O/T Has Thomas Becket's treasured 'little book' been found?
CharlasFolio Society Devotees
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2English-bookseller
Christopher de Hamel is possibly England's most accomplished and knowledgeable bibliophile.
A friend of mine bought one of his books at a Book Festival and asked the author to sign it, which he did on ... the half title page. My friend asked him why he had not signed the title page and received the answer that a book should never be signed on the title page - the half title page was where it should be signed.
A friend of mine bought one of his books at a Book Festival and asked the author to sign it, which he did on ... the half title page. My friend asked him why he had not signed the title page and received the answer that a book should never be signed on the title page - the half title page was where it should be signed.
3MsMixte
Too bad the cover is no longer extant. I would love to read a follow-up on this a few years from now to see if anything new has been uncovered which could more closely link this psalter to Becket.
4Jayked
>2 English-bookseller: Hmm. A great many busy booksellers would miss a signature that wasn't on the title page. I don't collect signatures, but of those that I unwittingly acquired, only one was not on the title page. That was by the late, great Fred Bason, bookseller, pathological autograph collector, and author, who never saw a blank sheet he didn't want to sign. His Diaries had heavily decorated title pages with little room left for his dreadful puns, so he let himself loose on the front free endpaper, which he filled. But that wasn't all. The promotional booklet for Shippam's Paste, included at no extra cost, was inscribed on the cover.
5folio_books
>2 English-bookseller: Christopher de Hamel is possibly England's most accomplished and knowledgeable bibliophile.
I agree. I have his book "Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts", recommended to me by another devotee (hello Huxley) and he's quite the most gifted guide I've ever encountered.
I agree. I have his book "Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts", recommended to me by another devotee (hello Huxley) and he's quite the most gifted guide I've ever encountered.
6Jayked
>5 folio_books:
Me too. But isn't that a non-Folio?
Me too. But isn't that a non-Folio?
8folio_books
>6 Jayked: But isn't that a non-Folio?
Ach, you caught me. In mitigation I keep it because of the recommendation by Huxley. And because it's a great book. I'll confess to having other non-Folios, too, but they're not part of the collection and, shelf space becoming more critical over the last couple of years or so, it's Folio in, non-Folio out, That fate that has befallen dozens of perfectly-good-but-not-a-Folio books in the recent past.
Ach, you caught me. In mitigation I keep it because of the recommendation by Huxley. And because it's a great book. I'll confess to having other non-Folios, too, but they're not part of the collection and, shelf space becoming more critical over the last couple of years or so, it's Folio in, non-Folio out, That fate that has befallen dozens of perfectly-good-but-not-a-Folio books in the recent past.
9TabbyTom
Many thanks for this thread. I'm afraid I didn't know of Christopher de Hamel until now, nor about Thomas Becket's book. But because of what I read here I ordered de Hamel's book. It arrived today, having taken a little time to reach me from the USA. So far I've only had time to glance at the illustrations and dip into the text, but it looks as if it will be a very interesting read for many days, if not weeks, to come.
Again, thank you.
Again, thank you.
