Written Impressions. Writing: Manuscripts as Forerunners and Adjuncts to Printing.
“Messenger” tablet.
Cuneiform tablet, Sumer, Third Dynasty of Ur (ca. 2112-2004 BCE), probably dating to the reign of King Shu-Suen, ca. 2037-2029 BCE.
“Administrative” tablet.
Cuneiform tablet, Sumer, Third dynasty of Ur (ca. 2112-2004 BCE); Year 9 of King Amar-Suen of Ur, ca. 2046-2038 BCE.
These two cuneiform tablets are by far the oldest objects in the Grolier Club Library. Cuneiform is one of the earliest systems of writing, invented by the Sumerians in ancient Mesopotamia in the late fourth millennium BCE. It was largely replaced by the Phoenician alphabet in the first millennium BCE and was extinct by the second century CE.
The tablet on the left is a typical example of a “messenger” tablet, giving an account of rations for various foodstuffs (beer, bread, onions, oil, and potash) transported between cities by an envoy for the royal administration. The tablet on the right is an administrative record of several plant products received by an official, and the amount of oil derived from them.
In 2012, these two tablets were translated for the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI), a joint project of UCLA, the University of Oxford, and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin.
Gift of Kit Currie, 2005.
Catalogue des livres de feu M. l'abbé d'Orleans de Rothelin.
Paris: Gabriel Martin, 1746. [Molesme, France, ca. 1746].
For centuries, the best auction catalogues have served as valuable reference works well after the sale has taken place. The manuscript shown is a fair copy of the 1746 printed sale catalogue of the library of Charles d’Orléans de Rothelin (1692-1744). Rothelin’s large library was rich in printed books and manuscripts, and the well-organized catalogue would have been a useful reference tool for the Benedictine Abbey of Molesme in Burgundy, where the manuscript was produced. Although the text follows the printed version faithfully, the copyist did not attempt to reproduce the ornaments or overall mise-en-page, indicating a greater concern for content than for aesthetics.
Purchased in 2018 with Grolier Club Library Harper Funds.
Leaf from a Stenciled Breviary.
Spain, 18th c.?
Although at first glance this leaf from a Spanish breviary might look handwritten, the text, musical notes, and suspension marks are all stenciled. See, for example, the characteristic breaks of the stenciled ‘e’ in the word Mentibus on the second line down.
Large stenciled liturgical books were produced in Catholic areas of Europe between the mid-seventeenth and late nineteenth centuries. Stenciling allowed the maker to emulate printed, engraved, or skillfully handwritten texts with relative ease, while the large size and legibility of the characters aided in communal chant. Most stenciled books were made for local use and produced in single copies only.
Purchased in 2018 with Grolier Club Library Harper Funds.
Catalogue des livres de Mr. Bérard.
André Denis Bérard, 1806-1873. [Paris, approximately 1860].
This fine calligraphic manuscript catalogue represents the library of André Bérard, architect and scholar of French historical architecture and design. His collections of architectural and ornament books, prints, and drawings were amongst the richest ever formed.
Private library catalogues, rarely needing wide distribution, were often produced by hand well into the nineteenth century. As a manuscript, Bérard’s catalogue could be highly customized and lavishly produced in a way that print could not match.
Purchased in 2017 with the Mary Young Fund.
Feder und Stichel: Alphabete und Schriftblätter in zeitgemäßer Darstellung; geschrieben von Hermann Zapf; in Metallgeschnitten von August Rosenberger.
Frankfurt am Main: D. Stempel, 1949.
Feder und Stichel (“Pen and Graver”) is a writing manual designed by the great German type designer and calligrapher Hermann Zapf for the Stempel type foundry. Although the work was not published until 1949, Zapf designed the scripts in 1939-1941, and Stempel’s punchcutter, August Rosenberger, engraved them into metal plates during the war, at times taking his graver into the air-raid shelter. Zapf’s iconic Palatino type first appeared in the introduction to this work. This is one of only 80 copies produced for the 1949 first edition, all on Japanese paper.
Purchased in 2014 with Grolier Club Library Harper Funds.