LitReactor: the supplemental material

muspeccoll:

An early travel book by George Sandys (1578-1644) with a description of Constantinople. A relation of a iourney begun an. Dom. 1610 : foure bookes, containing a description of the Turkish Empire of Aegypt, of the Holy Land, of the remote parts of Italy and ilands adioyning, from the Pages from the Past Collection

myimaginarybrooklyn:
“Early 17th century Hebrew text with early 18th century silverwork ornamentation incorporating the Amsterdam city emblem.
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myimaginarybrooklyn:

Early 17th century Hebrew text with early 18th century silverwork ornamentation incorporating the Amsterdam city emblem.

uispeccoll:

This edition of StrozziiPoetae Pater et Filius, was written by Tito Vespasiano Strozzi, a Renaissance poet who died in 1505. This work was compiled and printed by Aldus Manutius, the man responsible for creating portable and accessible books available in Latin and Greek.
Strozzii Poetae Pater et Filius was printed in Latin, and published in two parts, bound together in one book. The end of each part features the famous colophon trademarked by Manutius: a dolphin wrapped around an anchor. This edition has been beautifully rebound and also features a gorgeous bookplate the previous owner had inserted onto the front cover.
If you’re looking for more information on Aldus Manutius, check out our blog!
-Kelly
Strozzi, Tito Vespasiano, 1425?-1505. Strozii poetae pater et filius. [Venetiis, in aedibus Aldi et Andreae Asulani soceni, 1513]
PA8585.S7 A17 1513

1690s book with filigree silver binding - National Library of Sweden

This binding is an exquisite example of Danish filigree technique
from the 1690s.It belongs to the National Library’s Huseby
Collection and was once owned by Karren Mogensdotter Skoug.
Her name and the year 1692 are engraved on the inside of the clasps. -(x)

erikkwakkel:

Siamese twins
The bookbindings above are as odd as they are rare. In fact, I encountered my first only a few days ago while browsing Folger Library’s image database of bookbindings. The binding is called “dos-à-dos” (back to back), a type almost exclusively produced in the 16th and 17th centuries. They are like Siamese twins in that they present two different entities joint at their backs: each part has one board for itself, while a third is shared between the two. Their contents show why this was done: you will often find two complementary devotional works in them, such as a prayerbook and a Psalter, or the Bible’s Old and New Testament. Reading the one text you can flip the “book” to consult the other. The last image above is a unification of no less than seven devotional works printed by the same printer (Feichtinger, Lintz, 1736-1737), showing that the constructions could also encompass much more than just two texts. In the 20th century this type of binding enjoyed a revival with the Double Ace books, which featured two short science fiction stories.
Pics: St Andrew’s University Library, Bib BS2085.C27 (top); Washington, Folger Shakespeare Library, STC 23811.2 (two pics), STC 2907 (broidery); Chetham’s Library, shelfmark unknown (editions from 1629, 1633); Ed. J. M. Feichtinger, Lintz, 1736-1737 (from this sales catalogue). Other examples from the Folger here. A nice one auctioned off at Christie’s here.

Posts tagged early modern books