sponsorship catalogue
INTRODUCTION Lincoln Unlocked is an academic and research centre which has been established to support and encourage the study of historic collections. Its aim is to foster interdisciplinary research on private and institutional collections, by drawing on Lincoln’s own resources and expertise. The College has an impressive collection of books and archive materials, which date back to its foundation in 1427. Within its comparatively untouched original buildings, the College holds an unusually complete run of administrative records from the time of its foundation onwards; the manuscript collections, now hosted in the Bodleian Library, include donations from the first founder and his nephew which made Lincoln’s Library pre-eminent amongst Oxford Colleges of the time; its Senior Library is home to unique collections, including incunabula and early printed books; while other interesting materials include a small but first-rate collection of historic silver. These resources are ripe for interdisciplinary study and for use as a teaching model for similar enterprises both in the UK and internationally. For one night only selected items from the collections made accessible by Lincoln Unlocked will be on display during a Black Tie event held in the Lincoln Library. The auction offers an opportunity to sponsor a range of projects, including digitising the Lincoln Records, conserving manuscripts, incunabula and early printed books, and contributing to our acquisitions. We hope you will consider making a gift towards one or several of the items listed in this catalogue and that you will be able to join us for the Black Tie event on 30 March.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING THE CATALOGUE l T he
items in this catalogue will be on display during the auction event on Saturday 30 March.
l E ach
item will have a ‘champion’ in attendance who will talk about the item and will be able to answer any questions you may have. These items are usually held in the Archives or Senior Library so it will be a unique opportunity to see them.
l O nce
you have chosen an item please tell its ‘champion’ the amount for which you would like to sponsor it and take the card you are given to the payment desk. You are welcome to sponsor several items and pay for them at the end of the night. The minimum individual contribution is £50 so you do not have to sponsor the whole amount for any item, although you may do so if you wish.
l P ayments
can be made by cash, credit or cheque (made payable to Lincoln College Development Fund).
l D onations
can be made on the day or in advance. Please contact jane.mitchell@lincoln.ox.ac.uk if you would like to sponsor an item ahead of the event.
contents . 1
CONTENTS 12th-century Greek Gospels given by George Wheler
2
Learning from a damaged book
4
Fragile artistry: history on glass
5
A unique collection
6
Materials for cataloguing and exhibitions
7
College history in print
7
Two Hebrew scrolls
8
John Wesley’s legacy at Lincoln
10
A rare 15th-century book in its original binding
11
12th-century English manuscript owned by Richard Fleming
12
An early 15th-century English collection of sermons
14
Painting conservation: Rectors of Lincoln College
16
Cataloguing Senior Library collections
18
Acquisitions
21
2 . Lincoln Unlocked – sponsorship catalogue
12th-century Greek Gospels given by George Wheler Lincoln College MS Gr. 17. Four Gospels. Late 12th-century. MS on vellum with illuminated canon tables and headpieces for each Gospel. In an early Greek-style binding. The clergyman, traveller, amateur botanist and Lincoln alumnus George Wheler (1651-1724) gave this manuscript to Lincoln in 1698. Wheler had bought the manuscript in Zakynthos in 1676 while he was travelling in Greece and the Levant, a journey recounted in his A Journey into Greece (1682). Wheler also gave Lincoln a copy of this account in which he personally corrected some of the numerous errors that had crept into the printed text. This late 12thC Gospel book is in a 15thC Greek/Byzantine binding with wooden boards covered in red silk velvet. This manuscript has had several repairs, including a reback with tanned leather incorporating marble paper strips, paper flyleaves, possibly carried out in the 18thC. This volume has illuminated canon tables, and purplestained parchment used selectively throughout. It is in a rather poor state but is still in a condition to be admired as a rare and important object. It can still be consulted, but the damaged tail endband requires stabilisation. The Byzantine-style endband is a key element of the binding, as it adds strength and supports the opening of the book, particularly important in the case of a thick
text-block. Within this tradition, there is a large variation of endband styles and decorative patterns. Lincoln Gr. 17 preserves at the head, a very good example of a Byzantine endband with a decorative pattern in twined blue and white silk thread. At the tail, however, the primary tiedowns of the endband have broken and the secondary blue and white twined decoration is largely lost. The endband is still attached to the lower/right board, but has become detached from the upper/right board, and is free and very vulnerable to damage or loss. Conservation treatment would aim to reattach and stabilise the tail endband, and rehouse this wonderful and unique binding in an acid-free tailor-made dropspine box which would support it, and preserve it for the future. An additional aim would be to examine the illuminated canon tables and headpieces to check the stability of pigments. Treatment to secure the endband: £1,250 Custom-made box: £500 Checking the pigments under magnification: £750
12th-century greek gospels . 3
4 . Lincoln Unlocked – sponsorship catalogue
Learning from a damaged book Julius Caesar, Rerum a se gestarum Commentarii (Lyons, 1570) This small, well-used and extremely fragile book came to Lincoln as part of the bequest of William Vesey, a Fellow of the College for over 50 years who died in 1755. The original binding of blind-tooled calf over boards made up of printed sheets pasted together is now so badly disintegrated that the book is too fragile to be handled. Yet it is precisely this disintegration, where the structure of the binding is laid bare, that makes the book such an interesting object of study for anyone interested in the history of books and their bindings.
Working closely with conservators, we are proposing to provide a display case for the book that enables students to study the binding structure without further damage to the book. The conservators have designed an ingenious tray and lid box with five Plastazote inserts so that the printed text, separated back board and leather cover can be laid out, visible from several angles while supported in a case that will protect them from further damage. Custom-made box and inserts: ÂŁ150 Conservation treatment: ÂŁ800
fragile artistry: history on glass . 5
Above: Lincoln College frontage along Turl Street
Above right: View of College property at Standlake
Right: Tower of St. Michael at the North Gate
Below: Iffley Mill on the River Thames
Fragile artistry: history on glass Glass Plate Negatives series: Arnold Fairbairns for Lincoln College, 1907. Arnold Fairbairns (1881-1918, matriculated 1901) was a gifted photographer. His evocative images of Lincoln College and College estates were used in his friend Stephen A. Warner’s work Lincoln College Oxford, (published in London by Sidgwick & Jackson in 1908).
myriad of research topics and to inform work on the fabric of the College. Because of the fragile nature of the glass plates, digitisation offers an opportunity to access these amazing images. Hosting on Digital.Bodleian would allow high-quality image viewing from anywhere in the world.
These give an unrivalled sense of the College and its estates at the turn of the 20th-century and are invaluable for a
Digitisation: £672 Hosting on Digital.Bodleian for one year: £570
6 . Lincoln Unlocked – sponsorship catalogue
A unique collection The Edward Thomas papers 1895-1989 Philip Edward Thomas was an undergraduate student at Lincoln College, taking a 2nd class degree in modern history in 1900. His daughter Myfanwy Thomas gave a collection of papers relating to her father to Lincoln in 1968 and 1989. These papers were catalogued at the time of deposit, but a resurgence of interest in Thomas and advances in cataloguing standards necessitate an investment in re-cataloguing. Highlights of the collection include Thomas’s famous poem Roads, written on the back of a letter to his wife
Above: Thomas’s annotated copy of Shelley. Right: Manuscript of Oxford
Helen, a manuscript copy of his work Oxford, and his annotated copy of The Lyrical Poems of Shelley. The manuscript Oxford requires conservation treatment to repair tears on the edges and folds of the manuscript. Cataloguing to international standards would allow descriptions to be hosted online for researchers to access this unique collection. Conservation: £735 Cataloguing: £2,916
college history in print . 7
Materials for cataloguing and exhibitions Our cataloguing projects can benefit from specialist equipment such as UV lights for reading manuscript annotations that have been erased or struck out and light sheets for viewing photographic negatives or watermarks in books. Exhibitions are an important part of the work we do to make our collections more accessible and equipment such as special supports and
identification help these to be as clear and attractive as possible. Hand-held UV light: £450 A4 flexible light sheets: £165 Acrylic display cradles: £13 each Acrylic display case signage: £40 each
College history in print The Lincoln College Record, 1897-present. The annual report of the College to its Old Members was first published in 1897, stating, “The compilation of these pages is an attempted answer to suggestions which have been often made, that old Lincolnians would like to possess a short record of all those who have taken their degree at the College and have kept their names on its books. Old acquaintances would thus be in closer touch with one another…”
Still in publication, the back copies contain a wealth of information about the College, and chronicle the changes in its fabric, its members and its intellectual ethos over time. The Oxford Conservation Consortium would ensure the Records are in good condition for future use. Digitising the pre-2010 collection and hosting it on Digital.Bodleian would open this treasure trove up for the use of those interested from anywhere in the world. Cost to sponsor a matriculation year: £100
8 . Lincoln Unlocked – sponsorship catalogue
Two Hebrew scrolls Lincoln College MS Hebrew 1 Roll of the Pentateuch. This parchment scroll dates to, we think, the 19th-century and is on two ornately turned ivory rollers. The scroll is contained in a brocaded textile cover, with figured panels woven with silver thread alternating with red velvet panels. The cover is fringed with silver metalwrapped thread, and has a red silk lining. The scroll is in good condition, although the rollers show some damage. The textile covering is in fair condition, although it appears darkened and tarnished, and some of the woven metal threads are broken. There are two holes at the top of the cover through which the ends of
the rollers protrude, but these appear frayed and it is difficult to extract the rollers. This item requires conservation of the textile covering, to include stabilisation of any broken or lifting elements of metal-wrapped thread. It also requires a custommade box which protects both scroll and textile cover. Conservation work: ÂŁ2,800 Custom-made box: ÂŁ600
two hebrew scrolls . 9
Lincoln College MS Hebrew 2 Roll of Esther This roll dates to, we think, the 19th-century and contains the Book of Esther. It is a parchment roll on a single turned wooden roller. The leading edge of the roll has been beautifully shaped, and has four ornate woven ties of brightly coloured striped silk to tie the roll. These ties were originally knotted together in pairs, and attached to the edge of the roll by hand-worked loops of green silk. One pair of decorative silk ties is in very poor condition, one of the green silk loops has broken and its tie has become detached, has unravelled, and is now little more than a group of threads. These single threads cling to the nap of the parchment roll, making it difficult to unroll, and if they are not stabilised will be completely lost. The other pair of ties is in better condition and they are still tied together. The roll is unprotected in a box shared with another item, where they rub together and are difficult to take out. This beautiful roll requires treatment to stabilise it. It should be cleaned of surface dirt on the leading edge, wrapped to protect it from dust and handling, and the textile ties require treatment by a textile conservator. Conservation work: ÂŁ3,400 Custom-made box: ÂŁ450
10 . Lincoln Unlocked – sponsorship catalogue
John Wesley’s legacy at Lincoln Letters, books and objects associated with Wesley and early Methodism The College Archive preserves a small but important collection of John Wesley letters alongside books and objects associated with Wesley and early Methodism. Several items in the collection need conservation work in order to be safely handled. The whole collection requires cataloguing to modern standards, which will allow access to a searchable catalogue online for researchers in Oxford and around the world. There are three items which initially require conservation: The first two are scrapbooks compiled by Methodist minister Albert F. Hall, of engravings depicting early Methodist preachers, 1778-1893, Presidents of the Methodist Conference 1789-1915, and people and places associated with Methodism. Donated to the College by Mrs May Hall in 1952, the scrapbooks require thorough cleaning. The detached pages and engravings are to be re-hinged with Japanese paper and damaged items repaired.
students, so this piece is particularly significant. The walking stick is made from finely turned wood with a metal top marked with the engraving I.W. The top and tip of the walking stick are loose and require readhesion with protein glue. Acid-free boxes are required for all three items once the treatments are completed. Conservation: £3,675 Boxes: £100 each Cataloguing: £2,916
The third item is John Wesley’s walking stick, which was donated to Lincoln by Old Member G. N. Eales in 1965. Wesley is known for travelling to his preaching commitments on foot, as well as walking with his Left and below: Albert F. Hall’s scrapbooks
Above: John Wesley’s walking stick engraved with his initials
a rare 15th-century book in its original binding . 11
A rare 15th-century book in its original binding St Augustine, Explanatio Psalmorum. [Southern Netherlands: printer of the Explanatio Psalmorum, about 1486-1487] Lincoln’s copy of the first edition of one of St Augustine’s most important exegetical works, his commentaries on the Psalms, was given to the College in around 1518 by Edmund Audley, Bishop of Salisbury. While many of the College’s books were rebound in the 16th and 17th centuries, this copy is still in its original binding: a leather binding over wooden boards that was done between 1489 and 1496 by a continental binder working in London who is known only as the “Octagonal Rose binder” (a name drawn from a particular decorative tool associated with his work). This is an important work, (one of only 5 complete copies in British libraries) in a contemporary binding and given to Lincoln by one of its most important donors.
However, the binding has major structural damage and is in need of repair. The upper board of volume 1 and both boards of volume 3 are almost completely detached, held in place by only a few threads remaining from the original sewing supports. The leather spine covering on both volumes is also detached. Using a combination of linen braids and textile spine linings, conservators will reattach both the boards and the spine coverings, preserving the original structure of the binding, which is still robust, while ensuring that the book can be made available to researchers. Cost of repair - Volume 1: £1,286 Cost of repair - Volume 3: £1,654
12 . Lincoln Unlocked – sponsorship catalogue
12th-century English manuscript owned by Richard Fleming Lincoln College MS Lat. 27. M. Epistola ad G. multorum monasteriorum fundatorem epistola de S. Salome [and 14 other works]. England, 12th century. MS on vellum. Medieval tawed white leather over wooden boards. Richard Fleming, nephew of the founder of Lincoln, Robert Fleming, was an early English humanist and the greatest donor of manuscripts to the College library. Fleming’s gift to Lincoln included many classical and humanistic works, some of which he had bought from the celebrated Florentine bookseller Vespasiano da Bisticci. This small composite manuscript contains 15 works dating from the 11th and 12th centuries and includes a copy of Macrobius’ In somnium Scipionis commentarius with the world map often found in this work. The volume was previously owned by Sempringham Priory, Lincolnshire. This manuscript is in a 14/15th century binding, sewn on 5 double alum-tawed supports, all laced into lightly shaped wooden (oak) boards in the Gothic lacing style. It has a structural sewn endband laced into the boards, decorated with a secondary sewing worked through the covering material in blue and white thread, now faded, but still elegant. The binding has been repaired in the past with patches to the covering on both boards and
on the spine. The original covering material is very thin and abraded. Although it is now fragile, this binding is a rare survivor and shows the best qualities of medieval binding. Conservation treatment would aim to strengthen the attachment of the upper board, by partially lifting the fragile spine-covering skin, using thread to hitch around the supports and new textile to line the spine and extend on to the upper board, re-establishing the board attachment. The fragile covering material from the verso needs support with a long-fibred Japanese tissue and wheat-starch paste, to secure the lifting fragments and protect them from damage or loss. The old repairs would be left, as removal may cause further damage to the covering skin. Conservation: £1,250 Custom-made box: £400
12th-century english manuscript owned by richard fleming . 13
14 . Lincoln Unlocked – sponsorship catalogue
An early 15th-century English collection of sermons Lincoln College MS Lat. 112. Radulphus Acton, Sermones Dominicales in evangelia et epistolas per annum. England, early 15th-century. MS on vellum with illuminated border. Medieval white tawed leather over wooden boards. This large manuscript dates to the first quarter of the 15th-century, and is in a 15th-century binding. This volume has had a long and complicated history. It has survived very well, and is a complex and beautiful historical object. It is in good condition in keeping with its age and use, but there are several condition problems which should be addressed. First, there is no upper flyleaf and the first folio, which is illuminated, is unprotected and lies directly against the inner face of the upper board. There is no pastedown on the upper board, and the stiff sewing support slips, where laced into the upper board, are directly against the illuminated leaf. Furthermore, the first three slips have worked free of their lacing exit holes, and in two cases, the wooden pegs which secure the slips have been lost. The first support is free of the hole, with the wooden
peg still in place. The second and third slip have lost their peg. Each time the upper board is moved the first three slips come out of their exit holes. When the board is shut back on the volume, the slips press against the first decorated leaf and are pushed back into their slots. Conservation treatment would aim to re-secure the three slips in their channels with a new alum-tawed skin wedge. Conservators would also paste a small strip of Japanese paper around the wooden peg of the first slip to keep it in place and guard against loss. Finally, treatment would include providing a loose sheet of soft paper to cover the first leaf and protect it from abrasion from the board, slips, etc. Conservation: ÂŁ1,250
an early 15th-century english collection of sermons . 15
16 . Lincoln Unlocked – sponsorship catalogue
Painting conservation: Rectors of Lincoln College Portrait of Thomas Marshall (1621-1685) Rector (1672-1685) Thomas Marshall was elected Rector in 1672 and was installed Dean of Gloucester in 1681. He bequeathed many books and manuscripts to the Bodleian Library. He made numerous contributions to philological scholarship; in addition, he gathered a collection of pamphlets on the subject of the civil wars and their troubles. The collection can be found in Lincoln’s Senior Library. This painting is likely to be contemporary to Thomas Marshall’s Rectorship of the College. Attributed to the English School, the paint layers appear to have been extensively overpainted, almost completely obscuring any brittle cracking in the original paint layers of the hair, face and bands. This suggests that the underlying original paint may be significantly damaged.
The painting should be surface-cleaned to remove loose dust, and any raised and flaking material should be consolidated with a suitable adhesive to arrest further loss. Consolidation of the flaking may cause some local disruption of the existing varnish, which should be retouched as necessary. The frame should be surface-cleaned and the surface layers consolidated as necessary. Losses in the gilding should be coloured to blend with the existing finish and a reversible protective over-wash should be applied. Painting conservation: £960 Frame conservation: £1,000
painting conservation: rectors of lincoln college . 17
Portrait of Euseby Isham, (c.1698-1755) Rector 1731-1755 The Rev’d Euseby Isham was elected Rector of Lincoln in 1731, a post he held until his death in 1755. He also served from 1744-1747 as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. Painted in 1732 by Thomas Gibson, this portrait and its frame require treatment before it is able to hang in College again. The paint and ground layers have a network of brittle cracking that is slightly raised, and the lining process has emphasised the texture of the canvas weave. The paint layers have been abraded by previous treatment. There is a discoloured varnish present, and a layer of surface dirt.
The best long-term consolidation of the structure of the painting would be achieved by relining it. Before lining, surface dirt, discoloured varnish and old restorations should be removed in order to avoid carrying these unwanted accretions further into the structure of the painting by the heat and vacuum pressure used in the lining process. Removal of these layers would also enhance the appearance of the painting. Painting conservation: ÂŁ4,520 Frame conservation: ÂŁ980
18 . Lincoln Unlocked – sponsorship catalogue
Cataloguing Senior Library collections Cataloguing a book to Oxford antiquarian cataloguing standards is a two-part process: the first focuses on the “ideal copy” of the book and produces a full bibliographic record; the second adds information which is specific to the copy of the book in hand, such as bindings, bookplates, hand-coloured illustrations and manuscript additions. The resulting record is added to Oxford’s online catalogue, SOLO, where it is accessible to any scholar or researcher with access to the internet. The Senior Library is made up of a number of smaller libraries and collections, some of which date back to the founding of the College. Cataloguing these collections is an important part of understanding their significance and their role in the intellectual life of the College. We have also benefitted from more recent donations from Lincoln alumni, two of which are described here. The cataloguing of the following three collections will be carried out by Dr Sarah Cusk, Lincoln’s antiquarian cataloguer.
The library of a 17th-century statesman One of the treasures of the Senior Library is a manuscript library catalogue, dated 1661, belonging to Sir Edward Nicholas (1593-1669), Secretary of State to both Charles I and Charles II. This catalogue was offered for sale by the New York bookseller Herbert Reichner in 1956 and it is likely that this is when it came into the hands of the historian Donald Nicholas, a Lincoln alumnus and descendant of Edward Nicholas. Using the manuscript catalogue as a guide, Donald Nicholas attempted to reconstruct the library of his distinguished ancestor and left the resulting collection of 50 books to Lincoln in his will. In addition to the library catalogue itself, now in an elegant modern binding, the Nicholas collection contains many treasures, among them Archbishop Laud’s copy of his Conference with Mr Fisher the Jesuite (1639), a contemporary manuscript account of Cecil’s negotiations with France in 1597 and a rare copy of the
so-called Quartermaster’s Map, published in 1644 for the use of both Royalist and Parliamentary forces in the Civil War. The cataloguing project would involve not only the description of individual items in the collection but research into the whereabouts of other volumes from Edward Nicholas’s library, dispersed in a 19th-century auction. Cataloguing cost: £890
the library of an 18th-century country solicitor . 19
The library of an 18th-century country solicitor In 1960, Lincoln alumnus Jeremy Ware took up a partnership at the Newark law firm Tallents & Co, a 200 year-old firm which in Jeremy’s words “had seen better days.” Among the remains of what had been a well-respected practice, Jeremy found some fine 18th-century furniture, boxes of documents and papers dating back to the early 19th-century and a collection of early law books. With the help of Brian Simpson, then Law Tutor at Lincoln, and two law students (Andrew Longmore and Bill Evans), Jeremy cleaned up the attic and its contents. He donated the old library to Lincoln. The collection is made up of over 120 volumes of legal reference works, the earliest dating from the 1650s and the latest from the 1820s. Among the volumes are early editions of the reports of Coke, Bulstrode and Blackstone, as well as works on ecclesiastical law, common law and the chancery courts. Cataloguing the collection would enable us to reconstruct the library of an 18th-century provincial solicitor and, by looking at manuscript annotations, look at how these important legal texts would have been used. Cataloguing cost: £2,124
20 . Lincoln Unlocked – sponsorship catalogue
A collection of 18th-century libretti In an unassuming brown buckram box on the Senior Library shelves is a lovely small collection of 27 18th-century libretti, some of them still in the original blue paper booksellers’ wrappers. The collection is made up of libretti of works by Handel, including Esther (the first English oratorio), his pastoral opera Acis and Galatea and his setting of Milton’s Comus.
While the provenance of the collection is unknown, evidence in the libretti themselves suggests they were published on the occasion of performances of Handel’s works in Oxford. Several of the texts were printed in Oxford and others refer on the title-page to performances at the Holywell Music Room. There is also evidence left by the 18th-century owners of these libretti: these include allusions in the margins to specific performances and corrections of errors in the text. Cataloguing cost: £550
acquisitions . 21
Acquisitions An acquisitions fund would allow Lincoln to purchase items for the historic collections which fill a gap or give new insight into the life of the College and its former members. Recent examples of items which have come up for sale are a portrait miniature of Nathaniel, Lord Crewe, the 1862 Scratch Fives pewter tankard featuring the Reverend (later Rector) W W Merry, and the literary archive of Richard Lawson Gales (OM 1884). Donations would allow us to be able to bid for items when they come up for sale. Price: ÂŁ2,000
Below: Rev W W Merry Tankard (front and side views)
Above: Lord Crewe Portrait Miniature
LINCOLN COLLEGE TURL STREET OXFORD OX1 3DR 01865 616843 development.office@lincoln.ox.ac.uk Cover image: Lincoln College MS Lat. 112.