George Dunn (1864-1912) of Woolley Hall and his price code(s)

"EXHUMATION" is in the process of preparing a much expanded second edition of his excellent The Price-Codes of the Book-Trade: A Preliminary Guide (2010) (cf. here). I have contributed a few new codes, but one has so far eluded us, so I present some of the evidence here in the hope that a reader might be able to solve the puzzle before the second edition goes to press.

George Dunn's books are usually easy to recognise: they typically contain a book-label as follows:

On the facing flyleaf there are sometimes bibliographical comments, and almost always an acquisition-note consisting of a price-code, his initials "G.D.", and the date:

λρη | G.D. | Oct. 1907

The price-codes usually consist of two or three minuscule letters of the Greek alphabet, but the numerals that they represent has never, to my knowledge, been decoded.

A Loose Flyleaf in Canberra

Sometimes the most unassuming fragments turn out to be among the most informative. Looking at images of recently-digitised manuscript fragments at the National Library of Australia, Canberra, my eye was caught by a flyleaf with the stencilled crest of Thomas Phillipps on the verso:

[Source]

and on the recto various late-medieval inscriptions:

[Source] 

An Unrecognised Book of Hours Made for Philip the Good [III]

I said in a previous post that I would give a list of the contents of Smith College, MS 288.

Smith College, MS 288, fol. 143r [source]

As the manuscript has a considerable number of unusual prayers, I provide here a detailed (but not exhaustive) list of its contents, so that, once indexed by Google and other search engines, researchers looking for unusual incipits may find this page.

Manuscrits et livres précieux retrouvés en Allemagne (1949)

My recent posts about manuscripts recovered from Germany after World War II seem to have been popular, so here is another, consisting mainly just of images of the catalogue including its brief preface, followed by a few identifications.

Manuscrits et livres précieux retrouvés en Allemagne: Exposition organisée par la Commission de récupération artistique (Bibliothèque nationale, Paris, 1949).

The MFA Jaquemart de Hesdin Miniatures

In a post almost a year ago I mentioned that one of the most interesting things about a cutting at the LA County Museum of Art, is what the text on its back tells us about the parent manuscript.

I was recently able to see the four sister cuttings at the MFA, Boston, and a Conservator there kindly relaxed the hinge of the Entombment miniature (43.215) for me, so that the reverse can now be seen and photographed more easily.

The Hours of Philip Ringstone

Looking through old photos taken on a visit to Bristol Reference Library I came across my pictures of their MS 11.

A Psalter Leaf at Harvard

When writing the previous post about the leaves and cuttings sold by Gustav Nebehay in 1926, I concentrated on the catalogue entries that are accompanied by reproductions. I also looked through the descriptions that do not have plates, however, and felt sure I recognised lot 120, but could not immediately remember where I knew it from:

"120   Baptism of Christ. An interesting and early miniature of John Baptising Christ (140mm. by 95mm.). On the left is John the Baptist ... In the centre the figure of Christ in Jordan ... On the right an attendant angel with towel. On the back of the miniature is a large and finely designed initial B in burnished gold on a blue ground ... Germany, XIII Cent."

Soon after posting the blog I remembered where I had seen it: it is now Houghton Library, MS Typ 997 (described here):