Published: May 10, 2017 • By Lauren Price

10 Facts About the Rarest听Works听in Norlin Library's Special Collections

origin of species

1) A leaf from a Latin Bible,听"The Dragon Leaf,"听1240 CE

Note: Featuring Leviticus 26:26. The blue of the illuminated initial was painted with lapis lazuli, imported from Afghanistan.听 听

2) A leaf from a Gutenberg Bible, 1450-1455 CE

Note: Gutenberg printed only 180 during the three years he was in business. This leaf shows a very rare mistake!听

3) A collection of works by Katibi of Nishapur, c. 1600 CE

Note: This handwritten volume features works by the renowned 13th century Persian poet.听 听听

4) Handwritten Latin Bible from Paris, 1210-1220 CE

Note: One leaf in the book of Genesis features a miniature illumination of the Creation.听

5) North African handwritten collection of devotions, with chapters of the Quran听

Note: Compiled in the late 18th or early 19th century, this small pocket-sized volume may have come from Morocco.听

6) Collection of astronomical tables by scholars working under Alfonso X of Castile听 听 听

Note: Though the original work dated from the 13th century, this edition was printed in Venice in 1483.听

7)听 The Mercator Atlas, 10th edition, published in 1630听

Note: The atlas features an early (1587) map of the New World.听 听

8) Darwin's On the Origin of Species, 1859 CE

Note: Only 1250 of this first edition/first printing were published.听 听听

9) Deed from the Court of Augmentations, Edward VI听(son of Henry VIII), 1547 CE

Note: This deed was a product of the English Court of Augmentation.听 It includes a wax seal that features Edward VI on the throne and, on the reverse, depicts the young king on horseback, an attempt to portray him as a vigorous monarch.听

10) Legal account book of anti-slavery lawyer, Caleb Sipple Layton, in Georgetown, Delaware, 1846-1882 CE

Note: Layton handled freedom petition cases, manumission settlements, and other transactions for over fifty African-Americans.

Two honorable mentions:

11) Account book of Virginian slaveholder, William Ragland

Note: The slaves of William Ragland, a Virginia slaveholder, were set free upon his death in 1849. This account book notes the debts and interest charged to each slave by the estate of their former master and illustrates the financial struggles of freed slaves in antebellum America.

12) Miniature Hebrew Bible, late 19th Century

Note: This miniature from Warsaw, Poland, is encased with silver with a built-in magnifying glass to enhance its readability.听 听听

To see听these items yourself, visit the Norlin Library Special Collections听& Archives. Get hours of operation or schedule an appointment听.听

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Photo by Lauren Price听