The John “Bud” Velde Visiting Scholars Program

The John “Bud” Velde Visiting Scholars Program The Rare Book & Manuscript Library University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign CALL FOR APPLICATIONS The Rare Book & Manuscript Library annually awards stipends of $3,000 to scholars and researchers, unaffiliated with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who would like to come and spend a month or so […]

“Among my various possessions in old books there is none which I more proudly write my name”: Gilbert R. Redgrave’s copy of Petrus Comestor’s Historia scholastica (Incunabula F. 220 P44h 1473)

Petrus Comestor. Historia scholastica. Augsburg: Günther Zainer, 1473. The Rare Book & Manuscript Library’s copy of Petrus Comester’s Historia scholastica (1473) is one of several books the Library owns from the private collection of Gilbert R. Redgrave.  Gilbert Richard Redgrave (1844-1941) is known primarily to the book world as the editor, with A.W. Pollard, of […]

A copy of Rolevinck’s Fasciculus Temporum from the Pillone Library (Incunabula Q. 902 R64f 1484)

Rolevinck, Werner. Fasciculus temporum omnes antiquorum chronicas complectens incipit feliciter. Venice: Erhard Ratdolt, 28 May 1484. This copy of Rolevinck’s Fasciculus temporum is one of 172 volumes with fore-edge paintings originating from the Pillone Library. The Pillone Library was started in Renaissance Italy by Antonio Pillone (d. 1533) and was added to by his descendants […]

Heber Copy of Plato’s Works (Incunabula Q. 881 P5.Lf 1491)

Plato. Works. Translated into Latin and edited by Marsilio Ficino. Venice: Bernardo de’ Chori and Simone da Luere for Andreas Torresanus de Asula, 1491. This 1491 edition of Plato’s works was translated and edited by Marsilio Ficino and published in Venice.  The book has an interesting provenance and contains beautiful hand decoration.  Two identifiable modern […]

Roxburghe Copy of the Comedies of Aristophanes (Incunabula Q. 881 A7 1498)

Aristophanous Kōmōdiai ennea = Aristophanis Comoediae novem. Venetiis: Apud Aldum, MIID Idibus Quintillis [1498] This is the editio princeps, or first printed edition, of the Greek text of Aristophanes’ comedies. The work includes nine comedies, but not Lysistrata and Thesmophoriazusae, the texts of which were yet to be discovered.  It was printed in 1498 by […]

Unidentified Crest of a Blue Greyhound in an Incunable (Incunabula Q. 871 A59c.I 1483)

  St Augustine. De civitate Dei. Venice?: Antonio di Bartolommeo Miscomini, about 1476-1478. While cataloging an Italian edition of St Augustine’s De civitate Dei, I was pleasantly surprised to come across a beautiful illumination.  The table of contents makes up the first ten leaves of this volume, but the opening page of the text proper […]

Parfumeries & Robert de Montesquiou

  Musee retrospectif de la classe 90. Parfumeries (matieres premieres, materiel, procedes et produits) a l’exposition universelle internationale, a Paris. Rapport de M. le comte Robert de Montesquiou   [Retrospective Museum of Class 90. Perfumeries (raw materials, equipment, processes and products) at the universal, international exhibition, in Paris. Report by Count Robert de Montesquiou.] The […]

Julia Miller: Scaleboard Bindings and a Visit to RBML

On Wednesday, June 1, the Rare Book & Manuscript Library welcomed book-binding historian Julia Miller to the library.  Ms. Miller is the author of “Books Will Speak Plain: A Handbook For Identifying and Describing Historical Bindings” (The Legacy Press).  In the morning, we invited Ms. Miller to join catalogers, binders, and others interested in the […]

William Paul Schenk Papers: A New Acquisition Related to Carl Sandburg

The Rare Book Library is pleased to announce the acquisition of the William Paul Schenk Papers from his estate early in 2011. In addition to many of his own manuscripts, the William Schenk papers contain a treasure trove of articles, correspondence, and photographs concerning Carl Sandburg and his family. Schenk greatly admired the famous poet […]

The Thirty-seconde of March

Just came upon something interesting in the vault: A 1752 sermon entitled: The Thirty-seconde of March / On the dangers of calendar reform / and touching upon the false method of rectifying the seate of Easter. With godly warnings to the Parliament that seekes to deprive good Christians of eleven dayes of life.  A sermon. […]