Using Books

Marginalia can give us insights into the thoughts of well-known readers. Here, the poet John Milton (1606–1674), famous for Paradise Lost, has annotated a copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio (the first collection of his plays published in 1623). In one note Milton suggests that Romeo and Juliet be better titled Juliet and Romeo. Lecturer Jason Scott-Warren determined that this was John Milton’s handwriting after reading an article on the book and its ‘anonymous’ annotations.

Image: William Shakespeare, Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories & tragedies, London, printed by Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623, Free Library of Philadelphia (RBD EL SH15M 1623 (60))

King Henry VIII is also known to have annotated his books, and his distinctive manicules are recognisable on several extant items from his collection. Canadian scholar Micheline White discovered this manicule by Henry on a 1514 copy of Polyanthea.

Image: Dominicus Mirabellius, Polyanthea..., Savona, Simone Bevilacqua 1514, British Library, London (C.45.g.9. (f. 249r))

Henry’s manicules can also be found on important documents. The ‘Collectanea satis copiosa’ (The Sufficiently Abundant Collections) was the culmination of two years’ worth of work by a team of scholars and royal agents. The team was tasked with gathering evidence to support Henry’s justification for the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

Image: Papers relating to the Reformation, 1533-1536, c. 1530, British Library, London (Cotton MS Cleopatra E VI. (f. 29r))

This set of documents argues that, as Head of the Church of England, Henry has spiritual supremacy in England. The ‘Collectanea’ was presented to Henry in 1530, much to the king’s delight: his approving comments and manicules can be found all over it.

Image: Papers relating to the Reformation, 1533–1536, c. 1530, British Library, London (Cotton MS Cleopatra E VI (f. 29r))

This copy of A perfect narrative of the whole proceedings of the High court of iustice in the tryal of the King… had at least two previous owners before John Emmerson, as evident by their bookplates: Don. L. Nicholas and William Hamper.

Image: A perfect narrative of the whole proceedings of the High court of iustice in the tryal of the King in Westminster Hall, on Saturday the 20, and Monday the 22 of this instant January ...-[27] of ... January, London, printed for John Playford, and are to be sold at his shop in the Inner temple, 1649, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 134/21)

Not much is known about Don. L. Nicholas, but we do know a bit about William Hamper. Born in Birmingham in 1776, Hamper was a magistrate, poet, artist, antiquary and, according to his obituary, an ‘accurate facsimilist’. Indeed, the author of his obituary notes that Hamper’s ‘facsimiles of autographs, &c. are perfect in point of accuracy, and his tricking of ancient seals are remarkable … The copies he industriously made of rolls of accounts, charters, deeds, and pedigrees are as fair as print’.

Image: Bust of William Hamper in the Library of Birmingham

Emmerson’s copy of The Parliament of Ladies… carries the gold monogram of ‘WM’. Based on other extant books from this period also bearing this monogram, we can deduce that WM represents William Henry Miller (1789-1848).

Image: King Iames His Hospitall: Founded in the Charter-house, at the onely costs and charges, of Thomas Sutton, Esquire 1618, Fox Pointe Manor Library sale, Forum Auctions

Henry Miller was a wealthy parliamentarian and book collector. Born in Scotland in 1789, he sat in the House of Commons from 1830 to 1837.

Image: Sir George Hayter, The House of Commons, 1833, National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG 54)

Books from his library are now spread across the world. This copy of The teares or lamentacions of a sorrovvfull soule, 1614, was bound for Henry Miller and is now housed at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington.

Image: William Leighton, The teares or lamentacions of a sorrovvfull soule: Composed with musicall ayres and songs, both for voyces and diuers instruments..., London, printed by William Stansby, 1614, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington (STC 15434)

In this example, his monogram is part of an elaborate coat of arms.

Image: Alfonso Ferrabosco, Ayres, London, printed by T. Snodham, for Iohn Brovvne, and are to be sould at his shoppe in S. Dunstones Church-yard in Fleetstreet, 1609, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington (STC 10827)

After his death, many of Henry Miller’s books, including those now in the Folger Library, formed part of the Britwell Court Library, which was once said to have ‘rivalled or even surpassed the British Museum’. Libraries such as those of Henry Miller demonstrate how collections can transform and disperse to take on a new life.

Image: Sir Thomas More, The supplycacyon of soulys made by syr Thomas More knyght councellour to our souerayn lorde the Kynge and chauncellour of hys duchy of Lancaster. Agaynst the supplycacyon of beggars., William Rastell, 1529, Folger Shakespeare, Washington (STC 18092)

The practice of designing and affixing bookplates to indicate ownership can be dated as far back as the mid fifteenth century. This hand-coloured wood block bookplate, dated c. 1480, belonged to the German monk Hilprand (or Hildebrand) Brandenburg of Biberach. Over the course of his life, Brandenburg amassed an impressive library. He donated 450 of his books to the now dispersed Buxheim Library in Germany.

Image: Bookplate of Hilprant Brandenburg, German, c. 1480, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

This print may have been used as both a bookplate and trade card. Similar to business card, trade-cards were exchanged within social circles to drum up business. Not much is known about James Stephens as a trader; however, he was part of a jury that acquitted John Lilburne of treason in 1653.

Image: Anonymous artist, Bookplate or Trade-card, 1652, British Museum, London (2016,7047.1)

In this unique example, a portrait by Albrecht Dürer has been used to identify the book’s owner. The Latin inscription reads: ‘Likeness of Willibald Pirckheimer at age 53. The mind endures, all else is mortal.’ Willibald Pirckheimer (1470–1530) was a German Renaissance lawyer and author, and close friend of Dürer. This copy of Cicero’s De Natura Deorum from Pirckheimer’s library was sold to Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel (1585–1646) in 1636. Howard was a courtier during the reigns of King James I and King Charles I and a prominent art collector.

Image: Albrecht Dürer, bookplate (portrait of Willibald Pirckheimer), 1524, British Museum, London (1904,0206.153)

Through their designs, bookplates can offer a glimpse into the lives of the owners they represent and the customs of their times. In this interior setting, some of the books on the shelf are displayed with their fore-edge facing out – a common practice until the sixteenth century.

Image: Bookplate for the Reverend John Radcliffe, printed by Thomas Bewick, 1797, British Museum, London (Thomas Bewick)

Bookplates also offer a glimpse of the genre of literature favoured by book owners. Here, an open copy of Shakespeare’s first folio is the focal point of Thomas Jefferson McKee’s bookplate.

Image: Bookplate of Thomas Jefferson McKee, printed by E. D. F., c. 1895, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington (ART File B724 no.40 (size XS))

Shakespeare appears again in this bookplate of Marie Mautner (1886–1972), this time as a ghostly apparition. Mautner was an Austrian author and painter who studied under the photographer and engraver Ferdinand Schmutzer (1870–1928), who designed this bookplate.

Image: Ferdinand Schmutzer, bookplate of Marie Mautner, 1905, British Museum, London (1978,0121.357)

Bookplates for female readers grew in popularity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; however, during this time we can also trace the emergence of ‘couples’ bookplates. In this cosy interior, two figures, presumably representing Frank and Esther Samuel, sit in front of a fireplace. Above, books are stacked somewhat untidily on a shelf, suggesting that they have been flicked through.

Image: Horace Quick, design for a bookplate of Frank and Esther Samuel 1922, British Museum, London (1968,0220.3)

During the early modern period, the act of marking one’s book with one’s name had two practical outcomes: it indicated ownership and allowed the inscriber to practise their writing …

Image: The Discoverie of Guiana. 1596, University of Glasgow Library (Sp Coll Hunterian Cp.3.29.)

One Dorethe (Dorothy) Helbartun (Helbarton) and her scribe took this to the next level: as discovered by Professor Anthony Bale, this copy of the Brut chronicle – a medieval secular text – carries more than sixty annotations relating to Dorothy.

Image: Brut chronicle mid fifteenth century, Huntington Library, San Marino (mssHM 136 (f.294)

Examples include: ‘Be yt knowen to All men thys ys Dorethes boke’ and ‘thys ys Dore thy Helbartun boke’. The inscriptons, which date c. 1500–50, are written in varying styles, suggesting the author was experimenting with their penmanship. Dorothy cannot be credited with all the physical labour required to mark this book so many times – we know many annotations were done by her scribe as he states: ‘Thys ys mystrys dorethes boke’, referring to himself as ‘he that wyll here re corde thys ys my mystrys buke’.

Image: Brut chronicle mid fifteenth century, Huntington Library, San Marino (mssHM 136 (f.294)

The sketch of the dog in Emmerson’s book has companions across the globe. Here, several dogs have been drawn on a copy of Life of Our Lady, c. 1450–1500 in the University of Glasgow Library.

Image: John Lydgate, The book of the lyf of Our Lady., Westminster, enprynted by Wyllyam Caxton, c. 1450–1500, University of Glasgow Library (GB 247 MS Hunter 232 (U.3.5))

Similarly, these lovable mutts and their master live on a copy of Polycronicon, 1482, in the University of Liverpool Library. Could this be the work of a bored student or does it provide witness to a hunting scene?

Image: Ranulph Higden, Polycronicon , translated by John Trevisa. With the continuation 1357– 1460 by William Caxton, 1482, University of Liverpool Library (SPEC_Inc.CSJ.D03)

Book collectors used to prefer ‘clean’ copies of rare books – so much so that antiquarians would remove annotations and drawings from books before their sale using an acid wash. While some collectors still prefer that their books not be ‘defaced’, early doodles, such as this drawing by a child, are becoming increasingly of interest to both collectors and researchers.

Image: John Heywood, The play of the wether..., London, published by W. Middleton, 1544, Cambridge University Library (Sel.5.61)

Who knows what this monster…

Image: New Testament lectionary, manuscript, second half of the sixteenth or seventeenth century, Christ’s College, University of Cambridge (MS Rouse 253 (f. 92r))

…or these musicians could one day tell us.

Image: New Testament lectionary second half of the sixteenth or seventeenth century, Christ’s College, University of Cambridge (MS Rouse 253 (172v))

Cats across time and space have (and continue to) ‘modify’ our possessions. This twelfth century manuscript in the British Library bears the mark of a furry visitor.

Image: Gregory the Great, Symbolum fidei..., twelfth century, British Library, London (Royal MS 6 C X, f. 19v)

As does this twelfth-century manuscript Isidore of Seville’s Etymologiae, also in the British Library.

Image: Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae, twelfth century, British Library, London (Burney MS 326 (f. 104v))

But cats can’t take all the blame. Here a bird or chicken has added its mark to this Bible from 1537.

Image: The Byble... , translated by Thomas Matthew, 1537, University of Glasgow Library (Sp Coll Bk8-e.11)