Rare Book Monthly

Articles - November - 2016 Issue

Old Books / New Editions. Part II.

Welcome to this second installment in my three-part essay series on new editions of 17th-century women writers. This second essay discusses Alice Eardley's edition (2014) of an unusual, uncanonical literary manuscript attributed to Lady Hester Pulter of Broadfield Hall, Hertfordshire. The Pulter manuscript is a bound book (8" x 5") of 168 inscribed folios ~ poetry, "emblemes" (emblem poems), and an unfinished prose narrative on sexual violence. The book was acquired by Leeds University Library in 1975 at Christie's sale of the property of Sir Gilbert Inglefield, architect and Lord Mayor of London (1967-1968). But due to a cataloguing error, the book languished, unused and unappreciated, for two decades; it was saved from obscurity by an alert scholar in 1996. Since its recent discovery, Pulter's book has excited much attention from book historians and literary specialists. Calling herself "the nobel Hadassas" (Hebrew, "Esther"; variant, "Hester"), Pulter writes in a domestic vein as a mother of fifteen children; she also writes as an ardent Stuart royalist. But the best of her work exists in a wholly different dimension, as when she explores the astral plane of comets, planets, and (yes) extraterrestrials ("Mee thinks I play at football withe the stars"). It was this thrilling attachment to other worlds and meta-realities (the New Astronomy) which evidently saved Hester Pulter from debilitating depression. This essay will also discuss Eardley's editorial methodology and challenges as she transferred a dedicated body of writings from the manuscript medium into quite another: print. A Gallery of Images is included. Displayed here, alongside the top board of Pulter's book, is a contemporary woodcut of the curious Su creature of Patagonia, praised in Pulter's ["Poem 57"]. < Click here for essay. >  


Posted On: 2016-11-08 16:14
User Name: alice185

Many thanks for this essay; it's both moving and incisive. Moving, in its account of a woman who imagined playing at football with the stars while burying thirteen of her fifteen children, and incisive in its thoughts on the editorial challenges of work with this text and on possible avenues for further research on Pulter. Mulvihill's thoughts on editorial method are broadly applicable, and could provide guidance for work on many kinds of text. And, as always, a fine selection of well-annotated images. This is a fascinating series.


Posted On: 2016-11-08 18:07
User Name: mairin111

Posting for Seth Sherman, Collector.
Los Angeles, CA. / Tel Aviv, Israel.
__

Hello, everyone, and thanks for posting this (am traveling, out of patience with Sign-ins).
So this is an immersive treatment of the Hester Pulter subject (an ordinary woman with extraordinary gifts); and I really like the exquisite information on the physical properties of her 17th-c. book in Leeds UK. Maureen, thank you very much for all the care -- you went the distance. And the artistic design, the taste & aesthetics of the piece, are impressive. The images + your notes on each one -- wonderful. The section on scholarly editing (the steps) blew me away; talk about concision! The whole approach in this piece is fair & balanced, not overly critical or severe; the short-list of negatives is gently managed & useful. This series has inspired me to create a dedicated section on Women Writers in my bookstore, opening in Tel Aviv, Spring 2017, if the financials work out. So big thanks here to Mr McKinney, Rare Book Hub, and to M. Mulvehill for all they're giving us. Be well, my friends, Seth Sherman, L.A. / Tel Aviv. 8th Nov 2016.
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Posted On: 2016-11-10 19:17
User Name: mairin111

Posting for Rachel Weisberg,
Via Skype, Berkeley, CA. 10th November 2016.
___
Thanks, Rare Book Hub, for putting up my words here. Am not a member of this community, but Seth Sherman in L.A., who posted, below, mentioned this piece to me. Maureen, thanks for this essay (amazing to me!). It is quite specialized, out of my field entirely, but I admire all that you did, especially the information on that 17thCentury rare book in Leeds, England, and all the (dazzling) images. The birthing chamber image gave me new ideas, new directions for a project i'm working on. And those 2 emblems you included (the unicorn and that adorable Su critter) -- how enchanting. An inspired piece of work! Grateful to know about this Guest Series, hope to see more treatments like this from your Princeton and Rare Book Hub colleagues. All the best, R. Weisberg, Berkeley, 10 November 2016.
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Posted On: 2016-11-15 15:38
User Name: mairin111

Posting for Dr Lorna Clark
Editor, The Burney Letter (The Frances Burney Society)
Carleton University, Ottawa
< https://carleton.ca/english/people/clark-lorna/ >
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This is an excellent Guest Series. Part II, “The Book of Hester: Editing an Uncanonical Text”, gives a useful introduction to Alice Eardley’s edition of Pulter (2014), a modernized print edition of Pulter’s writings, consisting of some 120 poems and an unfinished prose narrative. Preserved in a bound book of manuscripts that was recently acquired by Leeds University Library, they were “rediscovered” in 1996. Dr Mulvihill gives the background to the edition and a fascinating summary of Pulter’s life. Her section on 'Editing an Uncanonical Literary Manuscript' would be useful as a stand-alone short guide to the entire process of editing. An evaluation of the strengths and omissions of the edition is deftly done. “A Gallery of images” enriches the essay and makes some of the main points more vividly. We look forward to reading more essays in this Guest Series and we stand to learn much from them. Submitted to Rare Book Hub by Dr Lorna Clark, 15th November 2016. (Thank you for posting.)
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Rare Book Monthly

  • DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
  • Freeman’s | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.
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