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Oldest
objects in the Rare Book
Department?
Five (5) Cuneiforms (inscribed Babylonian
clay tablets) dating from 2350 B.C.
Our
earliest bound manuscript
book?
Book of sermons : biblical writings and
thoughts, a hand-written lectionary that dates
from 925 A.D. Published in France and written in
Latin.
Oldest
newspaper in our
collection?
The Boston Newsletter. On the stands from
April 22, 1704 to February 22, 1776. The first
continuously published newspaper in the United
States. Publick Occurrences Both forreign and
Domestick was issued in Boston in 1690 by
Benjamin Harris, but was suppressed after the first
issue. RBD has several copies of the original
"Newsletters", and most issues are on
microform.
Our
earliest printed book in
America?
The Whole book of Psalmes faithfully translated
into English metre. Printed in 1640 in
Cambridge, this book was worth $151,000 in 1947.
The Department has two of the eleven existing
copies.
Our
oldest printed
book?
A Latin Dictionary printed in Germany circa
1460. Johann Gutenburg is believed to have been the
printer.
Our
smallest
book?
Rudyard Kippling's The Recessional. It is
1.1 cm. (about half an inch) high, and contains
about ten (10) pages. Published at Spoke Plat,
Arkansas.
The
largest and most expensive printed
set?
Birds of America, the Audubon's Double
Elephant Folio. The set is made of 435 plates which
were issued separately (it was up to the purchaser
to bind them), and weighs sixty (60) pounds.
A copy of this set was sold in New York in 1995 for
$1,200,000. The separate color plates, with picture
of birds, were bound together by the library. This
treasure is kept in a library safe.
What
makes a book
rare?
Tricky question! Here are some criteria that are
used when we are considering the rarity of a
book:Age,Scarcity, Aesthetic or financial
worth,Association with notable persons or
happenings.
Other
famous FAQs
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