Hidden Treasures Revealed
Throughout the course of the Quick & Clean Project, our catalogers have rediscovered a number of especially fascinating and valuable books. A few of these "hidden treasures," culled from the thousands already cataloged, are featured below.
Recently, two of our catalogers curated an exhibit dedicated entirely to books with particularly notable provenance, all of them revealed during the daily workflow of the Quick & Clean Project. A copy of In Manibus Litteratorum , the exhibition catalog that tells the stories of these remarkable copies, is available for free in electronic format along with PDF copies of other past exhibitions.
The book that launched Doughty’s Travels in Arabia Deserta?
The Alcoran of Mahomet translated from the Arabique into French; by the Sieur Du Ryer, lord of
Malezair, and resident for the King of France, at Alexandria. And newly Englished, for the
satisfaction of all that desire to look into the Turkish vanities.
London, printed anno Dom. 1649.
A copy of the Koran with an interesting provenance from the Baldwin collection of The Rare Book & Manuscript Library has recently been cataloged. In 1649, the first English translation of the Koran was printed in London; a translation by Alexander Ross of Andre du Ryer’s French translation of 1647. The library’s copy of this work contains the ownership inscription of Frederic Goodwin Doughty on the front paste-down. Frederic Goodwin Doughty was the uncle of Charles Montagu Doughty (1843-1926), the English explorer and travel writer who published the famous account of his exploration of the Arabian Desert, Travels in Arabia Deserta in 1888. Orphaned at age six, Doughty was sent to live with his uncle Frederic. This very copy of the Koran would have been on the shelves of Frederic’s library at the time. Could Charles Doughty have read this very translation of the Koran in his uncle’s library and been inspired to travel to the Middle East? It is exciting to think that our library copy may have been the catalyst for one of the most important works of travel writing of the nineteenth century.
The Koran can be found in The Rare Book & Manuscript Library under the call number Baldwin 5236.
Shakespeare’s Third Folio
Mr. William Shakespear's comedies, histories, and tragedies, published according to the true
original copies.
London : Printed for P.C., 1664.
While Shakespeare Folios are not particularly uncommon, they are seldom rediscovered among institutional collections. While going through the uncatalogued collection here at The Rare Book & Manuscript Library, however, we were a little surprised to happen upon an overlooked Third Folio. This particular copy was likely missed because it has been rebound in four volumes—not in a single volume, as is typically the case. Each volume is interleaved, while the first volume contains transcriptions in an 18th-century hand of title-pages from various editions of Shakespeare, including the First, Second, and Fourth Folios. A note laid in suggests that this rather strange arrangement served as an aid in preparation for a new edition of Shakespeare. This unusual set really is a spectacular example of the rare and curious books that resurface everyday.
This particular copy of the Third Folio can be found in The Rare Book & Manuscript Library under the call number IUQ02208.
