Harold B. Lee Library

Archive for the “History of Printing and Fine Press” Category

• Journals on the art and history of printing
  Posted December 27, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  Special Collections owns a number of important periodicals about the art and history of printing, particularly publications produced through fine printing methods.  A sampling of titles in Special Collections includes Stanley Morison’s “The Fleuron” (1923-1930), The Fine Press Book Association’s periodical, “Parenthesis” (1998-present), and one of our new acquisitions, a complete run of  “Alphabet and [...]

• Miniature Bibles
  Posted December 1, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  What’s the smallest Bible at BYU? Well, it might be a microform version which is about 5 cm square. Over 1200 pages of text are reproduced on a single slide. But if you’re looking for a tiny Bible which might actually be legible without mechanical intervention, Special Collections has several miniature books which contain the [...]

• Polyglot Bibles
  Posted November 8, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  This week’s post highlights a different type of Bible found in Special Collections: the polyglot.  Polyglots present the text of the Bible in multiple languages, side-by-side on the page, in order to facilitate study and scholarship. Special Collections’ earliest example of a polyglot Bible is the “Genoa Psalter” of 1516.  This polyglot presents the text [...]

• Fine Press Editions of the King James Bible
  Posted October 21, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  As a monument of English culture, religion, and literature, the Bible has been a source of inspiration for book artists, typographers, illustrators, and book designers. Because of its size and the varied types of material in the Bible, it also presents artistic and technical challenges in printing and illustrating. Along with early editions of the [...]

• Manuscript Bibles in Special Collections
  Posted September 21, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  This manuscript Bible, a 13th century Old Testament in Latin, is currently on display in the Library’s exhibit “The Life and Legacy of the King James Bible: Celebrating 400 Years.”  Special Collections owns several other manuscripts which contain the text of the Latin Bible, including an illuminated Old Testament created in 15th century France and [...]

• The Bible Moralisée
  Posted September 6, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  The term “Bible moralisée” (moralized Bible) has been given to a lavish type of picture Bible which was popular during the thirteenth century in Western Europe.  Several illuminated manuscript moralized Bibles have survived to the present, and Special Collections possesses facsimiles of a number of these manuscripts. Moralized Bibles do not contain the full text [...]

• Celebrating the King James Bible
  Posted August 15, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  Special Collections is proud to announce the opening of its newest major exhibit, “The Life and Legacy of the King James Bible,” which celebrates the 400th anniversary of the printing of this monumental work.  The exhibit, located in Special Collections’ first floor gallery, is open during Special Collections’ operating hours.  The library has also created [...]

• Mesoamerican manuscripts
  Posted July 21, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  Several posts on this blog have featured the facsimiles of unique medieval European manuscripts held by L. Tom Perry Special Collections.  Special Collections also owns facsimiles of important non-Western manuscripts, including surviving Mesoamerican codices.  The Mayans and Aztecs created manuscript books on paper made from the bark of fig trees, which was fashioned into long [...]

• Printed by B. Franklin
  Posted May 18, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  One of the newest acquisitions for the History of Printing Collection is this example from the press of Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia.  The work is a 1758 pamphlet entitled A Mite into the Treasury by Society of Friends (Quaker) minister David Hall.  Hall ran a school in Yorkshire, England, and was the author of many [...]

• HBLL digitizes a medieval manuscript
  Posted May 3, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  L. Tom Perry Special Collections holds around two dozen medieval manuscripts (or manuscript fragments).  Recently, the library digitized one of these treasures: an English manuscript dating from 1343 entitled Regimen Animarum.  The manuscript was written for the Archbishopric of Canterbury.  The text is in Latin and is a religious manual for ecclesiastical officials, covering preaching, [...]

• A Gutenberg Bible for the Reading Room
  Posted April 20, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  A recent donation of a Gutenberg Bible facsimile now graces Special Collections’ reading room.  The facsimile is bound in two volumes in a German medieval-style reproduction binding.  Here is a detail of some of the illuminations in the facsimile: Patrons wishing to consult the facsimile must abide by Special Collections’ reading room policies.  It can [...]

• Works of the Aldine Press on display now
  Posted April 8, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  This month, Special Collections is displaying a number of books from its collection of works of the Aldine Press.  Founded by Renaissance scholar Aldus Manutius (or Aldo Manuzio) in Venice, the Aldine Press is still renowned today  for its attractive typography, excellent book design, and its historical contributions to the scholarship of the late 15th [...]

• New acquisition: Codex Sinaiticus facsimile
  Posted March 25, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  One of Special Collections’ most recent acquisitions is a copy of the new facsimile of the Codex Sinaiticus issued by the British Library. The Codex Sinaiticus is a very important Greek manuscript dating from the 4th century. It is one of the two oldest manuscripts of the Bible in existence, and the oldest copy of [...]

• Seven centuries of fables
  Posted October 26, 2010 by Maggie Kopp

  Now on display in Special Collections’ lobby is an assortment of printed versions of Aesop’s fables, from the 1400’s to the 2000′s.  The books include Greek scholarly texts, verse translations, and adaptations for children.  The majority are illustrated and range in style from crude woodcuts to detailed engravings and linocuts.  Represented illustrators include John Ogilby, [...]

• Early printed textbooks
  Posted September 22, 2010 by Maggie Kopp

  The most-printed titles of the early printed book market have little in common with today’s bestseller list.  Renaissance printers supplied a huge demand for theological books, including the works of the early Christian fathers and devotional works like books of hours or The Imitation of Christ.  Textbooks were also a best-selling genre in the late [...]