Source: Gothamist

(courtesy of Jonathan Blanc / The New York Public Library)

Many years ago, July 4th meant more than returning fireworks to the East River. To commemorate the humble origins of our country, the New York Public Library will display a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence written in longhand by Thomas Jefferson.

Jefferson wrote the Declaration in Philadelphia between June 11 and June 28, 1776, at the age of 33. His editors were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman, and they decided to cut a large section of his original version that condemns the Crown's support of slavery (Franklin also replaced Jefferson's "sacred & undeniable" with "self-evident" because Franklin apparently had a keen eye for purple prose).

With the slavery-addicted states appeased, the Declaration was completed on July 1, and ratified by the Continental Congress on July 4th.

Upset by the redactions, Jefferson dashed off copies of his original version to his friends, with the axed language underlined. The NYPL's copy, written in iron gall ink, is believed to be one sent to Jefferson's former law professor, George Wythe. Jefferson also discussed the edits in his autobiography:

The pusillanimous idea that we had friends in England worth keeping terms with still haunted the minds of many. For this reason, those passages which conveyed censures on the people of England were struck out, lest they should give them offense. The clause, too, reprobating the enslaving the inhabitants of Africa was struck out in complaisance to South Carolina and Georgia, who had never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves, and who, on the contrary, still wished to continue it. Our Northern brethren also, I believe, felt a little tender under these censures, for though their people had very few slaves themselves, yet they had been pretty considerable carriers of them to others.<B>
The NYPL's copy, displayed at the Celeste Bartos Forum at the Libary's main location, will also be present at the naturalization ceremony for 150 immigrants taking place on July 2.<B>
You can look at this ancient text and ponder the ironies of a slave-holding member of the aristocracy expounding on the ideals of freedom and liberty in language that is now used by a cabal of Supreme Court justices to essentially disenfranchise the public, at the following times:

Friday, June 27: 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Saturday, June 28: 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Sunday, June 29: 1 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Monday, June 30: 10 a.m. to 7:45 p.m.
Tuesday, July 1: 10 a.m. to 7:45 p.m.
Wednesday, July 2: 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Thursday, July 3: 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.

New tests prove what librarians have long believed: this book's cover is made of human skin.

Source: The Atlantic
Alexis C. Madrigal

:As regular readers may know, I announced that three books from the Harvard Library were bound in human skin. I then posted a retraction when that was found not to be the case on 2 of the books. Well, as it turns out, the third book is the real thing. I, personally, find this topic a bit disgusting and amazingly interesting fascinating. Here is the article from the Atlantic in its entirety. It would be worth a look at the Atlantic site to read the comments. You will find a link near the beginning of this post as well as at its end.

Surely, you've seen our recent work on anthropodermic bibliopegy, the early modern practice of binding books in human skin?

No? Well, a quick refresher: some books, since the 16th century but before our own time, were bound in human skin. Why? "The confessions of criminals were occasionally bound in the skin of the convicted," Harvard librarian Heather Cole explained, "or an individual might request to be memorialized for family or lovers in the form of a book."

Qué romantico!

Anyway, we know it happened because people refer to it happening in the literature of the time, and also because some books bore inscriptions that literally said that they were bound in skin.

But such tomes are suspect. You can't just trust anyone who says they've bound a book in human skin. For example, one had this inscription, but turned out to be stupid sheepskin:

The bynding of this booke is all that remains of my dear friende Jonas Wright, who was flayed alive by the Wavuma on the Fourth Day of August, 1632. King Mbesa did give me the book, it being one of poore Jonas chiefe possessions, together with ample of his skin to bynd it.
And so, I am happy to report, the Houghton Library's copy of Arsène Houssaye’s Des destinées de l’ame "is without a doubt bound in human skin," Cole, who is the assistant curator of modern nooks and manuscripts at the library, reports in a new blog post. (Des destinées de l’ame, by the way, translates to The destiny of the soul.)

And how do we know for sure this time, as opposed to taking the word of some creative bookbinder? The book, which had already attracted the attention of a Harvard dermatologist, was tested by the Harvard Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Resource Laboratory. Basically, you create a profile of proteins in the putative human skin, then you run the same test for reference samples of human skin, sheepskin, goatskin, leather (i.e. cow skin). Whatever it matches up with the best: that's what your binding is made of.

So... "The [test result] from Des destinées de l’ame matched the human reference, and clearly eliminated other common parchment sources, such as sheep, cattle and goat," said Bill Lane, the director of the Harvard laboratory.

Perhaps the book is cold, or just read some RL Stine? (JAMA Dermatology)
But there was still a catch! "Although the [test] was consistent with human, other closely related primates, such as the great apes and gibbons, could not be eliminated because of the lack of necessary references.”

So, then, they ran the putative skin binding through a second test, this time Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LCMSMS). And that brought Lane to the conclusion that it is "very unlikely that the source could be other than human."

We now know, then, that this book is the real deal, and the only one of three Harvard books thought to be bound in human skin that has had its reputation survive scientific testing. Which makes its inscription, always creepy, even more so:

“This book is bound in human skin parchment on which no ornament has been stamped to preserve its elegance. By looking carefully you easily distinguish the pores of the skin. A book about the human soul deserved to have a human covering: I had kept this piece of human skin taken from the back of a woman.
He goes on, but I think that gives you the idea."

Source: The Atlantic
Alexis C. Madrigal

I am sorry to have to tell you of the death of Patricia Ahearn, beloved wife of Allen Ahearn of Quill and Brush Books. I have always admired the Ahearns for their considerable knowledge of books and the "book world" but also because of their kindness. When I was just beginning my site, her4e, I came across an article written by the ahearns that I wanted to share with my raders. I contacted them at Quill and Brush and asked if I may republish it here for my readers. They both, very kindly, said yes. It still resides on page 24 of this site (as of today). Id you'd like to read that early article, you may find it HERE

The Quill & Brush was established in 1976 as an outgrowth of a part-time business run by Allen and Patricia Ahearn who started collecting and cataloging books in the early 1960s. The Ahearns have over 45 years of experience in the field. The Quill & Brush was operated by Allen and Pat and their daughter, Beth Fisher.

The Quill & Brush specializes in first editions of literature, mystery/detective fiction and poetry, as well as collectible books in all fields. The firm focuses mainly on books published from the middle of the 19th century to the present. Their stock of over 15,000 books is housed in a beautiful library in the Ahearns' home, nestled in the woods at the base of scenic Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland. The Quill & Brush issues catalogs, offers books on the internet and at book fairs, and invites customers to visit the library Monday through Saturday by appointment.

Allen and Pat Ahearn are the authors of Collected Books: The Guide to Values (4th, revised and enlarged edition published in 2011), Book Collecting 2000 (Putnam: 2000) and over 200 individual Author Price Guides, all of which require they keep current on the market prices for collectible books and make them uniquely qualified to offer professional appraisal services and to establish fair prices when purchasing books or libraries.

The Quill & Brush is unique in its proud adherence to their long-standing, stated policy of accepting the return from a collector of any book at any time (in the same condition in which it was sold to them) for full store credit of the original purchase price. Their goal is to offer the finest copies of books available at a fair market price.

http://www.bookcollecting101.com/autographed-books-by-allen-and-pat-ahearn/