Visible Traces: Rare Books and Special Collections from the National Library of China (review)

2002 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 300-302
Author(s):  
Priscilla C. Yu
Keyword(s):  
National Library ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Rare Books ◽  
National Library Of China

Transmission of Renaissance herbal images to China: the Beitang copy of Mattioli’s commentaries on Dioscorides and its annotations

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-253
Author(s):  
Wu Huiyi ◽  
Zheng Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Natural History ◽  
National Library ◽  
Materia Medica ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Northern Chinese ◽  
Jesuit Missionaries ◽  
Animal Names ◽  
National Library Of China ◽  
Made In

The Beitang Collection, heritage of a seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Jesuit library in Beijing now housed in the National Library of China, contains an incomplete copy of Pietro Andrea Mattioli’s commentary on an Italian edition of Pedanius Dioscorides's De materia medica (1568) bearing extensive annotations in Chinese. Two hundred odd plant and animal names in a northern Chinese patois were recorded alongside illustrations, creating a rare record of seventeenth-century Chinese folk knowledge and of Sino-Western interaction in the field of natural history. Based on close analysis of the annotations and other contemporary sources, we argue that the annotations were probably made in Beijing by one or more Chinese low-level literati and Jesuit missionaries during the first two decades of the seventeenth century. We also conclude that the annotations were most likely directed at a Chinese audience, to whom the Jesuits intended to illustrate European craftsmanship using Mattioli’s images. This document probably constitutes the earliest known evidence of Jesuits' attempts at transmitting the art of European natural history drawings to China.

scholarly journals James Moses. Trends in Rare Books and Documents Special Collections Management. 2013 Edition. New York: Primary Research Group, 2013. 64p. $75 (ISBN 978-1-57440-226-1).

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-80
Author(s):  
Amy Chen
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Ohio State University ◽  
State University ◽  
Collections Management ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Rare Books ◽  
The Ohio State University ◽  
The University

Trends in Rare Books and Documents Special Collections Management, 2013 edition by James Moses surveys seven special collection institutions on their current efforts to expand, secure, promote, and digitize their holdings. The contents of each profile are generated by transcribed interviews, which are summarized and presented as a case study chapter. Seven special collections are discussed, including the Boston Public Library; AbeBooks; the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Washington University of St. Louis; the Archives and Rare Books Library, University of Cincinnati; the Rare Books and Manuscript Library at The Ohio State University; and the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare . . .

scholarly journals Mapping the networks of ownership and distribution of rare books in Special Collections at the University of Auckland General Library

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jo Birks
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Historical Case Study ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Provenance Research ◽  
Rare Books ◽  
Book Collectors ◽  
The University ◽  
Purposive Sample

<p>The extent and research potential of provenance evidence in rare books in Special Collections at the University of Auckland General Library is largely uncharted territory. This project helps fill that gap by examining the provenance evidence, such as inscriptions, bookplates and stamps, in some of those rare books to identify any networks or patterns in their ownership history and distribution. A purposive sample of 291 pre-1851 volumes on New Zealand and Pacific-related travel and exploration was examined for provenance evidence within a qualitative framework and an historical case study design. Taking a subset of those books, which were bequeathed to the Library by Alfred Kidd (1851-1917), the project then examined other works from his bequest to further explore the scope of provenance evidence.  The project demonstrated the value of treating books as artefacts, exposing a wealth of provenance evidence and providing snapshots of the ownership and distribution histories of some volumes. Overall, 71 percent of the sample contained evidence for identifiable agents: 88 former owners, 14 booksellers, one auction house and nine book binders. The project also discussed lesser-known New Zealand book collectors who merit further study, including Alfred Kidd, Sir George Fowlds, Arthur Chappell and Allan North. Further provenance research into this collection and the provenance-related cataloguing practices in New Zealand libraries would generate additional useful insights.</p>

Le carte di Princeton del vicerč Eugenio: una fonte documentaria quasi dimenticata per la storia militare del Regno d'Italia (1805-1814)

2012 ◽  
pp. 769-795
Author(s):  
Silvia Bobbi
Keyword(s):  
New Jersey ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Rare Books

Il presente articolo intende rappresentare un contributo alla conoscenza della fonte documentaria conservata presso la Manuscripts Division del Department of Rare Books and Special Collections della Firestone Library dell'UniversitÀ di Princeton, nel New Jersey, nota come Beauharnais Collection. Essa raccoglie le carte di governo e private, che il principe Eugčne Beauharnais (1781-1824), viceré d'Italia e comandante in capo dell'esercito italico, portň con sé in esilio in Baviera alla caduta del Regno, nel 1814. Essa concerne soprattutto la storia militare del napoleonico Regno d'Italia, ed č stata sin qui assai poco consultata e utilizzata, in generale e dagli specialisti della materia, in particolare europei. Se ne evidenziano in dettaglio, con una serie di esempi direttamente frutto della sua consultazione, le peculiaritÀ e potenzialitÀ. Consente di valutare quali materie di governo avessero la prioritÀ dal punto di vista del vertice dell'esecutivo, assumendo la sua stessa lente focale di analisi della realtÀ; puň contribuire alla ricostruzione o rilettura di importanti questioni storiografiche, soprattutto se messa confronto con la documentazione conservata a Milano ed in Europa, di cui rappresenta un'indispensabile integrazione.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document