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Case 2: Selection in Special Collections

This case displays printed and published material from the Special Collections. These books and pamphlets have either survived in the face of adversity, represent a previous edition now lost, or demonstrate the preferences and impact of a former owner.

View the objects held in Case 2

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When is a duplicate not a duplicate?

You may not be able to tell from their covers, but these three books contain the same text, Statii Syluarum libri quinque Thebaidos libri duodecim Achilleidos duo (Venetiis : in aedibus Aldi., Mense Augusto MDII. [August 1502]). View the catalogue entry for the volumes. 

In effect then, they are duplicates (or triplicates). Printed at the Aldine Press each is a beautiful, and highly collectable, example of early Venetian printing: so it is hardly surprising that they have survived so numerously for so long.

We never set out to collect more than one copy of the same book, but sometimes – as in this case – duplicates might creep in to the collection when we accept larger acquisitions of entire libraries. Two of these books were given to us as part of large private collections, provided by some of our most important donors – Robert Morton (1880-1973) and Charles Sydney Jones (1872-1947).

Still, whilst these items may not have been hand selected, there are certain advantages to having more than one copy of the same book. These three texts may have started life together, but the journeys they have taken in getting from Venice in 1502 to Liverpool in 2020 have been unique; as revealed in the marks left by successive owners. Comparing these marks can help to deepen our understanding of the history of the book trade and of book collecting, with each book providing myriad points of interest, for use in research and in teaching, which more than justify their survival.

Copy 1 sports a binding that was probably given to it by its first owner, with thick wooden boards, a pigskin spine, and metal clasps. The pigskin indicates that this owner was from northern Europe, pigskin being used principally in Germany. The title is written in ink on the fore-edge of the book and the spine is plain, an indication that this early book owner stored their books with the spine facing inwards. There are a few marginal annotations dating from the same period, giving further individuality to this copy. Much later, the book belonged to the Rev. Dr. Charles Daniel (1836-1919), Provost of Worcester College, Oxford and founder of the private printing press, the Daniel Press. Daniel would have been interested in this book because of its printer, Aldus Manutius. He collected 100 books printed at the Aldine Press, which were bought by the University using funds provided by Charles Sydney Jones (1872-1947) in 1920.

Copy 2 was bound in vellum at a somewhat later date to copy 1. It has a leather spine label with the title in gold; a clear sign that this book was destined to be stored with the spine facing outwards. The turning round of books took place over the course of the 17^th century – indicating that this binding was probably given to the book around the same time that the inscription "Sum J. Morsii" was scrawled onto a page around two thirds of the way through the text.

Copy 3 is the most luxuriantly, bound of the three. The intricate decoration to the spine tells us that this book was not so much stored as proudly displayed with its spine facing the room. There’s more gold on the covers, as well as on the edges of the pages, suggesting a previous owner with more than a little money to spend on books. The binding may be French and likely dates from the 17th century. The book was later owned by Robert Morton. Morton, born in Liverpool, started his career in 1903 by opening a bookshop and circulating library in Birkenhead. On his retirement in 1935, the Argosy and Sundial businesses has 2727 branch libraries and a stock of four and a quarter million books. He had a fine collection of early printed books, which he gave to the University in 1969.

Think: HAVE YOU EVER ADDED, OR DISCOVERED, ANY PERSONAL TOUCHES IN ANY OF YOUR BOOKS? HOW MANY DIFFERENT COVER ART DESIGNS HAVE YOU SEEN FOR THE SAME BOOK?

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Continue the story in Case 3: Forbidden Futures - Science Fiction Foundation Collections...