Beinecke to Unveil Trio of Exhibits
Source: Yale Daily News
By Helen Rouner
staff reporter
This season, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library is closing the gap between the visual arts and the art of literature.
On Saturday, Beinecke will unveil a trio of new exhibits that will draw on materials from across its collections. According to Beinecke’s Research Librarian Elizabeth Frengel, who curated one of the exhibits, the three shows were conceived and planned independently but are connected by an emphasis on visual elements atypical of library exhibitions. “Under the Covers: A Visual History of Decorated Endpapers” features the designs on the inside covers and front or back pages of books dating from the 15th century to the present day. A second exhibit entitled “Blue: Color and Concept” explores uses of the color blue in arts and letters of the 19th and 20th centuries. A third exhibit, “Stephen Tennant: Work in Progress,” highlights the archives of upper-class 20th century bon vivant Stephen Tennant, who maintained close friendships with authors such as Willa Cather.
Curator of Poetry at the Collection of American Literature Nancy Kuhl, who curated “Blue,” called the connection between the three exhibits a “happy coincidence of visual cohesion.”
“All three new shows are about classic items you find in a library, but they display a new type of research interest,” Young said. “It’s about the visual impact of materials you find in a library.”
Perhaps the most explicitly visual exhibit in the trio is “Under the Covers,” which displays the art of endpapers, some made of marbled paper or silk and some printed with maps, photos or illustrations. Endpapers originally were used to protect illuminations at the beginnings of books from volumes’ rough, rudimentary covers, Frengel said, explaining that over time, endpapers began to serve decorative — and even narrative — functions. Good children’s books in particular, Frengel noted, use endpapers to invite readers into the tale: the map of the “100 Aker Wood” that appears in the endpapers of “Winnie the Pooh” inspired the exhibit, she explained.
Kuhl’s “Blue” includes both literary and historical artifacts pertaining to the word “blue” in its physical and metaphorical senses. The exhibit features blueprints of Coney Island, movie posters from Warhol’s “Blue Movie,” in which “blue” refers to pornographic materials, and Langston Hughes’s blue cigarette case. The exhibit draws heavily from the Beinecke’s extensive holdings dating from the Harlem Renaissance, a movement that prominently featured blues music.
Kuhl said that the variety of media “Blue” uses allows the exhibit to explore poetic connections and visual rhymes.
“The exhibit shows a different way to approach research — different ways to ask questions and to reveal associations,” she said. “The exhibit has something in common with the way poems work.”
Young said that “Stephen Tennant” takes a similarly evocative approach to research. Rather than displaying an end product or answering a question, Young explained, his exhibit is meant to provoke interest in Tennant’s archives — to suggest that there might be something in the materials displayed worth researching.
Tennant, an illustrator and an unsuccessful novelist, was never especially famous in his own right, Young said, explaining that Tennant’s archives are significant largely because of the letters from and portraits of famous literary figures they contain.
Celebrating books as visual objects is a concept that libraries have begun to embrace only in the last 10 or 11 years, Young explained.
“Libraries have started to pay attention to objects as objects and not just as conveyors of history or stories,” Young said. “We’re not afraid anymore to show books just for their beauty.”
Frengel said that it is unusual for the Beinecke to debut three individual exhibits simultaneously, adding that the library typically displays one main exhibit at a time, sometimes with one or two peripheral shows. She attributed this year’s trio in part to the great deal of work involved in launching the major exhibitions that celebrated the Beinecke’s 50th anniversary last year. Dividing the library’s display space among three independent exhibitions, each with its own curator, allows for “a breather,” Young said.
The opening reception for the exhibitions will take place on Friday, Jan. 24.
Book Fair Celebrates the 450th Birthday of William Shakespeare
In commemoration of the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare's birth in 2014, the California International Antiquarian Book Fair will pay tribute to the Bard when it opens its doors to the public from February 7 9 at the Pasadena Convention Center. The bi-annual Southern California rare book extravaganza that brings together the worlds foremost dealers, collectors and scholars, the Book Fair will present a special exhibit featuring some of the finest expressions of Shakespeare through the centuries.
The Huntington Library, which holds a world-class collection of early editions of Shakespeare's works, will offer an enlightening display on Shakespeare scholarship throughout the 90-plus years of its history. On view will be highlights of scholarly work researched, written, and published at the Huntington, as well as facsimiles based on Huntington holdings and items that illustrate the institution's focus on all facets of the history and culture of Renaissance England.
Fine press and artists books from the Ella Strong Denison Library at Scripps College will show how Shakespeare has inspired the art of the book. Highlights include:
-Early 20th Century Hamlet from Doves Press, the British private press that was one of the exemplars of the Arts and Crafts movement.
-The Tragedie of King Lear, illustrated with spectacular woodcut prints by American artist Claire Van Vliet that eloquently convey the pain and drama of the play; printed in limited edition in 1986.
-The Txt Msg Edition, this limited edition, contemporary artists book created by Elizabeth Pendergrass and John Hastings in 2008 presents Romeo and Juliets balcony scene in the form of text messages printed on accordion folded pages fitted into a retro cell phone cover that is cradled in a miniature leopard-print, high-heeled shoe.
Poster images from the collections of the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will spotlight memorable film adaptations of Shakespeare from around the world including:
-Hamlet directed by and starring Laurence Olivier, 1948. Italian release
-Macbeth directed by and starring Orson Welles, 1948. Mexican release
-Throne of Blood director Akira Kurosawa transposes the plot of Macbeth to feudal Japan, 1957. Japanese release
The Honnold/Mudd Library at the Claremont Colleges Library will offer insights into stage productions with items that include:
-Photos of renowned Victorian actors Ellen Terry and Henry Irving in some of their most famous Shakespeare roles.
-Original 20th century costume studies.
-Prompt books with actors handwritten notes.
Rare books on food and cookery in Elizabethan times from the University of California San Diego Library. Highlights include:
-Ann Clutterbuck, Her Book. A English family manuscript book containing recipes for foods and for medicinal needs from 1693.
-Gervase Markham, The English House-Wife dated 1675.
-Bartolomeo Scappi, Operadell Arte del Cucinare from 1660 which includes fabulous woodcuts of the Renaissance kitchen and all its gadgets; first time knife, fork, and spoon shown together.
A related special panel on Saturday, February 8 at 1 p.m. entitled "What Shakespeare Ate: Dining in the Elizabethan Age" will further immerse Book Fair visitors into the world of the Bard. Panelists include Los Angeles Times and Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold; noted food historian Charles Perry; cookbook author and founder of the Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne Anne Willan; and bookseller Ben Kinmont who specializes in antiquarian books on gastronomy. Los Angeles Times columnist Patt Morrison will moderate.
Those who want to start their own collections of the plays or sonnets will find many opportunities to acquire items from individual dealers who will be displaying their most desirable Shakespeare works at the Book Fair. Recognized as one of the worlds largest and most prestigious exhibitions of antiquarian books, the Book Fair gives visitors the opportunity to see, learn about and purchase the finest in rare and valuable books, manuscripts, autographs, graphics, photographs and more.
Book Fair hours are Friday, February 7 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, February 8 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday, February 9 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Pasadena Convention Center, located at 300 East Green Street, Pasadena, CA 91101. Tickets on Friday, February 7 are $25 and provide three-day admission. Proceeds from Friday tickets will benefit and offer free admission to the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens during the month of February. Tickets purchased on Saturday or Sunday are $15 and include return entry and free admission to the Huntington during the Book Fair.
Purchase tickets for the Book Fair at Eventbrite. For more information, visit http://www.cabookfair.com or call 800-454-6401.
Connect with the Book Fair at http:/twitter.com/cabookfair or http://www.facebook.com/CABookFair.
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/01/prweb11486812.htm.
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Signed, First Edition - Video
I spotted this on YouTube and thought you might get a kick out of it...
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Defaced first edition of ‘Ulysses’ valued at €13,500
Book was defaced by an irate reader who regarded the book as pornographic...
A copy of Ulysses by James Joyce in which a previous reader has written “A Pornographic Bible” under the title. Photograph: Philip Cloherty
Source: The Irish Times
By: Michael Parsons
First published:
Tue, Dec 31, 2013, 01:00
A first-edition copy of James Joyce’s novel Ulysses has been valued at €13,500 despite having been defaced by an irate reader who regarded the book as pornographic.
Galway-based rare book dealer Norman Healy, who acquired the book in London, said a previous owner had defaced the book by writing the comment “a pornographic Bible” on the famous blue paper cover beneath the title. The word “pornographic” is underlined.
Defaced books are often worthless but such is the desirability of first-edition copies of Ulysses it has been catalogued for resale at €13,500. Mr Healy said the book would normally be valued at about €10,500 but he believed the comment, added by “a previous, less than enthusiastic owner”, had enhanced the value.
The identity of the previous owner is not known but the defacement is likely to have occurred long before the book’s importance and financial value became apparent. The comment reflected the view, widely held in the early 20th century, that Ulysses was scandalous.
Ulysses was published in Paris on Joyce’s 40th birthday, February 2nd, 1922, by Sylvia Beach, an American publisher and founder of the Paris bookshop Shakespeare and Company. A thousand numbered copies were printed, clad in soft covers that featured the title and the author’s name in white on a blue background. A copy can be worth tens or hundreds of thousands of euro, depending on the condition and whether or not it was signed or inscribed by Joyce.
For collectors of rare books, Ulysses is said to be the most sought-after and valuable 20th century first edition. The most valuable are those rare examples that still have the fragile dust-jacket wrapper intact and were signed or inscribed by Joyce.
The defaced “pornographic” copy is missing half the dust jacket and was not signed by Joyce.
The highest price achieved to date for a first edition of Ulysses was for a copy, inscribed by Joyce to Henry Kaeser, a Swiss publisher, that was sold in 2002 at Christie’s, New York, to a private collector for $460,500 (€333,600).
Of the 1,000 first-edition copies of Ulysses, 200 are reliably believed lost or destroyed. Of the 800 copies known to be extant, about half are in public collections – including that of the National Library – and the others are privately owned. Copies occasionally turn up at auction or for sale by dealers.
In the 1920s the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice ensured Ulysses was effectively banned in the United Sates and copies sent there were seized and destroyed by the post office. Despite strict censorship during the 20th century, Ulysses was not banned in Ireland but was not imported, for fear of a prosecution.
Even some of Joyce’s literary contemporaries expressed disapproval of the novel. DH Lawrence regarded Molly Bloom’s soliloquy at the end of the novel as “the dirtiest, most indecent, obscene thing ever written” and told his wife: “This Ulysses muck is more disgusting than Casanova.”
Virginia Woolf was shocked by the “obscenity” she encountered in Ulysses.
In 1934, a US court ruled that the book was neither pornographic nor and obscene. Further editions were then published and the novel became available worldwide.
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