Jones, Owen. The Psalms of David. London [Day & Son], 1861.
This book of the Psalms of David by architect and designer Owen Jones, also called the Victoria Psalter because its dedication to Queen Victoria was accepted, is one of the most ornate examples of Victorian bookbinding and chromolithography. With its design, illumination, and binding Jones wished [...]
Recent acquisitions
Music, Miniatures, and Costume Books-December 2022 Highlights
Foster, Myles Birket and Kate Greenaway. A Day in a Child's Life. London: George Routledge and Sons, Broadway, Ludgate Hill, 1881.
Kate Greenaway and her illustrations of children in historical dress, plain backgrounds, flowers, and coloured borders have been featured on this blog before. Her association with printer Edmund Evans and publisher George Routledge was also established [...]
Edges, Elephants, and Ads - September 2022 Highlights
Moule, Joseph, Andrew Crichton, James Duncan, and Robert Hamilton. Lives of Eminent Naturalists: with Engraved Portraits Accompanying Each. Edinburgh: W.H. Lizars, 3 St. James' Square, 1840.
This book contains a series of essays about naturalists Hans Sloane, Pliny the Elder, Abraham Gottlob Werner, Peter Camper, John Hunter, and Maria Sibilla Merian. However, like so many of these [...]
Kate Greenaway, Aquatints, and Dominion Glass - August 2022 Highlights
Greenaway, Kate. Almanack for 1883. London: George Routledge and Sons, 1883.
This almanac is the work of Kate Greenaway, an English artist part of the Aesthetic Movement which focused on the beauty of art and championed the idea of "art of art's sake." At this point in her career Greenaway was working with printer Edmund Evans, who [...]
Drill, Volvelles, and Plate marks - June/July 2022 Highlights
Coffin, N. A System of Drill, for the Militia, of Upper-Canada. York: Printed by Robert Stanton, 1830.
Published before Confederation, and even before the incorporation of Toronto in 1834, this short work outlines instructions for equipment and movement drills, and battalion and platoon exercises. These exercises were important in a time when precise movements were needed on the [...]
Petitions, Pirates, and Pirated Copies - April 2022 Highlights
[D. W. Karn & Co. Advertising Fan]. London, Ont: London Printing & Litho. Co., 1896-1909.
Like some of the ASC items highlighted last month, this piece is ephemeral in nature, but it also has the distinction of being closer to an object than a book . Cataloguing standards allow for the cataloguing of non-book items such [...]