The publication of Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus’s De revolutionibus orbium caelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) caused a stir among both scientific and religious communities in the mid 16th century. Postulating that the earth turned on its axis and with the other planets orbited the sun, Copernicus’s work challenged the long-held theories of Ptolemy that claimed the earth was the center of the universe. Likewise, De revolutionibus was condemned by the Church for challenging the centrality of man and the literalness of the Bible. Haverford’s copy includes underlinings and marginal annotations in two hands, including passages to be censured. This volume is part of the William Pyle Philips Collection of Rare Books, which contains many fine volumes representative of Western humanistic thought.

The first printing of Shakespeare’s complete plays of 1623 is known today as the “First Folio” and it might rightly be considered the Holy Grail of rare book collecting. Haverford owns a copy of the First Folio as well as each of the three subsequent printings of 1632, 1663/64, and 1685. In addition to the texts of the comedies, histories, and tragedies, the First Folio contains what many consider to be the most authentic engraved portrait of Shakespeare. Originally selling for £1, surviving copies of the First Folio have set record prices at auction in recent years. Haverford’s four Folios were purchased at auction in 1946 by William Pyle Philips HC ‘02 and together with over 100 other titles form the core of the William Pyle Philips Collection of Rare Books. The collection reflects Philips’ life-long interest in Shakespeare as it contains many of the poet’s works, texts that inspired him, texts of his time, and works inspired by him.

As 2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the printing of On the Origin of Species, we recently went through the process of adding our First Edition copy to the official Darwin Census. 

The objectives of the Darwin Census are:

1. to establish the frequency of the known variants;
2. to identify any unknown variants; and
3. to locate missing presentation copies.

Eventually the results of the Census will be posted to Darwin Online.

In the process of registering our copy we noted that while ours is indeed a first edition text, it is housed in a second edition binding!  This was not an uncommon occurrence for books having seen some use to be re-cased in a newer binding at a later date.  Distinguishing features of a First Edition text include the publication date of 1859 and only two quotations on the verso opposite the title page.  It also has the word “speceies” misspelled on page 20, line 11.  The distinguishing feature of our Second Edition binding is a single full point (“.”) after the word MURRAY at the bottom of the spine!

Our copy is in good condition and the text is complete, including the advertisements at the back of the book.  It has some minor foxing and noticeable fingerprints at the bottom of many of the pages, a sure sign of use.  Our reader also noted the misspelling on page 20 and has crossed out the offending letter in pencil!  It contains a bookplate for previous owner John Hadmar Sticht, a doctor who received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1952.  It was purchased by the College in 1970.

Our copy is now known as No. 10036 and, like all of our rare books, is available for viewing in the Special Collections Reading Room.

There are many books in the Rare Book Collection at Haverford – each notable and valuable in its own way. However, sometimes those distinguishing characteristics are most noticeable in contrast.

During exam week this semester, May 5 – May 9, 2008, a daily presentation of rare books will be on exhibit in Special Collections. Each day a LARGE book will be displayed juxtaposed with a small book – both sharing a common theme. You will be able to enjoy each book individually but also admire the contrasts that become evident by the comparison.

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