Alfred Russel Wallace: forgotten hero of natural selection

2013 marks the centenary of the death of Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), a naturalist and biologist who was born in Llanbadock near Usk, Monmouthshire.  In the last hundred years he has been mainly overshadowed by his contemporary Charles Darwin; but with the anniversary of his death, his work has started to be commemorated recently in TV programmes.  The most recent was broadcast on BBc2 on Sunday 21st April 2013, and featured the comedian Bill Bailey heading to Indonesia to follow in the footsteps of Wallace, who collected thousands of specimens there.

In his younger days he spent time in a variety of places around the country, including London and Leicester, before living and working  in Neath as a surveyor with his brother for several years.  Finally in 1848 he set off on his first voyage abroad as a naturalist, travelling to Brazil with the entomologist, Henry Bates.  From 1854 to 1862 he travelled through what was then known as the Malay Archipelago (Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia).  His discoveries there were eventually published in 1869 to great acclaim.

Wallace developed theories on evolution and natural selection independently of Darwin; the two men corresponded and exchanged ideas, stimulating each other’s thought processes, but these days it is Darwin who people tend to remember.

SCOLAR holds a number of Wallace’s books, including The geographical distribution of animals :  with a study of the relations of living and extinct faunas as elucidating the past changes of the earth’s surface (1876), Tropical nature : and other essays (1878) and Darwinism : an exposition of the theory of natural selection, with some of the applications (1889).

Cardiff Children’s Literature Festival

From the 19th to the 24th March the Cardiff Children’s Literature Festival will be taking place in the city, at a variety of locations, and featuring authors and illustrators.  A whole variety of events will be happening, for children, schools, and even adults! You can keep up with their activities by following @CDFKidsLitFest on Twitter.  Cardiff University is contributing to the festival, and hosting some of the events, and in SCOLAR we are putting on an exhibition celebrating the history of children’s literature, from the 17th century up to the 20th century.  We are looking at the chronological development of children’s literature by highlighting several themes.

Books for children were initially for educational purposes, which then developed into moral instructions too.  Children were taught how to behave, and were given frightening examples of what might happen to them if they didn’t.  The prevailing religiosity of the 18th and 19th centuries gradually waned until by the end of the 19th C. children were being regarded with a more sentimental outlook.  More illustrative works began to emerge, some portraying idealised images of children, whilst others were aiming to capture their attention.  Reading was no longer just for instruction, but for entertainment too, as fairy tales became popular.  With an increase in fiction, the gender divide became markably apparent, as works were specifically aimed at either boys or girls.

Children’s fiction became more adventurous, and elements of fantasy were increasingly included, much of it owing a debt to British myths and legends that were popular at the time.  In the twentieth century fantasy literature took on a life of its own, and is now one of the most popular genres in children’s fiction.

Charlotte Guest’s English translation of the Mabinogion in 1838 contributed to the fascination with Arthurian myths, as she brought the tales to a new readership.  Translations of works into Welsh or English also provide a interesting look at what we want children to be reading.

We have gathered items from SCOLAR’s collections, including the Children’s Literature Collection which can be seen in part in the glass cases at the entrance to SCOLAR, and from the modern children’s literature collection held in the main part of the library.  Items from the modern collection are also being utilised in a display on level 1 of the library (ASSL), where readers can vote for their favourite children’s novel.

The exhibition is available for viewing March-May 2013, and details of the items displayed are available on our webpages.

Henry B. Wheatley: Pepys, indexing and bookplates

One of the joys of cataloguing rare books is coming across bookplates and signatures of people now deceased, and tracking down who they were.  While working on the Restoration Drama collection I came across the following bookplate in three items; with the words Bibliotheca Pepysiana secunda H B W 1904 underneath the picture of Samuel Pepys.  The image of Pepys comes from the J. Hayls oil painting completed in 1666.

H. B. W. turned out to be Henry Benjamin Wheatley (1838-1917), a prolific writer, editor and indexer.  To some he is known as “The father of British indexing” writing seminal texts on the art of indexing, and today his memory lives on with the annual awarding of the Wheatley medal – given for an outstanding index.

Henry B. Wheatley

Along with his brother, Benjamin Robert Wheatley, he was one of the founders of the Library Association (now known as CILIP – the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) in 1877 and remained on its Council for many years.  He was interested in bibliographies and cataloguing, and wrote an article on cataloguing, published in the Transactions of the Bibliographical Society (1911-13; 12:25-37).

He was involved in numerious other societies over the years including the Early English Text Society, the New Shakespeare Society and the Samuel Pepys Club, which he was president of from 1903-1916.  He had a particular interest in Pepys, and was involved in editing and producing two editions of Pepys’ diary, as well as writing a life of Pepys, plus a host of articles and lectures on him.

Wheatley collected books, especially those with interesting or fine book bindings; thus, unsurprisingly, when he died in 1917  his library was sold off the following year by Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge.  Of the three  items we have containing Wheatley’s Pepys bookplate, one is an armorial binding in calf with a central gilt stamped coat of arms of an anchor with the initials “S P” [i.e. Samuel Pepys] and “H. B. W.” [i.e. Henry Benjamin Wheatley],the other two also have a crest on the upper cover of their bindings that incorporates the dolphin and anchor of Manutius.

 According to Lee (2002, 86) Wheatley’s bookplate, designed by John Philipps Emslie in 1899, showed the man himself sitting in his library in Bedford Square.  Fifteen years later it appears he had a new bookplate, depicting Pepys.  Was he attempting to replicate or rival Pepys’ library? Or just to pay homage to the man he had so much respect and admiration for?

Lee, J. D. (2002) The father of British indexing: Henry Benjamin Wheatley.  The Indexer 23.2: 86-91.

On the morning of Christ’s Nativity

“On the morning of Christ’s nativity” was composed by John Milton in 1629 when he was just 21 years old.  According to Thomas Corns (2003, 216), the poem has “…generally been recognized as Milton’s first manifestation of poetic genius…” which is an impressive accolade for one so young.  As a celebration of Christ’s birth it is also part of a trilogy commemorating important Christian events which assured his popularity as a poet in the 17th century even before he wrote Paradise Lost.

This edition, produced in a print run of only 100 copies, was published in 1930 by the Pear Tree Press, which was founded by the poet and printmaker James Guthrie in 1899 at Ingrave, Essex.   This volume is one of the Black Letter Series;  the covers of this series are black and silver decorative paper covered boards, with a paper label for the title. 

Inside this volume are black and gold illustrations which were drawn by Sheila M. Thompson, she was also the one who hand printed the volume for the press.  Thompson illustrated many of the Pear Tree Press books, whilst learning the printing trade from Guthrie, and was known as a close friend of his.

[Corns, Thomas. "'On the Morning of Christ's Nativity', 'Upon the Circumcision' and 'The Passion'" in A Companion to Milton. Ed. Thomas Corns. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2003.]

Private presses printer’s devices

Eragny Press

At the end of the summer we completed cataloguing the Private Presses within the Cardiff Rare Books collection.  With a wide range of presses represented we also had a delightful array of (modern) printer’s devices.  Printer’s devices are symbols or vignettes that identify the printer or press, acting as their trademark.  Fust and Schöffer were the first to use such a device in 1462 and by the end of the 15th century the idea was firmly established.  Ranging from simple designs based around initials, to much more elaborate engravings, devices were useful and popular for several hundred years.  Originally conceived to help prevent against the pirating of books, the opportunity to produce ornamental designs was soon grasped.  Placed in the colophon or on the title-page the devices advertised who was responsible for the book.  In the modern period the printer’s device has mainly been replaced by publisher’s logos, and even by the end of the 19th century they were not utilised to a great extent.

Bronze Snail Press

Boars Head Press

The exception to this was with the private presses that emerged as part of the Arts and Crafts movement, and were attempting to create books that were objects of beauty.  The presses embraced the concept of printer’s devices and devised many artful creations, reflecting their names, intials, locations and concepts.

Swan Press

Ashendene Press

Dolmen Press

Astolat Press

Caradoc Press

Mediaeval gardens

If you have ever wondered about the style and arrangement of mediaeval gardens then you should take a look at the exhaustive two volume work by Sir Frank Crisp (1843-1919) that was published in 1924 by the Bodley Head, and is one of the Limited Editions in our Cardiff Rare Books Collection.  Crisp was a lawyer, and gained a baronetcy in 1913 for legal services that he provided for the Liberal Party.  He was also a member of the Royal Microscopical Society, as well as being a keen horticulturalist.  He owned Friar Park, in Henley on Thames, and used the extensive grounds to practice his interest in horticulture and designed many features that were based on mediaeval designs.  Although Crisp died before his book, Mediaeval gardens : ‘flowery medes’ and other arrangements of herbs, flowers, and shrubs grown in the Middle Ages, with some account of Tudor, Elizabethan, and Stuart gardens, came to fruition, his daughter Catherine Childs Paterson edited his notes and compiled the illustrations which Crisp had collected from a multitude of orginal sources. 

Volume 1 contains some relatively brief notes on types of gardens, and features that were utilised; for example, Knots and parterres, labyrinths and mazes, topiary work, and turf mounds. What is most useful about this work however, is the vast collection of illustrations that have been included from manuscripts and books that Crisp was able to access in Britain.  Loosely gathered together in groupings that reflect the subject headings of the notes in volume 1, there is a vast range of illustrations featuring all kinds of gardens.  Some pictures have been cropped where the rest of the image has nothing to do with the garden; demonstrating that Crisp has exploited his source material to the full, and identified even the smallest aspect of gardens from some pictures.  In others it is obvious that the main theme wasn’t intended to be the garden, such as the one shown here representing Queen Elizabeth in the Tower of London, but a useful depiction has still been added.  For a student of mediaeval gardens this book will provide plenty of source material. 

Image of a printing press

Within our collections at SCOLAR we have several editions of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain.  Two of our earliest date from 1508 and 1517 and were both printed by Jocodus Badius Ascensius (1462-1535) in Paris. The title pages bear the trademark illustration of his printing shop, known as the Prelum Ascensianum.

On the left we have a printer with ink balls (pads) waiting to ink the text, and one tightening the screw press, whilst on the right we can see the type setter.

The edition from 1517 bears the signature of Dr Thomas Tanner and the date 1696;  this was the year he became a Fellow of All-Souls College, Oxford.  Thomas Tanner was a renowned antiquarian and the author of Notitia Monastica (a history of the monastic houses in England and Wales) and Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica (a dictionary of pre 17th century British authors); educated at Queen’s College Oxford, he went on to take holy orders in 1694.  His career progressed steadily until he became the Bishop of St Asaph in 1732, although he was to die only three years later.  He bequeathed his collection of manuscripts and many of his books to the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

“In comes I,…” – a fine example of a Mummer’s play

Mummer’s plays are traditional folk-plays that were once prevalent in Britain, dating back to Medieval times, although most of the early evidence we have for them only dates back to the 18th century. Generally they were passed down orally through generations, and were performed at key points of the year (such as Christmas, Easter, Plough Monday, and All Soul’s Day) in pubs and public spaces.  The main theme of these plays is a battle between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ and  the killing and resurrecting of the main protagonist, who is usually Saint/King George.  The actors would collect money at the end of the show.  There are a lot of similarities in these plays, but each village tended to have its own variation.  They were extremely popular in the 19th century, and Thomas Hardy features a depiction of one in his novel, The return of the Native (1878), but many died away with the advent of the World wars.  In the later half of the 20th century/beginning of 21st century there has been a limited revival of these performances by various folk groups.

In our Private Press collection we have a copy of a Mummer’s play printed by St. Dominic’s Press.  In this example, the play was collected in Sussex in 1921, and features the traditional characters of Father Christmas, Twin Twan, King George, Turkish Knight, Valiant Soldier, Doctor and Musicians.  Costume suggestions are given, for example Father Christmas should be in a white umpire’s coat or old smock, a top hat with Christmas cards stuck in the band, and carrying a long staff with a bunch of holly on top.  King George should wear a suit of ‘cretonne’ (printed cotton cloth) with baggy breeches, gaudy stockings and a round black hat decorated with feathers and gold braid, and carrying a sword.  As we can see from these descriptions, the costumes are stylised and not quite how we would probably dress those characters today.

This copy also includes instructions for performers who are told they must “keep to the traditional methods in costume, declamation and action.  The actors should almost chant their words in a monotonous sing-song voice with little or no expression.  Action must be of the very simplest…actors march on stage…[and] then form a semi-circle, facing the audience, each as his turn comes marching forward three paces to deliver his oration, finally returning to his original station.”

Within this pamphlet a few bars of music have been added to give a tune to the lines that are sung.

According to  Schneidman’s exhibition catalogue for Eric Gill (1882-1940) as Printmaker, Artist, Typographer, Writer & Book Designer (30 March-25 April 2009), this book is “very rare in any edition”

By Oak, Ash & Thorn

In times of austerity one’s imagination can often be the key to making a dream become reality.  In 1928 Geoffrey Higgens, honourary secretary of the Brighton based Apollo Arts Club, shocked at the prices of printing presses decided to construct his own – from a piece of oak, a tombstone and a flat iron!  He published the club’s magazine, The Delphic, and called it  The Oak, Ash & Thorn Press.  It is possible this name originated from Kipling’s story ‘Weland’s sword’ from Puck of Pook’s Hill which was published in 1906, where the line ’by oak, ash and thorn’ appears.

We only have a couple of items from this small press, one of which is a collection of six hand printed rhyme sheets in a decorated folder.  Only 5o copies were printed.  Each sheet is decorated with one main illustration above the poem, and one smaller vignette at the base of the sheet.  The woodcuts were by Geoffrey Higgens himself, as were two of the poems; the others being by Maurice Elford and Kathleen Moore.  A mixture of styles and themes, it is Tripedence by Mauric Elford that stands out for its glorious use of nonsense words.

Tripedence by Maurice Elford

Peace in the candle shop hugs
The mysterious blan of fendestuous sequins
(Hooting with nargic distribulancy)
Till the toll of the tull tells tales
Of Sharness in sibisticism.

An aristocratic gift

In 1859 John Etherington Welch Rolls gave his son-in-law, John Taylor Harding, a copy of the Book of Common Prayer, published in 1844 by the Chiswick Press.  

John E.W. Rolls became the High Sheriff of Monmouthshire in 1842 and lived at the family home, The Hendre, a fine Victorian Mansion.  His son John Allan Rolls, an MP, became Baron Llangattock of the Hendre in 1892; meanwhile his daughter Patricia (Patty) Rolls married John Harding of Pentwyn on 25th June 1857; he was a vicar of Rockfield (Monmouthshire), and canon of Llandaff. 

Apart from turning The Hendre into “…the grandest and most important Victorian park and garden in Monmouthshire”. [Elisabeth Whittle, Welsh Historic Gardens Trust: Bulletin Autumn 2003], the Rolls family are also known for the exploits of Charles Stewart Rolls (Patty’s nephew) who co-founded Rolls-Royce, was a keen balloonist, and has the unfortunate accolade of being the first person to be killed in an aviation accident (in 1910).

This Chiswick ‘Book of common prayer’ was one of a set of seven editions of different historical versions, ranging from Edward VI, 1549 up to the ‘modern’ Victoria edition of 1844.  It was done for the publisher,William Pickering of London, by Charles Whittingham the younger at the Chiswick Press. It is bound in vellum, with gold tooling and dark morocco labels on the spine.

The inscription to John Taylor Harding from his father-in-law has been done in decorative lettering in red and black ink, to tie in with the design of the text inside.

In addition, inserted into the book is a hand made bookmark; made of pink satin with a cross stitch pattern on a card base (in the shape of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper), saying “Watch and pray”.  Made by Patty perhaps?