, because it has none of the cover text, and these were scanned from the original art.

Tell us as well about the limited edition of The Eyes of the Dragon:

This was my first publication. It is an art portfolio featuring the illustrations that appeared in the Viking trade edition of The Eyes of The Dragon by Stephen King, and illustrated by David Palladini. I discovered that David lives about 15 miles from me, so I met up with him and proposed the idea of doing an art portfolio of his work from the novel. There had not been a portfolio of this work previously. The edition was published on July 7th, 2017.

There are two editions, a lettered and a numbered, both signed by the artist. The lettered illustrations are giclée prints on Somerset paper, and the text pages of the portfolio are printed letterpress by Norman Clayton of Classic Letterpress in Ojai, California. It also included a hand-pulled photogravure print which was made by Jon Goodman at his studio in Florence, Massachusetts, and is signed by the artist. The numbered edition text pages are also printed letterpress, and both editions are housed in a custom clamshell box covered in cloth.

What's coming up next for Suntup?

Well, a project that I had been working on for almost a year has finally come to fruition. I will be publishing a signed limited edition of the novel Misery, by Stephen King. This is the first time since the trade publication that a limited edition is being released. It has been a dream project for me. When I first had the idea, it seemed like an impossible goal, but I went after it, and am very pleased to say that Stephen King signed off on it. The editions are scheduled for publication in August of this year.

There are three states: An Artist Gift edition, a Numbered edition, and a Lettered edition. The Artist Gift is signed by Rick Berry who is creating eight new illustrations, and it has a jacket with wrap-around cover art by Rick Berry, only on the Gift edition. The Numbered & Lettered are signed by both Stephen King and Rick Berry. They are printed letterpress, with the Lettered on Arches moldmade wove paper, and the Numbered on Crane's Lettra.

We did something unique with the cover on the Lettered edition. The title is made using original glass Royal typewriter keys that are inset into the cover. It is handbound in full leather by Peter Geraty and Praxis Bindery in Easthampton, Massachusetts. The edition includes an original frontispiece print pulled from a wood engraving by illustrator and designer Barry Moser. Interiors are designed by Jerry Kelly.

After this, I have some other exciting limited edition book projects in the pipeline, and I would also like to put out some editions of poetry.

Where can our readers learn more about your future releases?

At https://suntup.press, or on these social media platforms:

FACEBOOK: https://Facebook.com/SuntupEditions 
TWITTER: https://Twitter.com/SuntupEditions 
INSTAGRAM: https://Instagram.com/SuntupEditions

Images courtesy of Paul Suntup

The 51st California International Antiquarian Book Fair comes to life in Pasadena this Friday. To mark the bicentennial of Frankenstein, the fair's featured exhibit is a celebration of Mary Shelley's 'monsterpiece,' from first editions to comics to vintage movie posters, with selections from the University of California at Riverside Library, Occidental College Library, the Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Margaret Herrick Library, and local book artists on display.

On Saturday, two related talks are scheduled. At 1:00, Sidney E. Berger, professor of library and information science at Simmons College and the library school at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will present Frankenstein in the Popular Imagination. At 3:00, there will be a panel discussion titled It's Alive: How Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Changed the World. It will be moderated by Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan and include David J. Skal, author of The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror; Sara Jane Karloff, the daughter of the original movie monster Frankenstein, Boris Karloff; and literary scholar Miranda Butler, UC Riverside.  

Of course, if you're interested in buying some Frankensteiniana, there's sure to be much on offer, including a spectacular collection of 21 letters by Mary Shelley to various persons, including two to Edward Trelawny and one to her step-sister Claire Clairmont, from bookseller Peter Harrington (£125,000); the first one-volume edition of Frankenstein (1831), bound as issued with the first part of Schiller's The Ghost-Seer from Jarndyce Antiquarian Booksellers ($3,300); and a 1829 Theatre Royal playbill for the performance of "the popular Romance of Presumption or, The Fate of Frankenstein" from bookseller Simon Beattie ($300).

Images: (Top) Paperback editions of Frankenstein with expressive cover art will be on display in the special exhibit, courtesy of UC Riverside Library; (Middle) Mary Shelley letters archive, courtesy of Peter Harrington.

One of the reasons my wife and I chose to move to The Netherlands was so that we could easily travel to more of the many European book fairs and have bibliographic adventures. Last weekend we did just this -- flying from Amsterdam to visit the 57th Stuttgart Antiquarian book fair, organized by the VDA (the German national bookseller association, which is a member of ILAB). We were also looking forward to the short trek to Ludwigsburg to visit the wonderful shadow fair in the Musikhalle (pictured below).

Beginning in Ludwigsburg, we were pleased to immediately bump into our old friends Ralf and Susanne Lorych from Berlin. They were offering their usual fascinating range of books in English, French, and German, and I was able to add a nice little pamphlet on Belgium to my stock.
 
Another great find at Ludwigsburg was the stand of Kunsthandel Brugsch und Lehmanns Colonialwaren, also from Berlin. They had a wonderful and eclectic display of curiosa and grotesques (pictured above). From shrunken heads (which they assured me were not real) to iconography, globes, and gothic artworks. The overall effect was that of entering a fascinating Dickensian grotto. We were very pleased to persuade them to sign up the for PBFA London Antiquarian Book Fair. This is the premier book fair that we manage in May. Very exciting, as we now know that our visitors to that event can look forward to the spectacle.

The highlight of the trip for me was being able to examine (but sadly not afford at ??450,000) a lengthy handwritten letter by Martin Luther written in 1543, and offered by Kotte Autographs of Rosshaupten (pictured above). Although I dislike the antisemitic diatribe of the letter, one couldn't help but be awed in the face of a manuscript by a man who had such an impact on world history. Published in the same year as Luther's letter, Kotte also offered a beautiful first edition of De humani corporis at ??950,000 (pictured below).

Accompanied by my friends Kurt Salchli and Horst Kloever, book specialists from the online auction Catawiki, Marcia and I moved on to visit the "official fair" at Stuttgart and were soon surrounded by another profusion of beautiful objects.

Hatry of Heidelberg had a lovely display of books on swimming, including De arte gymnastica libris sex, from 1587 at ??1,400. They also had some beautiful children's pop up items.

Bibermuhle of Ramsen, had a wonderful collection of incunabula and Books of Hours, including that of Jean Troussier at ??880,000, and I had to spend a while gazing at the illuminations on this stand (pictured above).

After a brief interlude plotting ways of gaining more exhibitors for the Amsterdam book fair with Laurens Hesselink from Asher/Forum Rare Books in 't Goy (near Utrecht), and catching up with Robert Frew from London, we continued our tour of the fair.

There seemed to be many excellent collections of art and lithographs this year, and one of my favorites was that of Kunstkabinett Strehler of Sindeltingen, who as well as an excellent collection of signed works by Picasso and Chagall, had a beautiful display of Maria Sibylla Merian whose botanical illustrations are as fresh as they were in 1679.

My last dash round included a much closer look at the fabulous Japanese and Chinese material of Hans-Martin Schmitz and his wife, who had traveled from Koln. I think there is something about the 'last chance saloon' feeling of the final half an hour of any fair. The clock is ticking and I am always tempted into purchasing a large number of pieces...

And so ended our foray into Germany. We returned arms (and luggage) full, back to the Netherlands, where poor Marcia will now have to catalogue our purchases and prepare for the next adventure. Cambridge here we come in two weeks' time.

--Marc Harrison and his wife Marcia run Harrison-Hiett Rare Books in The Netherlands. Images courtesy of the author.

On Wednesday, February 7, Bonhams London hosts a Travel & Exploration sale, in 149 lots. A painting (one of many in this sale) rates the top estimate: Daniel Thomas Egerton's "Vera Cruz, and the Castle of San Juan D'Ulloa" at £200,000-300,000. An album of 108 photographs collected by Arthur Frederick Pope during an 1866-70 world tour is estimated at £20,000-30,000. A domino set reputed to have gone to the Antarctic with Shackleton could fetch £600-800. Lots 137-143 include several of Herbert George Ponting's photographs from the 1910-11 British Antarctic Expedition (Lot 140 pictured).

                                                                                                                                                           In Boston on Friday, February 9, Skinner, Inc. sells the Collection of Avis & Eugene Robinson, 300 lots of Africana and African-Americana. In an introduction to the sale catalog, Eugene Robinson, the longtime Washington Post reporter, notes that this collection developed over time, "as a weekend pastime became a mission to collect and preserve this overlooked history." Among the printed and manuscript materials are a framed issue of The North Star for April 28, 1848 ($8,000-12,000), a manuscript map on goatskin of Tionesta Township, PA ($4,000-6,000), an 1801 New York bill of lading for a slave ship ($700-900), and an archive of manuscripts and photographs related to Rhode Island's DeWolf family ($500-700). Many photographs and realia will also be offered.

                                                                                                                                               Two sales will be held in Pasadena to coincide with this weekend's California International Antiquarian Book Fair, both on Sunday, February 11:

PBA Galleries sells Rare Books & Manuscripts in 222 lots beginning at 8 a.m. PST, with lots 114-222 being sold to benefit the Antiquarian Booksellers' Benevolent Fund. The top lot in this sale is expected to be an early- to mid-17th-century alchemical illustrated manuscript, Coronatio Naturae ("The Crowning of Nature"), with 67 illustrations and a later partial English translation. The only copy in private hands, it is estimated at $100,000-150,000. A first edition of Gulliver's Travels in a Riviere & Son binding could fetch $30,000-50,000, the same estimate given to a 17th-century manuscript book of horoscopes. A large archive from the family of President John Tyler could sell for $20,000-30,000. Other items of note include a copy of Barack Obama's fifth-grade yearbook, inscribed by him to a friend ($8,000-12,000), and some 350 sheets of gold leaf from the Roycroft Bindery ($4,000-6,000).

                                                                                                                                                              Following the PBA sale on Sunday, Bonhams sells Fine Books and Manuscripts in 272 lots, beginning at 10:30 a.m. PST. Again it's not a book which rates the top estimate: a rare three-rotor Enigma Machine takes that honor, at $70,000-90,000. A short Walt Whitman manuscript containig the poet's thoughts on death could sell for $20,000-30,000. A collection of Ray Bradbury works, most inscribed first editions, is estimated at $15,000-20,000 (there are a number of other Bradbury lots on offer), while a first edition of David Roberts's The Holy Land could fetch $15,000-25,000. An Isaac Newton autograph manuscript containing quotes from Eunapius and Procopius, used by Newton in his works on prophecy, is estimated at $12,000-18,000. A manuscript leaf from an early draft of Thoreau's A Week Along the Concord and Merrimack Rivers receives the same estimate. Perhaps of interest to readers of this blog are several of Dard Hunter's works on papermaking (lots 231-234).

                                                                                                                                                           Image credit: Bonhams

This is not a drill. Repeat this is not a drill. Sylvia Plath's typewriter--the one she used to write The Bell Jar (1963) in spring-summer 1961--is going to auction in London on March 21. It is estimated to reach £40,000-60,000 ($57,000-$85,000).

Plath purchased the classic mint green Hermes 3000 in Boston in 1959. After her death in 1963, the typewriter stayed in the family and will now be sold by her daughter, Frieda Hughes, in a sale titled "Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes; The Property of Frieda Hughes." Highlights are listed here.

Incidentally, Larry McMurtry prefers the same Swiss-made model, as he mentioned during his Oscar acceptance speech in 2006.

Image courtesy of Bonhams