Owners
One of the most interesting aspects of our copy of the Astrolabium, a landmark text in the Renaissance science of astrology, is that within its pages is a written record of many of its previous owners, when it had been purchased, and from whence it had come, including Henry White, from Lichfield, who signed and dated his book August 16, 1805.
The most famous person who owned this book is ‘Thomas Lister, Astrologer’. Mr. Lister was rather well-known in his day for his accurate prediction of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, and a few libraries still hold broadside advertisements as scraps of ephemera. According to an obituary taken from the Sacramento Daily Union (v. 7, nr. 159, 24 August 1878):
“[Thomas Lister’s] death recalls one of the greatest prophecies ever made – great because of the terrible event it foreshadowed, and which came to be true. Those who remember him will recollect that in the fall of 1864, he prophesied the time when the civil struggle [...] would end, and also the President’s assassination. His prophecy was fully contained in a communication to the Herald, written and signed by him on September 29, 1864. [...] The fulfillment of the prophecy is now history.”
Curious as to what the prophecy said, I continued to read, and decided to provide a tiny sample:
“The transit of the evil planet Mars, in opposition with his ascendant, plainly shows that the [war] will last until the month of April, 1865...”
This copy seems to have been through a number of owners. The inside front cover bears the written name of a Reverend John Finley Tunbridge Wells and is dated 1809. The book also came along with an old catalogue card, typewritten somewhat hastily it appears. This card describes the book, its condition at the time, and notes that in 1950, no other copy seems to have existed in the United States.
Le vray cuisinier françois arrived at the University of Iowa as part of a collection donated by Louis Szathmary. Born in Hungary, Szathmary became a culinary celebrity in 1950s America. The chef, who would go on to make meals for astronauts and presidents, was an avid collector of books on food. His collection housed in the University of Iowa Library’s special collections department, features a wide range of culinary texts that date from 1600 to 1963. In a letter accompanying his donation, Szathmary wrote, “I appreciate the physical appearance of books almost as much as their contents. There's something heartwarming about the craftsmanship of fine binding, good paper, elegant design, and meticulous printing.”
The Szathmary copy of Le vray cuisinier françois tells the story of a work whose contents have influenced the craft of a series of important chefs. Well worn and well-traveled—the front turn-in has notes from a London bookseller and the back is graced with the pictured lithograph of a Hungarian college—the physical appearance of the book bears the marks of a history of use. From its publication in the late 17th century, we can see that this copy has been wildly successful in carrying out the intentions of its creators. As it passed from hand to hand and from continent to continent, the knowledge it contains developed and refined into a global culinary tradition. The fact that a copy of this early cookbook made its way, through the hands of celebrity, to an Iowa library is evidence of the effectiveness of the book’s material construction. The value of the book’s contents are constantly being shown in kitchens in Paris, New York, Hungary, and anywhere else where traditional French cuisine still thrives and on whose menus a number of La Varenne’s dishes can still be found.