Nangis, France. Obit Book of the Parish Church of Saint-Martin and Saint-Migne in Nangis (Nangis, 1285-90 with additions into the sixteenth century).
Case MS 212 (Newberry/Western Michigan MS 6)

A necrology recording in its columns the death of laymen including prominent aristocrats and their bequests to a small parish church adjacent to the château of Nangis (which belonged to the family of Bouchard-Montmorency; the name of Bouchard de Montmorency is the sole entry written in red). The bequests endowed commemorative prayers; some names have been cancelled in pen, perhaps because the donation was insufficient. The book also includes a list of the lands owned by the parish making the book a kind of cartulary or reference book for the spiritual and temporal assets of the church.

Joint Acquisition with Western Michigan University, the Newberry portion a gift of James Marrow and Emily Rose, William C. Vance and Marion S. Miller.

Bricot, Thomas. Textus totius logices per magistrum Thomas Bricot abbreuiatus per eundum nouissime emendatus (Basel, 1492) bound with: Thomas Waleys. Logica beate Thomas aurea et proficere volentibus utiles et necessaria diligenterque correcte et emendate in florentissimo studio Lipsensi (Leipzig: Martin Landsberg, not after 1491).
In process

The first of this volume's two incunables (Goff B-1200) is accompanied by 38 leaves of manuscript dating from the fifteenth century that explicate by means of summaries and diagrams and index its contents. The index employs an early system of pagination, which is also used for cross references in the volume's copious marginal annotations, by the same hand. The second element (Goff T-333) is a very rare edition (only one other copy recorded in North America), of a text not otherwise present in the Newberry's collections.

Purchased on the Rosenthal and Roger Weiss & Howard Mayer Brown Rare Book Funds.

Champier, Symphorien. Evangelistarum Symphonia de Lazaro, Martha et Maria (Lyon,1519).
In process

An important and little-studied document in the debate among humanists regarding the identity of Mary Magdalene. Jacques Lefèvre d'Etaples initiated this discussion and for which the was excommunicated. He remained, however, a Catholic. Extremely rare, only about six copies known, none in North America.

Purchased on the Roger Weiss & Howard Mayer Brown Rare Book Fund.

Catholic Church. Christina, Queen of Sweden. Christinae Suecorum Gothorum Vandalorumque Reginae... (Rome: Typographia Sacrae Congregationis, 1656). 23 leaves.
In process

A Polyglot publication of verse and calligrams welcoming Christina's arrival in Rome. It includes printing in Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Arabic. A spectacular example of typography produced by the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, founded in 1622 in the wake of the Counter-Reformation to compete with Protestant missions around the world. Complements the Newberry's rich collections of Counter-Reformation printing.

Purchased on the Roger Weiss & Howard Mayer Brown Rare Book Fund.

Cinquarbres, Jean. Linguae Hebraicae Institutiones (Paris: Guillaume Le Bé, 1621).
In process

Guillaume Le Bé created for this work one of the most beautiful Hebrew type fonts of the seventeenth century. This edition is greatly augmented in comparison to the 1609 edition, which the Library also posseses.

Purchased on the Samuel R. and Marie-Louise Rosenthal Rare Book Fund.

Bible. New Testament. Greek. Novum Testamentum (London: William Bowyer, 1728).
In process

This Greek New Testament contains extensive annotations and interleaved notes by Watson Stote when a student at Lincoln College, Oxford; his ownership is dated February 4, 1758. The original title-page is affixed to the front pastedown.

Gift of Roger S. Baskes and David Spadafora.

Diplomatic codex.
In process

A manuscript containing extensive diplomatic correspondence and documents contemporary to its content (c. 1756-c. 1776). An excellent example of an original source essential for writing the diplomatic and military history of the eighteenth century.

Gift of Rudy L. Ruggles, Jr.

Bordeaux. Mémoire sur la possibilité d'établir a Bordeaux un nombre suffisant de fontaines. (Bordeaux, 1787).
In process

An important example of rational urban planning on the eve of the French Revolution. The map accompanying the 79-page volume was published in London in 1787 and is on white paper; the Mémoire itself was printed in Bordeaux on blue paper, perhaps to be suggestive of its subject, the installation of public fountains.

Purchased on the Herman Dunlap Smith Rare Book Fund.

French Revolution. Étrennes nationales, dédiées à la liberté française... (Paris, 1790).
Case DC165 .E85

This is an illustrated almanac depicts important French Revolutionary scenes of 1789. An extremely rare and beautiful document, its other illustrations include the procession opening the Estates General in May 1789.

Purchased on the Roger Weiss & Howard Mayer Brown Rare Book Fund.

Catholic Church. Saints' Cards.
In process

A full contemporaneously bound set of uncut saints' cards, each with an image of a particular saint as well as a prayer in Latin and a French-language brief biography. Usually such cards were cut, used for popular devotion and eventually lost. This mint bound set is a unicum and as such a rare relic of French popular culture at the end of the eighteenth century. Most of the engraved plates are signed Pierre Le Pautre, a member of a distinguished dynasty of Parisian artists.

Gift of the Society of Collectors.

Children's book. Le savant de huit ans (Paris?, c. 1830?).
Case Wing minature PC2115 .S48 1830

An anonymous artist's manual for children. Among its six color plates are three images depicting the art of engraving and printing with movable type.

Purchased on the John M. Wing Fund.

Illinois Baptists. Manuscript minute book of the Village Creek Baptist Church of Christ of Wabash County, Illinois, 1826-1839.
Vault folio Case MS 5339

Vital records of an early Fundamentalist Baptist congregation. Includes rules of decorum, lists of expenditures, and the examination of members' behavior.

Purchased on the Frank H. Woods Book Fund.

Jackson, Andrew. The Experiment and Office Holder's Journal (Boston, 1834), 16 issues.
In process

A very rare anti-Jackson journal produced by "Tar Feathers & Company." The Library has also acquired three issues of The friend of reform and corruption's adversary (Cincinnati, 1828), a rare pro Andrew Jackson campaign periodical.

Purchased on the Rudy L. Ruggles Rare Book Fund

Type specimen. Rudolf Ludwig Decker. Schriftproben des Decker'schen geheimen Ober-Hofbuchdruckerei-Etablissments in Potsdam (Potsdam, 1840).
In process

An extremely rare collection of Roman and Gothic type specimens published to celebrate the succession of King Wilhelm IV of Prussia and the four-hundredth anniversary of the invention of printing with a beautiful color title-page.

Gift of the Society of Collectors.

United States at one view. Handcolored lithographed broadside (New York, 1845).
Case oversize E166 .U557 1847

Produced by map maker Humphrey Phelps, this broadside displays an array of images presented with a compendium of diverse facts, including lists of principal railroads, canals, Indians, Presidents of the United States, etc., as well as brief descriptions of Oregon and Texas.

Purchased on the Strauss Memorial Book Fund.

Boyce, H. P. The Shakespearian advertiser (Central Falls, RI, 1871).
Ruggles 456

A combination of commercial advertisements for merchants, located usually in Providence, R.I. alternating with cartoon drawings and appropriate quotes from Shakespeare's plays. An excellent example of the prevalence of Shakespeare in nineteenth-century popular American culture.

Purchased on the Rudy L. Ruggles Rare Book Fund.

American Indians. Kickapoo. Kickapoo Indian Medicine Company. Enquire within for many useful facts relating to your health and happiness: a book for everybody (New Haven, 1885).
Ayer AY64 .E57 1885

This pamphlet contains Indian medicinal advice with many illustrations and advertisements for native medicines.

Purchased on the Edward E. Ayer North American Book Fund.

A Collection of three manuscripts concerning Oklahoma and the Indian Territory.
In process

Two of these manuscripts are Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal allotments issued before 1892 listing the names, ages, sex, and family relationships of individuals. These manuscripts were compiled by C.M. Keller who was one of the founders of the Oklahoma Historical Society and a trustee of the Gunthrie, Reno City & Fort Reno Railway Company. A third manuscript (not seen) is Keller's journal which contains material on the company on the late-nineteenth century and early twentieth century.

Gift of Kathryn Ksander

Ben Hecht. 3 original signed letters and 3 telegrams addressed to columnist Leonard Lyons, 1944-1956. Also typescript poem.
In process

Hecht’s letters and telegrams, which concern Zionism, and the film and theater scene, are important documentation of Hecht’s World War II and postwar era activities. The poem, “For Helen and Charlie’s 19th Wedding Anniversary,” commemorates the long marriage of Helen Hayes and Charles MacArthur and Hecht’s even longer friendship and collaboration with MacArthur.

Gift of the Society of Collectors.

Hope Abelson Papers, 1942-2006. Three items by Hope Abelson, Tennessee Williams, and Elia (Gadg) Kazan, 1953, dating from Abelson’s work as a Broadway production assistant to Cheryl Crawford on Williams’ play Camino Real, directed by Kazan.
Midwest MS Abelson

A lifelong Chicagoan, Hope Abelson (1910-2006) was a Broadway producer and an important figure in the renaissance of theater in her hometown. She was a generous philanthropist, a wise advisor, and a sharp critic with an abiding interest in innovative programming and providing opportunities for young artists. In addition to support for established Chicago institutions, Abelson was an early and devoted backer of start-up companies and one of her most enduring contributions was her enthusiastic patronage of Off-Loop theater.

Gift of Katherine A. Abelson

Artist's book. Borges, Jorge Luis. Límites (Buenos Aires, 1958).
In process

An important Argentinian artist's book, containing 6 etchings by Leopoldo Presas. Only 3 copies recorded in American libraries. The Newberry emphasizes the acquisition of examples of twentieth century fine printing and book illustration from Latin America.

Gift of the Society of Collectors.