Prestigious American Prize for Seminal Study on Plantinian Illustration

On a day when a Belgian prime minister is receiving accolade for becoming the first President ever of the European Counsel, we are pleased to announce that the book Christopher Plantin and Engraved Book Illustrations in Sixtieenth-Century Europe, by Karen L. Bowen and Dirk Imhof (Cambridge UP, ISBN 978052185276-0), has received the Roland H. Bainton Book Prize.

The Roland H. Bainton Prize was named after a professor of church history at the seminary of Yale University, and is awarded yearly for best books in Art and Music History, History/Theology, and Literature.

The news has yet to be announced by Sixteenth-Century Society & Conference (SCSC), which appoints the committee who chose this year's winners. We previously announced publication of this study here.

Bowen and Imhof's study borrows heavily on archival research to document how Plantin's choice for etchings influenced a change in taste with regard to book illustration at the time. Their book is to date the most comprehensive monograph on 16th-century intaglio production and trade for our region, and a must-have for any serious research library.

Theodoricus Martinus Typographus (Erasmus House Museum, 23 October-6 December 2009)

One would think that by now scholars would have unearthed everything about the origin of printing. Not quite. For more than three centuries, Paul Needham wrote in The Invention and the Early Spread of European Printing As Represented in the Scheide Library (2007), antiquaries and scholars have been trying to identify and pin down the earliest survival of printing. An attempt Needham still defined as "not banal."

Two Belgian scholars have placed themselves in that tradition: Renaud Adam and Alexandre Vanautgaerden, with their recent study "Thierry Martens et la figure de l'imprimeur humaniste. (Une nouvelle biographie)," Brepols, 2009, ISBN 978-2-503-53112-0. Theodoricus Martinus or Dirk Martens is none other that Belgium's first printer: every child is taught at school that Martens printed the first book at Aalst (Alost).

When the Low Countries -Belgium and Holland- celebrated the 500th anniversary of printing in 1973 -with a catalogue from Belgium's Royal Library that became an instant classic- the prototypographi were, as was admitted, chosen by convention, and differently so along national borders, with Martens as first printer for Belgium. Streamlining festivities even more, both countries were letting printing begin in 1473.

As Adam & Vanautgaerden write, a partnership between Dirk Martens and the German Joannes van Westfalen comes closer to the truth of the first printed book at Alost. Already in 1474, Joannes van Westfalen would be a very succesful printer in the city of Leuven, and the first activity of Martens at Alost was short-lived. Whether both men actually did meet in Venice, as their first printing material seems to betray, and who was actually printing at Alost, are just two of many questions laden with mystery.

Still, the new census by Adam & Vanautgaerden of 269 editions attributed to Dirk Martens also reveals that there is a good reason to shed light anew on our first printer: more so than Joannes van Westfalen, Martens was successful at experimenting with and introducing new language and character sets, and therefore deserves to be celebrated as first typographer.

The exhibition "Theodoricus Martinus Typographus" looks at Martens as graphic designer. It also puts ancient and contemporary typography in juxtaposition. The exhibition is in the hands of a graphic design studio from Brussels, Sign, which has signed every card or web page of the Erasmus House Museum in the last 15 years.

Details: Theodoricus Martinus Typographus. Exhibition. Erasmus House Museum, Anderlecht (Brussels). 23 October - 6 December, 2009.

VWB Lecture at Antwerp (28 October 2009): The Jesuits in China

It's official: Vlaamse Werkgroep Boekgeschiedenis (VWB), test riding last Spring with lectures in book history, now has its foot in the door at Antwerp's largest heritage library, Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience at Concienceplein. Two lectures are planned before Christmas; 4 lectures are held each year.

VWB aims at acquainting a larger public with scholars from this country and abroad who present ongoing research or current topics in the history of books.

Venue for these Wednesday lectures is the -must-see- Nottebohmzaal. Starting time is 6 p.m. On Wednesdays, the Hendrik Conscience Library is open until 8 p.m. Each lecture is followed by a Q&A from the audience. Entrance is free.

Two lectures are planned before Christmas. On Wednesday 28 October 2009 Professor Noel Golvers from the Ferdinand Verbiest Instituut (KU Leuven) will hold a lecture entitled The Jesuits in China in the 17th and 18th centuries: the ‘Ultima Thule’ of the European book distribution.

Note: by exception, Golvers' lecture will start one hour earlier: 5 p.m.

In fact, professor Golvers is test riding as well. He will dwell on recent research on this theme at the Jesuitica Conference at Leuven (3-5 December 2009). More on that in a future post.

Golvers has also written about a corpus of 5000 books that was known as the last Western library in Beijing in the 19th century, the Beitang Library. See Noël Golvers, "De jezuïetenmissie in China (17de-18de eeuw): (Ook) een kwestie van Westerse boeken en bibliotheken," in De Gulden Passer 83:2005, p. 201-221. This library was deemed lost, but its holdings have been incorporated by the Peiching Tushuguan library in Beijing.

Picture: The Nottebohmzaal.

Scripta manent

The thick of summer permits an off-track musing. The New York Times obituary for Merce Cunningham has a beautiful quote by the choreographer on the impermanence of dance:

"[Dancing] gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive."

Illustration: Illuminated initial, Responsoriale, Crosiers, Pays de Liège, 1504. Collection Cultura Fonds.

Marie-Claude Felton: To Publish and Perish: The Misadventures of Self-Publishing Authors in 18th Century Paris (Antwerp, 24 June 2009)

Vlaamse Werkgroep Boekgeschiedenis has the pleasure to announce its second lecture in book history: "To Publish and Perish: The misadventures of self-publishing authors in 18th-century Paris." Speaker is Marie-Claude Felton (EHESS, Paris/UQAM, Montreal).

Ms. Felton's abstract: In 18th-century Paris, the booksellers' guild maintained a well-established monopoly over the publishing business: no book was to be printed or sold by anyone outside of their corporation. During a century when authors sought more independence and began to assert their authority and rights over their work, however, some writers tried to get published on their own terms without having to relinquish their rights to a bookseller (and publisher), which was then the rule. The study of these authors' multiple endeavors allows us to examine the tensions that subsisted between authors and publishers in a world still dominated by privileges, and to realize just how far some writers would go to see their talent and knowledge be immortalized in print.

Venue: Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience, Hendrik Conscienceplein 4, 2000 Antwerpen (Nottebohmzaal). Wednesday 24 June 2009 at 5 p.m. (until 6.30 p.m.).

Entrance free, but advance notification preferred. Lecture followed by drink. Notification: via Boekgeschiedenis.be, joint site of the Flemish chapter of Book researchers and practitioners, and of the Bibliophile Society at Antwerp.

Happy Birthday, STCN!

Short-Title Catalogue Netherlands or STCN (www.kb.nl/stcn), is the online retrospective bibliography of books published between 1540-1800 in The Netherlands, and of Dutch books printed abroad. The project will be celebrating its completion on 25 June 2009.

Occasion for these wishes is the festive closure of the STCN-project at Leiden, today, 4 June, 2009, with an exhibition, Vreemdigheden en rariteyten; zeldzame boeken uit de Leidse collecties, set to illustrate the diversity of book production at Leiden. The contribution of Leiden imprints at University of Leiden to STCN is vast: 70.000 titles and 90.000 copies. But Leiden gained prominence around 1575, when the oldest still existing university of The Netherlands was founded.

In all, 170,000 (190,000) titles and 420,000 (500,000) copies have passed review. A total of 22 Dutch libraries and 2 libraries overseas, in London - holdings at BL and University of Londen, more precisely the Elzevier collection – have been receiving collaborators of the bureau of the STCN, who examined holdings.

Let’s recap. STCN kicked off in 1982. Phase 1 took 5 years, until 1987, and knew the input of 6 collaborators. Result was the description of all printed books before 1701 at the Royal Library in The Hague (KB Den Haag).

1988 marked the beginning of a phase 2, which was finalized in March 1997. All books in libraries in Amsterdam and Leiden were scrutinized. More collaborators got involved. In 1995, the last 100 years 1701-1800 were included, and the bureau got a foothold at KB Den Haag.

Phase 3, devoted to the period 1701-1800, saw completion in 2000, but was extended by 2 years. In 2002, at the end of phase 3, the database counted 123,000 entries.

For celebrations, and for another reason we’re glad to look extra muros.

In 1800, no “The Netherlands”, no “Belgium” existed. Willem I reunited what had been “Belgicum”, “Flandres”, “Paesi Bassi”, “Het Nederland” or “De Nederlanden”, as seen from Burgundy’s seat in France in the 15^th century and from Madrid the next.

Despite the Treaty of Münster in 1648, which ended a battle for political and religion differentiation, and which led to the 17 provinces of “Olanda” in the North, and the Spanish-Austrian provinces in the South, a mental separation took longer to take effect.

France later reunited les départments Belgiques, and so did Willem I. According to Hugo De Schepper, a North-South fissure did happen in Willem’s assemblée, due to the seating system.

So STCN has a sibling for Dutch editions printed in Belgium: STCV, Short Title Catalogus Vlaanderen.

STCV is younger: born in 2000, with a cradle at University of Antwerp and use of the university’s software. There's the input of 2 collaborators, and a description of editions in Dutch printed in Flanders in 1601-1700, at first not opting to ruffle the feathers of Belgica Typographica (BT). The approach slightly deviates from that of STCN.

Phase 1 lasted until 2003, and resulted in 6226 seen copies and 4850 entries. Phase 2 included other languages, and editions printed before 1601. Flemish government support –culture and education are regionalized in Belgium- was garnered along the way.

Today, Diederik Lanoye, STCV’s collaborator, is working at the Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience in Antwerp to cover lacunae for the 17^th century.

In the course of this year, STCV will be incorporated in the association of 6 Flemish heritage libraries or Erfgoedbibliotheken Vlaanderen. The bureau hopes to examine 2,400 copies per annum. Presently, the counter reached 10,000 entries.

2 New Portals for Bibliophily and Book History: Part 2

They're not twittering, but two Belgian bibliophile societies with seats at Antwerp and Brussels are sounding new drums online. And the portal for book history in the Dutch-speaking part of the country became fresh-faced as well.

Part II
Contrary to Brussels, the bibliophiles at Antwerp have not opted for an individual portal. Issued from the Flemish (Dutch-speaking) northern part of this country, there is now 1 single portal for news about rare books: Boekgeschiedenis.be.

[picture to follow]

Boekgeschiedenis.be is the joint portal (and more) for Vlaamse Werkgroep Boekgeschiedenis (society for book historians in Flanders) and Vereniging van Antwerpse Bibliofielen, bibliophile society at Antwerp, with its seat at the Plantin-Moretus Museum.

Plenty of book historians of the Werkgroep being members of the Antwerpse Bibliofielen, and many of them sitting on the editorial board of De Gulden Passer, journal of the Vereniging van Antwerpse Bibliofielen, seem to be the main reasons behind this.

Members of both respectively can access the pages related to their society. Both already worked with memberships, and retain access to certain pages as a privilege for members. New visitors can easily become new members.

Boekgeschiedenis.be is available in Dutch only. It is work in progress, but the bonus lies in centralized access via Boekgeschiedenis.be to both De Gulden Passer, with future promises of digitization, and Kroniek van het gedrukte boek in de Nederlanden, searchable book reviews of books on books.
De Gulden Passer has turned into the journal of book history available from Flanders. Published as a yearbook, it will soon accelerate pace, and publish 2 issues a year.

Kroniek van het gedrukte boek in de Nederlanden is the chronicle of book reviews that since 1971 has been appearing in Archives et bibliothèques de Belgique = Archief- en bibliotheekwezen in België, paper journal edited at the Royal Library of Belgium.

In 2002, Johan Hanselaer performed the herculean task of bringing all book reviews online separately, known simply as "de Kroniek". Dutch only, and search options still limited, but this is an easy tool for anyone looking for recent literature or studies about the subject of the book.