Case 7
- Books of Unusual Interest 1
Henry Maundrell. A journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter, A.D.1697. 5th edition. Oxford: Printed at the Theater, 1732.
From his interest in early printed Bibles, Reed developed a broader interest in examples of early printed books. His original gift of 1948 included a small collection of what he described as “books of unusual interest.” These included a small gathering of Bibles and books by Johnson, but also several items which herald the beginnings of the Reed Printing Examples Collection.
This collection today features more than 500 examples of printing from various periods and places, with over 70 examples from the 18th century or earlier.
Reed’s original gift included this 18th century Oxford printing of a book about travel in the Middle East. The author, Henry Maundrell (1665-1701) was an Oxford academic and later a clergyman serving in Syria, where he died before the first edition was published.
Henry Maundrell. A journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter, A.D.1697. 5th edition. Oxford: Printed at the Theater, 1732.
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Henry Maundrell. A journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter, A.D.1697. 5th edition. Oxford: Printed at the Theater, 1732. Detail.
From his interest in early printed Bibles, Reed developed a broader interest in examples of early printed books. His original gift of 1948 included a small collection of what he described as “books of unusual interest.” These included a small gathering of Bibles and books by Johnson, but also several items which herald the beginnings of the Reed Printing Examples Collection.
This collection today features more than 500 examples of printing from various periods and places, with over 70 examples from the 18th century or earlier.
Reed’s original gift included this 18th century Oxford printing of a book about travel in the Middle East. The author, Henry Maundrell (1665-1701) was an Oxford academic and later a clergyman serving in Syria, where he died before the first edition was published.
Henry Maundrell. A journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter, A.D.1697. 5th edition. Oxford: Printed at the Theater, 1732. Detail.
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William Holwell (compiler). A mythological, etymological, and historical dictionary: extracted from the analysis of ancient mythology. London: Printed for C. Dilly, 1793.
This rebound, interleaved and annotated copy of an 18th century book would have appealed to Reed’s taste for association copies. It features handwritten notes for a new edition, by the compiler William Holwell (1726-1798). This 1793 edition constitutes an abridgment of an earlier three-volume work by the mythographer Jacob Bryant (1715-1804).
William Holwell (compiler). A mythological, etymological, and historical dictionary: extracted from the analysis of ancient mythology. London: Printed for C. Dilly, 1793.
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