Histriomastix: The Player’s Scourge (1633) This ponderous work by Puritan author William Prynne is essentially an extended argument against the perceived sins of the theater. For over 1,000 pages, the work viciously rails against the immorality of acting, dancing, and other such pursuits. A handwritten note in the front of our copy quotes Prynne’s infamous …
Cookbooks, we have found, are among the most heavily annotated modern books. Previous owners often modified recipes, made comments on their favorite (or least favorite) entries, or left food stains behind – sure signs of (repeated) use!Notes in cookbooks are often very personal, revealing a great deal about the tastes of the former owner – but …
Nineteenth century text messaging:Two pupils use a blank leaf in their Latin textbook to pass notes about school, girls. The messages are dated Oct. 22, 1877, and offer some insight into the concerns of students nearly 140 years ago (note: they were much the same as they are today). A: What do you think …
Florentine Chronicle (1537) Born in the late 13th century in Florence, Giovanni Villani was a notable Italian statesman and diplomat, remembered today for recording the history of Florence in his Nuova Cronica, or New Chronicles. Our 16th century reprint of Villani’s Florentine chronicle features contemporary marginal annotations on nearly every page, marking important lines and …
When I read the book, the biography famous, And is this then (said I) what the author calls a man’s life? And so will some one when I am dead and gone write my life? (As if any man really knew aught of my life, Why even I myself I often think know little or nothing …
Here’s a name that should be familiar to American history buffs and Michigan residents alike: Henry Dearborn, Revolutionary War Colonel, U.S. Secretary of War under Thomas Jefferson, Major General during the War of 1812, and the namesake of Dearborn, Michigan (the hometown of Henry Ford). In the summer of 1779, at the height of the …
Happy belated New Year to our readers! This week we’re going to look at one of the most heavily annotated books we’ve come across so far during the course of the Provenance Project here at MSU Special Collections: a collection of poems by 17th century English Poet Laureate John Dryden. This 1688 anthology, entitled Dryden’s Poems, …