Bookplates, inscriptions and provenance

Older bookplates and inscriptions are invaluable to the bibliophile who
wishes to know the provenance of a particular work, yet it is amazing how
little information there seems to be about it.

I am currently trying to track down Catholic books known to have been owned
by English Protestants in the first half of the 17th century. I put the
question to an illustrious mailing list of librarians and bibliophiles
(http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byfor...ists/exlibris/) and, so far,
no one has been able to suggest even one Catholic title that can be
identified, by bookplate or inscription, as having been owned by an English
Protestant during the period in question.

There are other ways of getting at the information, of course; library lists
which survive from the period are probably my best source. But there must be
corroborative evidence from bookplates and inscriptions, if only I could
access it.

One person contacted me off-list with an excellent idea; if you go to COPAC
(http://copac.ac.uk/wzgw?f=f&form=A%2FT&id=1308198) and simply type
"previously owned" in the author field you get thousands of results! All
thanks to anonymous librarians who included that field in their cataloguing
procedure. ;-)

Unfortunately, once I set the date parameters to the period I'm working on
very little turns up, none of it relevant. :-(

I may get some results by typing in the names of various prominent 17th
century Englishmen in the author field and something may show up. I already
have a near-miss (falling just outside the period I'm interested in). But
it's a slow process, and I can only find further information about people I
already know about; I can't turn up anyone new.

So, has anyone got any other ideas for getting hold of information of this
kind?

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com

John Yamamoto-Wilson wrote (snip)
I am currently trying to track down Catholic books known to have been owned
by English Protestants in the first half of the 17th century.

This must be a thin market, as Catholics at that time were liable to
financial penalties, and - depending exactly what part of the first half -
viewed with great suspicion, so one must assume that if people owned
Catholic books, they wouldn't generally want to broadcast it.

You could try using suitable booksellers' and auctioneers' catalogues.
There is a dealer over here, John Bevan, who specialises in Catholic books,
so may be able to help, if you are not already in contact with him.

Regards,

John Townsend
Old Books on Genealogy and British Local History,
Always a good selection on my web site:
http://www.johntownsend.demon.co.uk

John Townsend wrote:

This must be a thin market, as Catholics at that time were
liable to financial penalties, and - depending exactly what
part of the first half - viewed with great suspicion, so one
must assume that if people owned Catholic books, they
wouldn't generally want to broadcast it.

Well, that's certainly the prevailing model we have of the period.

The other side of the story is that half of Europe was Catholic, the English
themselves had basically been Catholic as recently as the reign of Queen
Mary, a huge controversy between Catholics and Protestants was sweeping
Europe, English Catholics themselves published enough books (abroad or
secretly in England) to fill two hefty catalogues (Allison and Rogers, The
English Counter-Reformation), and preventing the influx of Catholic books
was like turning back the River Jordan.

H.S. Bennett, English Books and Readers, 1603-1640, notes that, while there
was certainly censorship, the rules were impossible to enforce effectively.
Louis L. Martz, The Poetry of Meditation, notes the wide availability of
Catholic material, and builds an entire thesis demonstrating the profound
influence of Catholic culture on 17th century English literature. These
works have been around for a long time, but they still haven't been properly
taken on board, though there is a growing body of research which takes these
perceptions into account.

One crucial thing modern scholarship often overlooks is that the clergy were
exempt from the general ban on Catholic books; they could own them with
impunity. A lot of the works I am concerned with were owned by Anglican
divines. Of course, most of the stuff that was being smuggled was written in
English and intended for Catholics and Catholic sympathisers; the clergy
still did much of their reading in Latin, and - as far as the distribution
and dissemination of Catholic works in English libraries and collections is
concerned - many of the relevant books were written in Latin.

Still, check - for example - the library of your namesake, Sir Thomas
Townsend, in circa 1625; he possessed Protestant adaptations of Catholic
works (of which there was a fair number), such as Bunny$B!G(Bs edition of The
Book of Resolution and Meres$B!G(B translation of Granada, Granados Devotion,
openly-published Catholic works (of which there were a few), such as Thomas
Lodge$B!G(Bs translation of Granada, A Paradise of Praiers, 16th century works
with a strong Catholic whiff about them, such as Thomas Becon$B!G(Bs The
Pomander of Prayers, and Catholic works printed secretly or abroad, such as
the works of Robert Parsons (in English). And he was of staunch reformist
stock! (See R.J. Fehrenbach and E.S. Leedham-Green, editors, Private
Libraries in Renaissance England, for details of Townsend's and other
libraries of the period.)

So, to put it mildly, the model is very misleading.

You could try using suitable booksellers' and auctioneers'
catalogues. There is a dealer over here, John Bevan, who
specialises in Catholic books, so may be able to help, if
you are not already in contact with him.

That's a thought; we've done dealings in the past, but nothing recent, and I
have quite a few catalogues I could sift through. However, I'm coming to
feel that library lists of the period are a quicker and easier way of
getting at the kind of information I'm looking for.

Anyway, thanks for taking an interest!

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com

I take John's point here, and I recall being surprised to read in a book,
"The English Recusant" (I think) that the extent of Catholicism in England
as late as about 1600 was around one third.

I have traced my Townsend ancestors back to the year 1638, when Erasmus
Townsend, a basket maker, married in the Nottinghamshire village of Lenton.
I have never found his origins. For years I assumed that the forename,
Erasmus, indicated Protestant parentage. Only recently have I questioned
that, and I see now that it is asserted in a well known book on forenames
that the name Erasmus was often conferred in Catholic families.

There is a Catholic Family History Society over here, of which a
genealogist, Michael Gandy, is a leading light. It is possible they may be
able to assist in your search. Let me know if contact details required.

Best wishes,

John Townsend
Old Books on Genealogy and British Local History,
Always a good selection on my web site:
http://www.johntownsend.demon.co.uk

John Yamamoto-Wilson wrote in message ...
John Townsend wrote:

This must be a thin market, as Catholics at that time were
liable to financial penalties, and - depending exactly what
part of the first half - viewed with great suspicion, so one
must assume that if people owned Catholic books, they
wouldn't generally want to broadcast it.

Well, that's certainly the prevailing model we have of the period.

The other side of the story is that half of Europe was Catholic, the
English
themselves had basically been Catholic as recently as the reign of Queen
Mary, a huge controversy between Catholics and Protestants was sweeping
Europe, English Catholics themselves published enough books (abroad or
secretly in England) to fill two hefty catalogues (Allison and Rogers, The
English Counter-Reformation), and preventing the influx of Catholic books
was like turning back the River Jordan.

H.S. Bennett, English Books and Readers, 1603-1640, notes that, while there
was certainly censorship, the rules were impossible to enforce effectively.
Louis L. Martz, The Poetry of Meditation, notes the wide availability of
Catholic material, and builds an entire thesis demonstrating the profound
influence of Catholic culture on 17th century English literature. These
works have been around for a long time, but they still haven't been
properly
taken on board, though there is a growing body of research which takes
these
perceptions into account.

One crucial thing modern scholarship often overlooks is that the clergy
were
exempt from the general ban on Catholic books; they could own them with
impunity. A lot of the works I am concerned with were owned by Anglican
divines. Of course, most of the stuff that was being smuggled was written
in
English and intended for Catholics and Catholic sympathisers; the clergy
still did much of their reading in Latin, and - as far as the distribution
and dissemination of Catholic works in English libraries and collections is
concerned - many of the relevant books were written in Latin.

Still, check - for example - the library of your namesake, Sir Thomas
Townsend, in circa 1625; he possessed Protestant adaptations of Catholic
works (of which there was a fair number), such as Bunny$B!G(Bs edition of
The
Book of Resolution and Meres$B!G(B translation of Granada, Granados
Devotion,
openly-published Catholic works (of which there were a few), such as Thomas
Lodge$B!G(Bs translation of Granada, A Paradise of Praiers, 16th century
works
with a strong Catholic whiff about them, such as Thomas Becon$B!G(Bs The
Pomander of Prayers, and Catholic works printed secretly or abroad, such as
the works of Robert Parsons (in English). And he was of staunch reformist
stock! (See R.J. Fehrenbach and E.S. Leedham-Green, editors, Private
Libraries in Renaissance England, for details of Townsend's and other
libraries of the period.)

So, to put it mildly, the model is very misleading.

You could try using suitable booksellers' and auctioneers'
catalogues. There is a dealer over here, John Bevan, who
specialises in Catholic books, so may be able to help, if
you are not already in contact with him.

That's a thought; we've done dealings in the past, but nothing recent, and
I
have quite a few catalogues I could sift through. However, I'm coming to
feel that library lists of the period are a quicker and easier way of
getting at the kind of information I'm looking for.

Anyway, thanks for taking an interest!

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com