Marks of Ownership in Early Printed Books
Examining a book’s history of ownership is essential in understanding the various ways it was used, along with tracking individual and institutional history. This edition of Indago Monocerotis was printed in 1658 by Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. This particular copy is fascinating because it has been acquired by both public and personal collections with diverse locations and purposes. It contains four main types of ownership inscriptions: handwritten inscriptions, bookplates, ink stamps, and archival labels.
Fig. 1 Overview of this copy’s ownership history, inferred from its ownership inscriptions
Handwritten Inscriptions
Fig. 2.1 Handwritten inscription: “Ecclesiae Lichtenstadis 16,” crossed out
Fig 2.2 Handwritten inscription: “Bibliotheca Slacoverdensis Scholarum Piarum”
Handwritten inscriptions were a simple and early way of indicating book ownership. After its publication, this copy remained within the Czech Republic for the first part of its history. An inscription (Fig 2.1) records that the books belonged to Lichtenstadt Church, in Hroznětín. The number 16 may have been part of the church’s cataloguing system.
Interestingly, the ink striking out “Ecclesiae Lichtenstadis” seems to be the same ink as at the foot of the title page (Fig 2.2). This implies the book’s direct transfer to Bibliotheca Slacoverdensis Scholarum Piarum, a scholarly Piarist library in nearby Ostrov. The transfer may suggest the book’s development from being owned as a religious text to being used in a more academic context, which later ownership also reflects.
Bookplates
Fig 3.1 (Left): Bookplate of Edward Oates
Fig 3.2 (Right): Bookplate of William Edward Oates
Bookplates, or Ex Libris (“From the Library of”), are labels collectors use to indicate ownership, often with a motif representing the owner. The Oates family seem to have obtained this book in the 19th century and passed it to successive generations, a common pattern in private book ownership. Many of the Oates family were naturalists and likely acquired it out of personal interest. As father and son, Edward and William Edward Oates had similar coats of arms (Fig 3.1 and Fig 3.2) that used variations of their family motto.[1] Notably, William Oates died in 1896; his bookplate’s “1897” indicates its posthumous insertion, highlighting the private importance of recording ownership.
Fig 3.3: Bookplate of Robert Washington Oates
Robert Washington Oates was William Oates’ nephew. An avid book collector, he established the Oates private library. His bookplate is visually similar to his ancestors’ (Fig 3.3), with the armoured hand holding a dagger resembling those on top of the other coats of arms.
Book stamps
Fig 4.1 Ink stamp of Bibliotheca Oatesiana
Fig 4.2 Ink stamp of Newton Library, University of Cambridge
Fig 4.3 Bibliotheca Oatesiana stamp on a page of the book
Institutions and private collectors also used stamps to indicate ownership. This copy of Indago Monocerotis contains the stamps of the Oates family library (Fig 4.1) and the Newton Library at the University of Cambridge (Fig 4.2). The Oates family library also stamped a page within the book (Fig 4.3), deterring the reader from removing the evidence of ownership at risk of sacrificing textual content.
As its stamp indicates (Fig 4.2), Newton Library primarily held books meant for the Zoological Department’s reference. Like the Oates family, the library may have also obtained it for naturalists’ interest, but the book’s purpose in the context of academic research differs from its more informal presence in the Oates collection.
Labels
Fig. 5 Label describing the movement of this copy between institutions
A label (Fig. 5) pasted on a front flyleaf describes the book’s movement to the Gilbert White Memorial Library established by Robert Oates.[2] The label emphasises a key difference between public and private book ownership. In becoming part of an archival collection, information must be preserved for the public’s understanding and cataloguing purposes, as opposed to being kept as part of a personal collection.
Spanning locations and purposes, this copy of Indago Monocerotis exemplifies how ownership inscriptions shed light on the various uses of a book in different contexts. Patterns of book ownership may also help us trace the larger movement of products and ideas throughout history.
References
[1] Burke, Bernard. The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, Comprising A Registry of Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time, London, Harrison, 1884.
[2] “The Oates Collections.” Gilbert White’s House and Gardens, accessed on 22 March 2021. http://www.gilbertwhiteshouse.org.uk/the-oates-collections/.
Prepared by Angelyn Tan Liu Ying