Ruth-Ellen St. Onge was busy preparing for an upcoming exhibition that will exhibit a variety of texts published by the renowned press press when he saw something in the library catalog records of the McMaster University that had it “crazy”.
“I saw this note in something called a universal brief title catalog that said ‘Lost Book’, and my heart began to beat very fast,” St. Onge told CBC Hamilton.
“I thought, oh, what is happening here?”
St. ONGE – Library for Cataloging of Distinctive Collections of the Libraries of the McMaster University – discovered a rare book entitled Officium Beatae Mariae Virginisthat translates into The Book of Hours of the Virgin MaryPosted by Plantin Press in 1596.
The small prayer book, which the public can see in early May, was written in Latin and sold throughout Europe, typically bought by devout Catholics or members of religious orders. Known as a “book of hours” for its structured sentences designated for specific moments of the day, these volumes were often used daily, which makes their survival for centuries quite rare, according to the university.
St. Onge said the term ‘lost book’ indicates that academics knew for the financial records that these books were printed, but it was not known that there were copies.
After reviewing his double work, St. Onge said he shared the news with his boss and with the colleague Myron Groover, files and librarians of rare books, with whom he is co-clarifying the exhibition of Plantin Press.
“It is very exciting for McMaster and I think for academics in general, because not only there are no surviving copies of this specific edition of THE HOUR BOOKMost of the small format books produced by Plantin’s press do not survive, so there is only one handful, “said St. Onge.
“So, it is really significant that we have this book in McMaster.”
St. Onge said he also sent an email, which included some photos of the book, to the Plantin Press Museum in Belgium.
“The curator there, whose name is Zanna Van Loon, replied and said they were very excited to listen to this news.”
“Actually, I had planned to go there this summer to investigate a little about another book, so I will investigate both books and meet the curator there to speak in person. So, that is also very exciting.”
The University acquired the book in 1965
St. Onge said the book had been at McMaster University since 1965.
Its previous owner was Aldo Caselli, an Italian professor who moved to the United States during World War II.
“He had a collection of around 100 books from the Italian Renaissance and McMaster acquired that collection of him in 1965,” said St. Onge.
“We are not sure where this book acquired, and because this book was not really Italian, it was published in Antwerp in Latin, it is a bit unusual in that collection.”
Book ‘In quite good way’
According to St. Onge, the book has 645 pages, it is printed on red and black ink, it is “quite resistant” and “very small.”
“It has about seven centimeters high and is a small quite small and thick book. It fits my hand palm,” he said.
“The binding is probably not original. The binding it would say is probably from the end of the 18th century and the book is very well protected, so we can look at it carefully and not worry too much about falling apart.
“Therefore, it has been well taken care of in its life, and since 1965 it has been in McMaster, where we have had temperature and humidity control and safe facilities during most of that time, so it is in a quite good way, considering how many years you are,” he added.
Women involved in book production
Another reason why this book is really fascinating, said St. Onge, is that women were involved in production.
They include the daughter of Plantain’s founder in Plantain Christophe Plantin, Martina, as well as her widow Jeanne Rivière.
“The name of Jeanne Rivière … appeared in the books of Plantin Press printed between 1589 and his death in 1596, since it was still involved in the family business,” said St. Onge.
There is a name that does not appear in the book, but I think it is important to mention. That is the woman’s printer, Lynken van Lankvelt. She was used by [Plantin Press] From 1594 to 1600 to print copper engraving illustrations for books. These illustrations had to be printed separately from the text, in a rolling press. Lynken’s mother, Mynken Liefrinck, was also a printer who worked for Christophe Plantin. “
“We knew we had it … we just didn’t realize the importance”
St. Onge said that despite having been listed as lost, it was known that McMaster had the book, although its importance did not emphasize catalog descriptions. This is because the book was acquired by McMaster before the publication of the first major Bibliography of Plantin Press.
“We knew we had it, someone cataloged it when it was acquired. We simply did not realize the importance of the book so far due to all these new resources available to us,” said St. Onge.
“It was lost in the sense that Plantin’s academics and bibliographers had never seen a copy and has not been described before. It is as if it reduced it.”
Of almost 75,000 copies printed by Plantin Press between 1589 and 1610, only 81 surviving copies have been identified, with McMaster’s the only known surviving copy printed in this size and format with illustrations recorded in copper.
According to St. Onge, many of these books did not survive, due to a combination of their small size, extensive daily use and the ways in which religious practice changed over time.
‘The news of the discovery is appropriate’
Chancellor of the Roman Catholic diocese of Hamilton, Mons. Murray Kroetsch, said the book provides a good idea of how Christians, especially the members of the religious institutes prayed every day at the end of the 16th and early seventeenth century and an important primary source for liturgical academics studying the public prayer of the Church.
“The news of the discovery is timely since the Christian world enters the most sacred week of the year and will meet publicly to celebrate one of the most central mysteries of our faith,” Kroetsch wrote in an email to CBC Hamilton.
“[It’s] A good reminder that when praying today, we are participating in a deeply entrenched tradition of public prayer and devotion. “
Wade Wyckoff, a librarian of the university associated in the libraries of the McMaster University, said that discovering the importance of the book highlights the importance of archives and research collections.
“The hidden special collections project is demonstrating to be tremendously valuable,” said Wyckoff.
“We are cataloging hundreds of articles in our collection for the first time through this work and, however exciting it is to open these new resources for its use, we are also making significant discoveries about our collections when reviewing previously cataloged materials.
“This project, together with the work done by others in the department, emphasizes the importance of preserving, describing and returning to these rare and unique resources,” Wyckoff added.
Meanwhile, St. Onge said the book will be included in the next exhibition in the Library Archives of the University of McMaster from the beginning of May.
“So [people] I could look at him in person, he will be behind a glass box, “he said.
“There will be [also] Be an online version of that exhibition, so if you can’t come to McMaster in person, you can see the online version. “
St. Onge said he is working on the update of catalog records to reflect the meaning of the book, and also plans to write a short article in an academic magazine to inform others about the existence of the book.
