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DISBOUND AND DISPERSED: THE LEAF BOOK CONSIDERED.
Introduction by Christopher de Hamel; Catalogue by Joel Silver; Contributions by John P. Chalmers, Daniel W. Mosser and Michael Thompson
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Disbound and Dispersed: The Leaf Book Considered is the first in-depth examination of a bibliophilic phenomenon that began in the early nineteenth century and continues today. A leaf book is a book that contains an original leaf from an imperfect copy of an historic book bound with an essay about the significance of the historic book. As such they provide a unique medium for both learning the history of books while providing the opportunity to inspect (or own) a specimen of the original.
In this book, which accompanies a traveling exhibition of the same title, the noted scholar Christopher de Hamel (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University) provides an entertaining overview of this fascinating, if arcane, chapter in the history of books. Joel Silver (Lilly Library, Indiana University) focuses on 46 examples from some of the great rare-book libraries in the United States, as well as from outstanding private collections. The leaf specimens range from the Middle Ages to the modern era; from Europe, the American colonies, and Mexico, to Hawaii and the Far East.
Like a detective, Daniel Mosser (Virginia Tech) pieces together the story of the Caxton Club of Chicago's 1905 leaf book, which involved breaking up an incomplete copy of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the first book printed in England, by William Caxton. In tracing the history of this leaf book, Mosser illuminates the consequences for scholarship resulting from the "cannibalizing" of old books to make "complete" volumes and the breaking up of these to make leaf books. This process raises a number of historical, ethical, and legal issues, which attorney and leaf-book collector Michael Thompson examines here.
The book concludes with a checklist of 242 leaf books, as many as are currently known to the compiler, John Chalmers, based on previous bibliographies and new research. Indexed. Contains 41 images, many in color. Distributed for the Caxton Club by Oak Knoll Press.
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Books of related interests - -
> Harris, Elizabeth M., THE ART OF MEDAL ENGRAVING.
> Bianchi, Daniel B., MERRYMOUNT PRESS, A CENTENARY KEEPSAKE.
> Piehl, Frank, THE CAXTON CLUB 1895-1995, CELEBRATING A CENTURY OF THE BOOK IN CHICAGO.
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