Ruth-Ellen St. Onge was busy preparing for an upcoming exhibition that will showcase a variety of texts published by the renowned Plantin Press when she saw something in the McMaster University Libraries catalog records that had her “freaking out.”
“I saw this note on something called the universal short title catalog that said ‘lost book,’ and my heart started beating really fast,” St. Onge told CBC Hamilton.
“I was like, oh, what’s going on here?”
St. Onge — McMaster University Libraries’ distinctive collections cataloguing librarian — uncovered a rare book titled Officium beatae Mariae virginis, which translates to The Book of Hours of the Virgin Mary, published by Plantin Press in 1596.
The tiny prayer book, which the public can view in early May, was written in Latin and sold across Europe, typically purchased by devout Catholics or members of religious orders. Known as a ‘book of hours’ for its structured prayers designated for specific times of day, these volumes were often used daily, making their survival over centuries quite rare, according to the university.
St. Onge said the term ‘lost book’ indicates that scholars knew from financial records that these books were printed, but no copies were known to exist.
After double checking her work, St. Onge said she shared the news with her boss and with colleague Myron Groover, archives and rare books librarian, with whom she’s co-curating the Plantin Press exhibit.
“It’s very exciting for McMaster and I think for scholars in general, because not only are there no surviving copies of this specific edition of The Book of Hours, most of the small format books of hours produced by the Plantin Press do not survive, so there’s only a handful,” St. Onge said.
“So, it’s really significant that we have this book at McMaster.”
St. Onge said she’s also sent an e-mail, which included some photos of the book, to the Plantin Press Museum in Belgium.
“The curator there, whose name is Zanna van Loon, she wrote back and she said they were very excited to hear this news.”
“Actually, I had already planned to go there this summer to do some research on another book, so now I’ll be researching both of these books and meeting with the curator there to speak in person. So, that’s very exciting as well.”
St. Onge said the book had been at McMaster University since 1965.
Its previous owner was Aldo Caselli, an Italian professor who moved to the United States during World War II.
“He had a collection of around 100 or so books from the Italian Renaissance and McMaster acquired that collection from him in 1965,” St. Onge explained.
“We’re not sure where he acquired this book, and because this book was actually not Italian — it was published in Antwerp in Latin — it’s a bit unusual in that collection.”
According to St. Onge, the book has 645 pages, is printed in red and black ink, is “quite sturdy”and “very small.”
“It’s about seven centimetres high and it’s quite a small, thick little book. It fits about in the palm of my hand,” she said.
“The binding is probably not original. The binding I would say is probably from the late 18th century and it’s protected the book very well and so we can look at it carefully and not worry too much about it falling apart.
“So, it has been well cared for in its lifetime, and since 1965 it’s been at McMaster where we’ve had temperature and humidity control and secure facilities for most of that time, so it’s in pretty good shape, considering how old it is,” she added.
Another reason why this book is really fascinating, St. Onge said, is that women were involved in producing it.
They include Plantain Press founder Christophe Plantin’s daughter, Martina, as well as his widow Jeanne Rivière.
“The name of Jeanne Rivière … appeared on Plantin Press books printed between 1589 and her death in 1596, as she was still involved in the family business,” St. Onge said.
There is a name that does not appear on the book, but which I think is important to mention. That is of the woman printer, Lynken Van Lanckvelt. She was employed by [Plantin Press] from 1594 to 1600 to print copper engraving illustrations for books. These illustrations had to be printed separately from the text, on a rolling press. Lynken’s mother, Mynken Liefrinck, was also a printer who worked for Christophe Plantin.”
St. Onge said despite being listed as lost, it was known that McMaster had the book, though its significance was not emphasized in catalogue descriptions. This is because the book was acquired by McMaster prior to the publication of the first major Plantin Press bibliography.
“We knew we had it, someone cataloged it when it was acquired. We just didn’t realize the significance of the book until now because of all these new resources that are available to us,” St. Onge said.
“It was lost in the sense that the Plantin scholars and bibliographers had never seen a copy and one hasn’t been described before. It’s kind of like we’re rediscovering it.”
Of nearly 75,000 copies printed by the Plantin Press between 1589 and 1610, only 81 surviving copies have been identified, with McMaster’s being the only known surviving copy printed in this size and format with copper engraved illustrations.
According to St. Onge, many of these books did not survive, owing to a combination of their small size, extensive everyday use, and the ways religious practice changed over time.
Chancellor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, Msgr. Murray Kroetsch, said the book provides a good insight into how Christians, most especially members of religious institutes prayed each day in the late 16th and early 17th century and an important primary source for liturgical scholars who study the Church’s public prayer.
“The news of the discovery is timely as the Christian world enters the holiest week of the year and will gather publicly to celebrate one of the most central mysteries of our faith,” Kroetsch wrote in an email to CBC Hamilton.
“[It’s] a good reminder that as we pray today, we are participating in a deeply rooted tradition of public Christian prayer and devotion.”
Wade Wyckoff, associate university librarian at McMaster University Libraries, said uncovering the significance of the book highlights the importance of archives and research collections.
“The hidden special collections project is proving tremendously valuable,” Wyckoff said.
“We are cataloguing hundreds of items in our collection for the first time through this work, and, as exciting as it is to open those new resources for use, we are also making significant discoveries about our collections by revisiting previously catalogued materials.
“This project, along with the work done by others in the department, emphasizes the importance of preserving, describing, and returning to these rare and unique resources,” Wyckoff added.
Meanwhile, St. Onge said the book will be included in the upcoming exhibit at the McMaster University Libraries archives starting in early May.
“So [people] could look at it in person, it’ll be behind a glass case,” she said.
“There’ll [also] be an online version of that exhibit, so if you can’t come in person to McMaster, you can look at the online version.”
St. Onge said she is working on updating catalogue records to reflect the book’s significance, and she also plans to write a short article in a scholarly journal to inform others of the book’s existence.
