Many more periodicals on printing technologies, book arts, and the history of printing can be found in Periodicals and the circulating collection.  To explore some of these titles, search the library catalog for the subject “printing periodicals.”  The library’s History and Art of the Book Subject Guide is also a great resource for finding articles and books about printing and book history.

To find these pamphlets and others like them, search for “comets” in the library catalog or in the “Books and More” tab on Scholarsearch. Just remember to limit your search to Special Collections materials.

Franklin learned the printing trade as an apprentice to his older brother James in Boston, moving to Philadelphia in 1728 (at age 22) to establish his own printing business.  He was so successful that he was able to retire from active business 20 years later, though the press continued to operate under the supervision of Franklin’s business partner David Hall (no relation to the pamphlet’s author).  Hall bought out Franklin’s share of the business in 1766.

Franklin and Hall often reprinted Quaker tracts originally produced in the British Isles at their press;  besides A Mite into the Treasury, the library owns two other Quaker-related titles printed by Franklin and Hall in 1757.  The library also owns an earlier example of Franklin’s work, a travel account by George Whitefield which Franklin issued in 1740.  These items can be found in the library catalog by searching Special Collections’ holdings for works by Benjamin Franklin.

Patrons wishing to consult the facsimile must abide by Special Collections’ reading room policies.  It can be viewed during Special Collections’ hours of operation.

The new facsimile bears the call number Rare Book Collection Folio BS 64 .S3 2010. Scholars may also wish to consult earlier facsimiles of the manuscript: the 1922 Old Testament facsimile (Vault Collection Folio 221.42 Si61L 1922) or the 1862 facsimile issued by the manuscript’s modern discoverer, Constantin von Tischendorf (Vault Collection Folio 220.42 Si61 1862).

This new facsimile joins several other facsimiles of other Dante manuscripts, including copies of manuscripts held by the Vatican Library, the Biblioteca Lolliniana di Belluno, and the Biblioteca Trivulziana Milano.   The facsimiles reproduce manuscripts of the Divine Comedy and some of Dante’s correspondence.  These facsimiles can be found in the library catalog by searching either author: “Dante Alighieri” or genre: “manuscripts, Italian – facsimiles.”  Those facsimiles housed in the Rare Book Collection can be accessed at any time during Special Collections’ regular operating hours; facsimiles housed in the Vault Collection can be accessed Monday through Friday before 5 p.m.

A second Martineau-related acquisition is Organization of Nursing (1865). This book, which describes the founding and operation of the Liverpool Nurses’ Training School, once belonged to Martineau. The school was founded on principles established by Florence Nightingale, who was a personal friend of Martineau’s. Nightingale wrote an introduction describing her ideas about the nursing profession; the book was also dedicated to her.

Parma Psalter: a facsimile of an illuminated Hebrew book of Psalms (with commentary) produced in Northern Italy in the 13th century.  The manuscript is decorated with images of buildings, people, plants, and musical instruments.

Call number: Vault Collection 223.2 P24 1996

Antiphonar von St Peter: a facsimile of a Latin liturgical book produced around 1150 for the use of the Church of St. Peter in Salzburg, Austria.  Though the facsimile is much smaller than the original manuscript, it clearly reproduces the details of the decoration, script, and musical notation in the original.

Call number:  Rare Book Collection BX 1999.85 .A35 A6 2009 T. 1-2

The Stationers’ Company records are the most important existing source on the history of the English book trade.  The microfilm edition reproduces records spanning from 1554 to 1920 and is supplemented by a printed guide by the Company’s archivist.  These records contain a wealth of information about the Company’s activities, including membership and financial records and copyright registers for printed books.  The records provide quantitative data about the output of the London book trade as well as details about the lives and careers of printers, publishers, and other members of the Company.

Researchers can access the microfilm records in Special Collections’ reading room during our normal operating hours.

Special Collections has a few first-hand accounts of the storming of the Bastille, including a political pamphlet entitled La capitale delivrée par elle-même and a celebratory poem, Les nouvelles philippiques, ou, Le Te Deum des françois, après la destruction de la Bastille. These and other primary source materials related to the French Revolution can be found by performing a subject search in the HBLL catalog, using the search string “France History Revolution 1789-1799″.