The Final Countdown #4 – If I add brackets will it work?

Coding is hard and B.Pauley is the bomb.com. I’m actually pretty sure those were the words I used verbatim when working on the timeline this past week, trying to make everything look the way we wanted it. I truly do not know what I would do without Dr. Pauley and his coding genius because my […]

Coding is hard and B.Pauley is the bomb.com.

I’m actually pretty sure those were the words I used verbatim when working on the timeline this past week, trying to make everything look the way we wanted it. I truly do not know what I would do without Dr. Pauley and his coding genius because my menial knowledge of CSS coding what getting me nowhere.  It was to the point where I was typing anything I could think of and adding brackets to see if it would work!  Ultimately we got it figured out, (thank you Bens!) and the timeline is near-perfection now. I have a couple more slides to finish typing up, still waiting for some information, but it is uploaded on our website now if anyone wants to check it out.

Once that mess was finally fixed, Mary Haynes and I turned our attention back to scanning. We FINALLY finished all of the books for this project after two long nights in the archives, and can now focus on the website itself and getting everything polished.

It is strange to think that we are getting towards the finish-line with this project, it has felt so all-consuming. We only have to edit our interviews and get pages posted, but other than that we are pretty much there. I ironically called this series of posts ‘the final countdown’, but now it’s starting to feel real and I don’t know how I feel about that.

a book’s lineage

When fellow student and researcher Savannah Willard and I went back to the archives to begin this week’s project, we had initially set our sights on a particular copy of Don Quixote that Carey (the school’s archivist) had shown us during one of our earlier visits. The little book was full of marginalia that came with […]

When fellow student and researcher Savannah Willard and I went back to the archives to begin this week’s project, we had initially set our sights on a particular copy of Don Quixote that Carey (the school’s archivist) had shown us during one of our earlier visits. The little book was full of marginalia that came with existing in a school library. However, by happenstance of one of the two of us pulling this unassuming old book off of the shelves, we found ourselves much more intrigued by this text.

Finding the history of this book was a larger undertaking than either of us realized, involving Danish languages (which neither Savannah nor myself are fluent in) and Norwegian lineage (which is very complicated, we came to find out). But the process was an enjoyable one, and the two of us were fascinated the entire time. Below are our findings.

Assignment #3 – A Book’s Life

New software, new language, and a new way to think of books, these are the oppurtunities that this week’s assignment has given me. We were asked to pick a book with a deep, preferrably mappable history and create a timeline of its life (see below). This project was intimidating at first, but once Mary Haynes […]

New software, new language, and a new way to think of books, these are the oppurtunities that this week’s assignment has given me. We were asked to pick a book with a deep, preferrably mappable history and create a timeline of its life (see below). This project was intimidating at first, but once Mary Haynes and I got going, it actully gave us some really amazing insights into just what a book can hold if you look deep enough. The book we ended up using was actually discovered on a whim; I happened to grab it off the shelf and notice that it definitely was not in English. Ultimately it were the signs of ownership that caught our attention, and you’ll see why in the timeline. We thought that using the unfamiliar timeline software was going to be the most intimidating part of this project, but it turns out that translating Danish and using Norwegian census data is a lot more difficult. Even so, we made it work and discovered some facinating things about just how far a book can travel.

The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Provenance Timeline

This week for The Social Life of Books, we had to find a book with evidence of provenance and create a timeline of ownership. I chose the Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This book was particularly interesting because there were lots of marks and writings throughout it as … Continue reading

This week for The Social Life of Books, we had to find a book with evidence of provenance and create a timeline of ownership. I chose the Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This book was particularly interesting because there were lots of marks and writings throughout it as evidenced in the gallery above. I had a lot of fun with this assignment, because in my research, I found that three of the four previous owners are from Wichita Falls, Texas where I go to school at Midwestern State University. Although I couldn’t find out a lot on one of the owners, I found three of the four to be related, so before it was donated to my university, it was passed down through a couple generations of the McGregor family. I really liked learning more about each owner and how Mrs. A. H. Carrigan was the daughter of one of the founders of Wichita Falls. It was really neat learning more about the history of the small town where I go to school. At one point, I even had to get Dr. Pauley and Dr. Bankhurst to help me interpret an Outline Descendant Report on Patsy McGregor. I would love to continue researching the previous owners of this book to try to find more on Patsy and Mr. Henkle.

Timeline JS was a little confusing at first, but I think I figured it out.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this assignment and would love to do another one like it.

Assignment #3 Timeline JS

In the link above I have provided a Timeline JS for Interpretations of Journalism by Frank Luther Mott and Ralph D. Casey. This book was published in 1937. Although it… Read More

In the link above I have provided a Timeline JS for Interpretations of Journalism by Frank Luther Mott and Ralph D. Casey. This book was published in 1937. Although it is fairly new by our terms of printing format and age, I chose this book because it was chalk full of provenance. It seems to me that this book was used in a class for a research project or possibly used a text book/recommended reading source. The basis for this assumption comes from the type of provenance found inside. Another interesting point to keep in mind when reviewing this book and Timeline is that all provenance throughout the book is written in the same handwriting. I assume receiving this book as an upcoming jounalism student must have felt like Harry Potter did when discovering the Half Blood Prince’s potions textbook. Multiple paragraphs and passages are underlined, questioned, noted on, referenced, and checked off in a manner of possible approval or merely checking off a paragraph as a task would be on a to-do list. This book is signed by W. L. Wilson, on whom I could find no genealogical information. There is also a wonderful passage of questions written on the last leaf of the book that comes off to the reader (myself) as an afterthought upon reading the book.

 

Bailey

Constructing a Book’s History

Habent sua fata libelli. [Books have their own fate.] -Maurus   Now that we’ve tackled understanding and recognizing the physical production of books in this course – something that is relatively regulated and widespread – we’ve come to a more personalized, if not rather intimate, study of bibliography. This past week we’ve been tasked with […]

Habent sua fata libelli.

[Books have their own fate.]

-Maurus

 

1864 publication of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America.

Now that we’ve tackled understanding and recognizing the physical production of books in this course – something that is relatively regulated and widespread – we’ve come to a more personalized, if not rather intimate, study of bibliography. This past week we’ve been tasked with exploring the living history of a single book; it’s life. The book I chose lept at me from my university library’s Special Collections as I was browsing a particular section called the Wadsworth Family Papers: an 1864 copy of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (vol. II).

This book was nestled between land/business documents and books written by particularly well-known members of this extraordinarily influential small-town family. The Wadsworths are mega-stars in Geneseo, NY, where I attend university. This family settled the area around 1790 and maintained considerable control over the majority of Livingston County throughout the 19th century and into the 20th. My college, the State University of New York at Geneseo, owes much of its existence to this family of educated farmers-turned-politicians, and embraces them and their history in the Special Collections of their library.

Close-up of Wadsworth’s inscription on the title page of Democracy in America. Fig. 2.
Title page of James W. Wadsworth’s copy of De Tocqueville’s book. Fig. 1.

As most of the Wadsworth Family Papers collection is made up of primary sources from the family’s history – that is, business, land, and personal documents, photography, and books written by them – it was somewhat surprising to see an ordinary, widely-read book included on the shelves. As soon as I took it down and opened to the title page, I began to understand why. Note the inscription shown on the two pictures of the title page: “James W. Wadsworth – Jan. 1871, Geneseo.” This was a personal book of James W. Wadsworth himself: an influential farmer, then Civil War soldier, then U.S. Congressman.

Publication Information

This copy of de Tocqueville’s book was published in Cambridge, MA in 1864 by an American publishing company called Sever and Francis. Democracy in America was written by Alexis de Tocqueville, published in 1838 as analysis of early 19th century America and its flourishing democratic system. De Tocqueville’s motivation behind this study was to look at American democracy as a model for his own country of France following their revolution. It is still today considered one of the most important references for discussing both the American nation and the democratic system. So, the intended audience, at the time of its creation, was perhaps the French nation as a model, perhaps the American nation as a mirror, perhaps both; but most certainly the people who are interested in learning about the way in which achieving equality necessitates a change in social status for many.

Owner Information

As mentioned, this book was originally owned by James W. Wadsworth, and ultimately given to Milne Library at the State University of New York at Geneseo in 1976 by Mrs. Reverdy Wadsworth after the death of her husband, James’s great-grandson. Once the book was given to Milne Library, it was ultimately placed in the Wadsworth

Book plate from Milne Library at SUNY Geneseo. Fig. 3.

Family Papers collection, effectively kept out of circulation. There is some speculation as to whether or not it had been accidentally put into circulation when it first arrived, but even if it was, it would very quickly have been taken out given its condition.

 

Marginalia

How can I say so confidently that James W. Wadsworth was the original owner, even though there is a span of 7 years between its publication and his mark of ownership? Well, this book is in what I consider to be, with regard to my very little experience with bibliography, very interesting condition; or, at least very telling condition. As shown in Fig. 4, there are multiple occurrences of uncut signatures in this book.

Examples of uncut signatures. Fig. 4.

In fact, as not shown in this picture, most of the book is made up of uncut signatures. As you can see in this and Fig. 5, the areas that are uncut are very roughly and crudely done so. While it might seem that this could be indicative of a neglected book, as shown in Fig. 6, the areas of the book that are cut free from their signatures are heavily underlined and even starred.

Crudely cut pages. Fig. 5.

 

Underlined section of book. Fig. 6.

These markings are done in pencil, unlike the inscription made at the beginning in ink. In my opinion, the use of pencil implies a studious nature of reading, and the thoroughly marked areas of interest imply a purposeful reading, perhaps by someone who understood the book enough to cut the signatures in the correct place to find the information he wanted to highlight. Perhaps this wasn’t the reader’s first time reading a copy of de Tocqueville.

 

 

Current Home

Now resting in Milne Library’s Wadsworth Family Papers collection, this book’s purpose and use has unavoidably shifted. Considering it is no longer in circulation and has spent the past 41 years in a locked room for preservation purposes, I’d say that its use has indeed changed since it was owned by James Wadsworth in 1871. No longer is it turned to when de Tocqueville’s words of wisdom are needed; in fact, his voice is but a tiny echo almost completely consumed by the legacy of James W. Wadsworth to which this book is now irrevocably tied. Instead of reading it for de Tocqueville alone, it’s read for Wadsworth, and represents Wadsworth now far more than de Tocqueville.

Follow the dynamic Timeline JS I’ve created for this post to see the history of this book come to life!

https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1oOF307tcalL81ojObtUExw_MQyzZAqlVGi1YKIac5T8&font=Bitter-Raleway&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650

The book studied in this post comes from the Special Collections of Milne Library at the University of New York at Geneseo.

Words Passed Through Time

The experience of actually diving into a book and recreating the history of it was more challenging than I was expecting. As I went to Nash Library this time around… Read More

The experience of actually diving into a book and recreating the history of it was more challenging than I was expecting. As I went to Nash Library this time around I jotted down some notes beforehand for quick reference. I met up with Kelly Brown again and we went to the archives in search of a book that had provenance in it. She informed me that most schools’ libraries keep records of whether or not a book has marginalia in it – ours does not do this. So, the task got a bit harder as I had to individually search each book from the archive shelves. Instantly I was searching for older books that I assumed people would write in. To my disbelief, I found only two books within the hour and a half I spent there that had any form of writing in them that wasn’t just on the inside cover. Finally, I laid my eyes upon a rather worn book and pulled it from the shelf. “A New Political Economy” was the title and as I frantically flipped through the pages, I found just what I was looking for. There were all sorts of evidence of provenance throughout the book and I felt extremely relieved.

After I managed to find the book, I talked to Kelly about the family as I recognized the donor’s name in many other books we had. She informed me of their history in Chickasha and her history at the college. I successfully found out about her history, although it wasn’t that long ago. Our school is so small that I am beginning to realize that our collection of books will not be extremely old. They will just be collections of those who lived here or had a history at the university. While there is nothing wrong with that, I felt disappointed that more people did not write in their books. This project did make me think differently about marginalia. I do it quite often in my books. I feel as though it’s a way of communicating thoughts that one person had about a certain text. The wonderful thing about those markings is that another person might feel differently – and that’s okay. That’s why they were written. While I wish I found more books that had provenance, I am simply happy to have found the one I did and connect it back to my university.

Life of The Notes on the State of Virginia

The Birth The Notes on the State of Virginia was published in Philadelphia in 1784. It was brought to life by Thomas Jefferson. First Marks The book was first written in by Anderson J Henshaw. He marked that he purchased the book on July 24th of 1901. It is clearly shown here that Anderson wanted … Continue reading Life of The Notes on the State of Virginia

The Birth

The Notes on the State of Virginia was published in Philadelphia in 1784. It was brought to life by Thomas Jefferson.

First Marks

Ownership

The book was first written in by Anderson J Henshaw. He marked that he purchased the book on July 24th of 1901. It is clearly shown here that Anderson wanted to claim possession to the text because he wrote his name directly above the title. Below, the word “Book” forming another mark of possession as if to say “Anderson J Henshaw’s Book.” Since he was claiming possession of the book I believe that it was seen more as an item of value. Generally when a person writes their name in something it is because they do not want anyone else to claim it.

Hand-Me-Down

Mabel Henshaw Gardiner Donation

After Anderson J Henshaw was finished with the book (possibly dead) it fell into the hands of Mabel Henshaw (Later to be known as Mabel Henshaw Gardiner). Mabel Henshaw Gardiner was a teacher and a prominent member of Shepherd College after having attended there herself. Being as the two have the same last name, I assumed they are related in some way. I looked for records of Anderson Henshaw in the genealogy but could not find any type of relation between the two. Although it would be an odd coincidence if they were not related in any way. Therefore it leaves me to believe Mabel obtained the text directly from Anderson in some way.  Unfortunately, there is no known date of which she obtained the book, however there is a library sticker claiming her donation of the book. Sadly, there is also no date of this donation in any of our records. I do assume however, that it was during her time as a teacher at Shepherd University because she was so dedicated to the history education of the students.

Current Status

Currently the book is being held in the Rare Books Collection at the Shepherd University’s Library. There, it waits for visits from those who are interested in the second oldest book in our library. Or, those who seek to read the Second American Edition of the Notes on the State of Virginia.

Timeline Document Link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1e_PQ6JLUFugfwt0dQBn3aJOsDsGuyNSU5-FtN2-lshU/edit?usp=sharing

Genealogy of Mabel Hensaw Gardiner and Family:

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=149178670

 

 

Lietuviu Kalbos Gramatika: Lithuanian Grammar for Americans

My first concern with this assignment was whether or not I would be able to find a book with provenance to research. Luckily, all I needed was to send one… Read More

My first concern with this assignment was whether or not I would be able to find a book with provenance to research. Luckily, all I needed was to send one text to my dad, because then I was introduced to “Lietuviu Kalbos Gramatika,” a Lithuanian grammar book that had belonged to his father. Starting my research on previous owners was relatively easy because I was able to get information about how my grandfather had gotten the book and how he felt about going to the school where he had used it. My great-grandfather immigrated to the US from Lithuania in 1907, so I think that this played a role in the attempt to keep the Lithuanian language alive to some extent, and has kept the book in the family.

At the bottom right-hand corner of almost all of the pages of the book, I could see the letters “EZB” punched through the pages. On the edges of the book, I could also see “EB” written there, which makes me think that at some point there was another owner with these initials, but I wasn’t able to find any information about it.

I had forgotten that Lithuanian is a strange language, so finding information about where “Lietuviu Kalbos Gramatika” was printed was harder than I had anticipated it would be. Most of the sources I found on Marijampole, Lithuania and its printing house weren’t able to be translated into English. The introduction to the book, however, gave me a lot of information about the specific purpose of the book, which made it easier to see how the intent differed from how this little grammar book was actually used. Admittedly, there wasn’t much of a difference between the intended use and actual use of the book. The author, Rev. Dr. Jonas Starkus, was perhaps a bit more enthusiastic about students learning Lithuanian than the students themselves. I was also glad to see that the school had institutional stamps on the title page so I didn’t have to rely solely on family history to find Marianapolis Preparatory School, and background information about the school and its mission.

I’m not sure that I feel any differently about marginalia and annotation in books as a result of this assignment, but I do like the idea that books can have histories that are just as involved as the history of people themselves. I’ve always liked seeing notes from previous owners written in my books, but taking note of marginalia usually happens as a passing, “what were they thinking?” instead of thinking about where that book had been and what purpose it served. So I think that it isn’t that I feel or think differently about marginalia and annotation, I’m just thinking about them in a different context; the context of the book itself and not whether or not that note makes me laugh as I read. Now that I’ve glanced at the syllabus again (after writing the rest of this paragraph), I realize that this is, almost verbatim, the goal of this class, so I would call this assignment a success!

Sources Used:
http://www.lituanus.org/1992_3/92_3_01.htm
http://www.marianapolis.org/page.cfm?p=3521
https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijampol%C4%97s_spaustuv%C4%97