Un demi-siècle après l’invention de l’imprimerie, avant que la Renaissance ne laisse place aux Guerres de Religion, le livre est à la fois l’acteur principal et un témoin privilégié de ces bouleversements.
It has been 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, condemning the corrupt practice of indulgences. This single act marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, a worldwide movement whose legacy can still be felt today, especially in Germany.
It has been 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, condemning the corrupt practice of indulgences. This single act marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, a worldwide movement whose legacy can still be felt today, especially in Germany.
375 years ago Michael Wagner, a printer from Augsburg in Germany, founded a publishing house in Innsbruck, Austria, which is still existing today: Universitätsverlag Wagner. To celebrate the 375th anniversary of the publisher the Tyrolean State Museum Ferdinandeum has organized an impressive exhibition from 13th June to 26th October, 2014, accompanied by an attractive programme with lectures, concerts, guided tours, a children's workshop, and a conference with leading Austrian and international scholars and scientists, among them ILAB Patron of Honour Murray G. Hall.
Samuel F Haven, former librarian for the American Antiquarian Society, presided over one of the largest collections of broadsides in the world. Historians and rare book collectors alike cherish broadsides because they offer snapshots of moments in time, helping us to understand the zeitgeist of that era. Broadsides make ideal complements to a rare book collection, granting the collection greater depth and context.
"The 15th century equivalent of your cat walking on your keyboard", writes Rebecca J. Rosen, senior associate editor at The Atlantic, are ink pawprints in early printed books. "For cat owners, the scene is too familiar: You sit down to finally (finally!) get some work done, and along comes kitty, here to stroll across your keyboard." During the 15th century the ancestors of our beloved kitties walked across - incunabula. What is a big disgrace (or humiliation) for every serious collector, is nothing more than an everyday occurrence for cat lovers.
The "Meister der Spielkarten", or "The Master of the Playing Cards" is known only through the 106 engravings that have been attributed to him, including the set of playing cards that he is named for. The term "master" is reserved for someone who has completed an apprenticeship and ran his own workshop, teaching apprentices. His presumed students are also unknown but have similar names, such as "The Master of the Nuremberg Passion", "The Master of 1446", and "The Master of the Banderoles".
"He was the soul of honesty himself, and slow to think evil of others; so that he was often taken in. Of envy and jealousy he knew as little as the blind do of colour. He was swift to forgive and to forget even serious injuries ... He was enthusiastic for good learning, and felt his work to be his own reward. It was delightful to see him with the first pages of some new book in his hands, some author of whom he approved. His face was radiant with pleasure, and you might have supposed that he had already received a large return of profit. The excellence of his work would bear comparison with that of the best printers of Venice and Rome." (Erasmus)
A week at the Colorado Rare Book Seminar is a week like no other I know. It is a highly practical week, it is an inspiring week and it is one of those weeks when, at least metaphorically, you feel you can see for miles. I felt as though I was standing, together with everyone else who attended, on a hill above the plain of bookselling. This hill on which we stood together had a view so good that the trade was fully revealed and clarified. The strengths and weaknesses of the trade were shown with coherence something that is very difficult, if not impossible to achieve in the day to day, month to month rush of the ordinary bookselling business.
After the Renaissance, libraries found themselves faced with the task of solving hitherto unknown problems of internal organization; and again after the Enlightenment had produced the type of the scholarly reference library, the nineteenth century found itself harried by a series of grave new problems of organization. As the Renaissance was ushered in, large numbers of books had been transferred to new owners, and this took place at the beginning of the Enlightenment to an even greater degree. In the earlier age the Reformation had provided the impetus; now it was the French Revolution.
Confrères, complices, compétiteurs, convives, bref contents. Les absents, ont, comme toujours, eu tort. Allez, je dois bien me confesser, c'était mon premier congrès LILA et il avait fallu un peu de l'enthousiasme de Neveen Marshiset pour me décider à quitter ma librairie bien-aimée. Qu'elle soit aujourd'hui remerciée !
Matthew McLennan Young is the author of Field & Tuer, The Leadenhall Press: A Checklist, the first comprehensive bibliography on this subject, which has recently been published by Oak Knoll Press. Andrew W. Tuer (1838-1900) was as one of the most influential printers of the Victorian period. With The Leadenhall Press he published hundreds of titles in almost every subject area, from sixpenny pamphlets to limited editions, periodicals like The Paper & Printing Trades Journal or The Printers International Specimen Exchange, Jerome K. Jerome's first book On the Stage - and Off and Sir Montague Shearman's Foot-Ball: Its History for Five Centuries. Matthew McLennan Young's outstanding work includes a portrait of Andrew Tuer and an annotated bibliography which lists nearly 450 publications by Field & Tuer and The Leadenhall Press from 1863 to 1913. For the Oak Knoll Biblio-Blog he has given an account of a post-publication discovery.
Book lovers will be busy in the upcoming weeks. From 1st to 8th April the intellectually curious meet in New York City for the Rare Book Week - the largest gathering of its kind with numerous fairs, exhibitions, lectures and auctions. The week is headlined by the 54th annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair, where over 200 international dealers display an astonishing array of rare books, fine art, maps, manuscripts, and ephemera. And as soon as the fair is closed bibliophiles pack again their bags and suitcases to fly to Paris where another major event in the bibliophile calendar takes place: The Salon International du Livre Ancien at the beautiful Grand Palais in Paris is regarded as the most elegant fair worldwide. The prestigious event, in this year's edition the 25th ILAB International Antiquarian Book Fair with even more high-class offers by exhibitors from Europe, the United States, Argentina, and Japan runs from 11th to 13th April and will immediately be followed by the 41st Congress of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB). Whether you already have your own personal library or would like to dive into the world of collecting, this is your opportunity to explore the world of books with the leading experts in their fields. Whether you are an experienced or novice book collector, a librarian or an archivist, a scholar or an academic, or are simply interested in books and the book arts in general, this is your chance to find something to your taste. And be sure: If you have once experienced the fascinating feeling of finding a book, you have never thought you were looking for, you will never be able to stop again! Over the year and on all continents, there is an exquisite selection of antiquarian book fairs under the auspices of ILAB, where book collectors and the world's leading experts share their passion for the printed book and our written heritage. Save the dates in your calendar!
