From Exlibris-L

Dear all:
Happy New Year from Berlin, where the GW has been relocated (again) to provisional offices for the rest of the library’s reconstruction. In the past couple of weeks some interesting “incunabular” news came in, so here we go.

- The database has been updated two days ago, and as usual, here’s the number of entries containing links to one or more digitised copies: 12,129 (and counting).

- Browsing for “incunables” in the Spanish digital repository DADUN (digital repository of the Univ. of Navarra at Pamplona), one finds lots of interesting stuff and full-text papers, cf. http://dspace.unav.es/dspace/simple-search?query=incunables. The most recent entry, from 2012, presents Pamplona UL’s incunabula acquisitions 2004-2010, http://hdl.handle.net/10171/27600. Also very remarkable is an online virtual exhibition at http://hdl.handle.net/10171/4030, published in 2008. It concerns the discovery of an unrecorded indulgence, GW0125980N, ISTC if00240380. No less than 26 copies of this broadside were recovered from a binding about ten years ago, but just six of these are accounted for today, and we have to assume that many of the other 20 or so were sold to Spanish booksellers.

- Speaking of which, a very strange find spot was recently reported – also by Spanish scholars. A couple of unrecorded indulgences from the press of Juan de Porras in Salamanca, issued by Juan del Fierro and Alfonso Álvarez in 1498, “along with others of this kind from 1484 to 1539, were found in the grave of Isabel de Zuazo, buried in the church of San Esteban de Cuéllar, whose restoration provoked this finding.” Source: Fermín de los Reyes and Marta M. Nadales, “The Book in Segovia in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth centuries”, in Print Culture and Peripheries in Early Modern Europe, ed. B. Rial Costas, Leiden/Boston 2013 (sic), p. 345-62, at 350 n.1. The Spanish habit to bury indulgences with their former owners was already known from historical sources, but to the best of my knowledge no original issues have ever been reclaimed from a grave; de los Reyes and Nadales refer to the monograph La iglesia de San Esteban de Cuellar (2011) which I haven’t yet seen, and they are currently investigating the matter further. (In parentheses: The aforementioned volume contains a number of incunabula-related articles. Should anyone want an electronic offprint of my contribution “Monastic Printing Houses in the 15th Century”, p. 37-67, please let me know.)

- Indulgences again: About a year or so ago, a fragment of an early (c. 1470) indulgence issued by Henricus Institoris was found in Leipzig, as probably mentioned that in one of last year’s messages to the lists. Surprisingly, a few weeks ago a complete copy of this indulgence came to light at the Municipal Archive in Chemnitz and is currently shown in the exhibition “Des Himmels Fundgrube” at Chemnitz. More at http://gesamtkatalogderwiegendrucke.de/docs/M1245150.htm. According to Paul Needham (personal communication), this is “a spectacular find”. No doubt about that, especially as the fount used for this small print seems to be completely unknown from other incunables.

- New database entries:
-- http://gesamtkatalogderwiegendrucke.de/docs/GW0797650N.htm, another edition of Dante’s “Credo”, found by Adolfo Tura in a private collection. Remarkably, this is only the second known edition from the workshop of Franciscus de Cennis in Florence.
-- http://gesamtkatalogderwiegendrucke.de/docs/GW0884650N.htm, yet another Donatus fragment from Nuremberg, in a private collection in California.

To conclude, just this morning we learned about the Lavicka collection in Ljubljana. From their website at http://www.lek.si/en/about-us/lavicka-collection/: “Czech born pharmacist Buhuslav Lavicka (1879 – 1942) enriched Slovenian culture with his exceptional pharmaceutical collection. His decades of association with the largest European antique stores, produced an almost complete assortment of pharmaceutical and medical items and books. His library of over four hundred books is representative of almost all the essential publications, not only from the medical and natural sciences, but also from humanistic and philosophic fields. Along with the many incunabula, two pages from the Gutenberg Bible deserve special attention and bear witness to Lavicka’s success as a collector.”

Thanks, best wishes,
Falk

Dr. Falk Eisermann
Referatsleiter
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz
Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke / Inkunabelsammlung
Unter den Linden 8
D-10117 Berlin (Mitte)
Tel. +49 (0)30 266 435 150
Fax +49 (0)30 266 335 155

"The archives of more than 1,200 journals are now available for limited free reading by the public, JSTOR announced today. Anyone can sign up for a JSTOR account and read up to three articles for free every two weeks."

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/01/academic-libraries/many-jstor-journal-archives-now-free-to-public/

http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2013/01/a-new-years-resolution-going-paperless.html#more

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the average US office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year. In 2010, the amount of paper recovered for recycling averaged 334 pounds for each person living in the US, according to the American Forest & Paper Association.

That's a huge amount of paper! Even worse, much of it, perhaps most of it, is unnecessary.

It is easy to get started. The next time you decide to print something, save it as a file on your computer instead. I save hundreds of PDF files (print format) every year, rather than printing them. You can do the same. Make sure you also make frequent backups of those files. You can carry thousands of documents on a tiny flash drive. Try doing that with paper!

Paperless 2013 is a campaign to remove the need for paper from "paperwork." Throughout the year the Paperless Coalition will be promoting Paperless 2013 via an email newsletter and other activities. To get started, submit your email at www.paperless2013.org and take the pledge to go paperless this year.

http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2013/01/irish-newspapers-will-now-be-ignored.html

This newsletter often points to interesting articles available elsewhere on the web. I usually give a 2- or 3-sentence introduction, followed by a link to the article of interest. According to a coalition of Irish newspapers, if I provide a link to an Irish newspaper, I am a pirate.

The National Newspapers of Ireland has adopted a new policy. Any website which links to one of the 15 NNI member newspapers will have to pay a minimum of 300 Euros ($395 US dollars), with the license fee going up if you post more links. See http://goo.gl/K3Oj3 for the details.

Note that this is not a fee to post an excerpt or some punitive measure for the copying of an entire article. No, the NNI wants to charge for links alone. It doesn't apply just to newsletters or web sites, the NNI wants to charge the same fee to ANYONE who even posts a single link in a Twitter message or any other message in any public place on the Internet. That includes Facebook, all blogs, all web pages, and perhaps anyplace else online!

This is one of the most stupid ideas I have read in recent times. The National Newspapers of Ireland obviously has no idea how the web works and also has no concept of the amount of valuable publicity that links to their members' newspapers can provide.

Online news site Slashdot suggests this is an elaborate way to commit suicide.

Whatever the reasons, I will abide by this rule. I will no longer refer to any Irish newspaper web site until the National Newspapers of Ireland wakes up and rescinds this foolishness.

See also
http://www.mcgarrsolicitors.ie/2012/12/30/2012-the-year-irish-newspapers-tried-to-destroy-the-web/

http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Irische-Zeitungsverleger-wollen-Lizenzgebuehr-fuer-Verlinkungen-1776346.html (German)

There was an old man on the border,
Who lived in the utmost disorder;
He danced with the cat, and made tea in his hat,
Which vexed all the folks on the border.

Edward Lear, from More nonsense, pictures, rhymes, botany, etc. London, 1872.

(Source: archive.org)

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http://scrap.oldbookillustrations.com/ is a really great Tumblr blog!

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BTW: Thank you for reading Archivalia in 2012!

A little over a year ago, we helped put online five manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls—ancient documents that include the oldest known biblical manuscripts in existence. Written more than 2,000 years ago on pieces of parchment and papyrus, they were preserved by the hot, dry desert climate and the darkness of the caves in which they were hidden. The Scrolls are possibly the most important archaeological discovery of the 20th century.

Today, we’re helping put more of these ancient treasures online. The Israel Antiquities Authority is launching the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library, an online collection of some 5,000 images of scroll fragments, at a quality never seen before. The texts include one of the earliest known copies of the Book of Deuteronomy, which includes the Ten Commandments; part of Chapter 1 of the Book of Genesis, which describes the creation of the world; and hundreds more 2,000-year-old texts, shedding light on the time when Jesus lived and preached, and on the history of Judaism.

http://googleblog.blogspot.de/2012/12/in-beginningbringing-scrolls-of-genesis.html

http://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/home

Update:
http://bibliothekarisch.de/blog/2012/12/30/die-rollen-von-qumran-sind-nun-digital-verfuegbar/ (German)

Great work:

https://abuveliki.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/causa-stralsund-sellout-of-an-archive/

Based mostly on Archivalia entries.

"Elizabeth,

Thank you for all of the work you and those who worked with you put forth for the petition and other efforts that resulted in publicity of the budget crises the Archives faced and continues to face. It was the publicity and pressure that resulted in us getting enough funding to keep from closing. I know you did not do it for me personally but for the people of the state. As the chief steward of the Archives of Georgia I thank you on behalf of the people of Georgia. We are responsible for protecting these treasures for the people and for providing access to them. The results of your work helped to make accessibility more likely.

As you know, we are still operating with the same duties and responsibilities as last year, but with over $600,000 less. If not for you and others working to support us, it would be worse. We will continue to look for ways to make the Archives more efficient, ways to increase funding, and ways to better fulfill our responsibilities. Your continued support of the Archives will help us.

Christopher M. Davidson, J.D.
Director
Georgia Archives"

https://www.facebook.com/GeorgiansAgainstClosingStateArchives/posts/234772303320452

http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2012-11-07/news/archdiocese-launches-digital-archive-348782593/

Numerous diocesan and parish manuscripts dating back to the 15th century are now freely available online after the Malta Archdiocese of the Catholic Church launched its digital archive today.

The digital archive is the culmination of work which began in 1973, when archival collections started to be microfilmed.

The laborious process to transfer all microfilms to digital media started at the beginning of the year, and the digital archive was set up in collaboration with Exigy. The Curia bid for EU funds to help fund this project, but this bid proved to be unsuccessful.

Access to the archives, which are hosted on http://archives.maltadiocese.org/, is free of charge, although registration is required. Downloading pages for printing, however costs €0.50 per page.