Every so often here in the archives, we come across something that doesn’t seem to make sense. Sometimes this is because history surprises us, and sometimes it is because something isn’t quite right. This particular case is a little bit of both.
A little backstory: The Slotkin Collection
We are currently processing The Slotkin Collection, a selection of rare book leaves in our archival backlog. First, a bit of background about the origins of this collection. Stanley S. Slotkin (1905-1997) was a businessman with a chain of stores called Abbey Rents that specialized in party supply and medical equipment rentals. While this seems like an unlikely combination, apparently it was quite successful; Slotkin used his business to fund his interests as an amateur archaeologist and collector of rare books. He traveled extensively throughout the world, buying manuscripts and early print books almost exclusively on religious topics. However, he believed that the materials should be accessible to more people and was convinced that the best way to do this was to debind the books and redistribute the leaves, giving them to libraries or selling them individually to patrons at his stores. Each leaf was stapled on a large sheet of heavy paper that had a facsimile of the original book’s title page, its publication date, and a short description. In 1966, President Patrick A. Donahoe, S. J., accepted a set of 19 leaves for the university library. His correspondence with Slotkin has an inventory of the leaves and indicates that they were to be displayed in the library. The collection also has several leaves donated by the Jesuit West Province through archivist Brother Dan Peterson, S.J, and a new private donation from Dr. Joseph Rosenthal, which will be added next year.
We do not condone taking apart books to buy, sell or collect individual leaves! The practice of breaking books into individual leaves was not uncommon in the early to mid-20th century, but it is now seen as irresponsible and harmful to scholarship. Special Collections libraries likewise have a professional ethical duty to be responsible in their curation of their collections and as stewards of cultural heritage. Although there is a market for individual leaves, we try to be very careful about any new acquisitions and we do not knowingly participate in the destruction of rare books. While portfolios of leaves (like the Slotkin Collection) can be useful for teaching about manuscript or printing techniques and giving multiple examples of different types of texts at the same time, breaking books destroys the original object and its context. Once a leaf has been taken from its binding, it becomes very difficult to ascertain its provenance or use it for research. In fact, this is exactly what has happened with the Slotkin leaves. While the majority can be identified relatively easily from the facsimile of the title page, if it is an older, more complex or misidentified text, it becomes more difficult to catalog.
The Mystery Broadside & Leaf
The description on the broadside for this particular leaf is quite mysterious. While clearly Slotkin often had more enthusiasm than expertise about the books that he destroyed, there usually is more information than this!
First, I tried to identify work using the broadside, since it reproduces the title page of the original book and has the main bibliographical information that would be needed to catalog it. The broadside clearly identifies it as a Latin Pentateuch, a Greek word used by Christians for the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (i.e., the Torah). From the listed date and the composition of the various woodcuts, it appears to be an incunable (a printed book from before 1500). The main figure is dressed as a Jewish high priest in his vestments, a visual reference to Exodus 28:4, “And they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.” A reverse image search pulls up a stock image with the same woodcut (although from a different page), identifying the images as coming from a bible printed in Basel, Switzerland in 1498. Further investigations with the images of the priest, the angels and the new year suggest that it was likely a facsimile of the title page of the first volume of the Froben Bible, aka “The Poor Man’s Bible” because it was printed in octavo format (i.e. with the paper folded 8 times to make a page, so it is pocket-sized).
Turning to the leaf, however, it did not seem to be from the same book at all! The first puzzling part was the title Liber Quartus Carminum at the top of the page. While it should have been immediately obvious that it wasn’t the same book, I thought to myself, “maybe this is a weird way of labeling psalms that I haven’t seen before” and turned to the woodcut. Although it appears to be from a similarly early time period to the facsimile on the broadside, it has a very different style with a courtly looking young man in a tower with his books. A quick reverse image search pulled up the woodcut on a Wikipedia page with a good citation:
Mystery Solved: A page first illustrated edition of Horace’s Odes
In fact, Liber Quartus Carminum refers to Book 4 of Horace’s Odes, which I like to think that I would have realized sooner had the broadside not been a red herring! The leaf has ode XV in praise of Augustus Caesar. It is from the first illustrated printed edition of Horace from 1498 in Strasbourg by Johann Grüninge. Not only does it have the fabulous woodcuts, but the text also has interlinear notes and commentary.
The original book is quite rare (unfortunately made even more so by Slotkin!) and the image of Horace in his study featured on our leaf is one of its most beautiful woodcuts. While the damage has already been done to the original book, we are glad to have identified the leaf and be able to teach with it as a fine example of a Humanist classical text from the early years of the printing press in Europe.
Impressive sleuthing! Unraveling the Slotkin leaf mystery from a misleading broadside to the rare 1498 edition of Horace’s Odes is a testament to your meticulous research. Despite the unfortunate impact on preservation practices, your dedication to identification and teaching with these artifacts is commendable. A captivating tale that highlights the importance of responsible curation in preserving our cultural heritage.
Thank you Aditya!