Adam Hall – History of the Book 2024

Richard Knolles’ The Generall Historie of the Turkes has enjoyed a long afterlife. Since its first publication in 1603 later scholars republished and updated the book, and it gained the respect of notable writers. The copy which now resides in the archives of Dickinson College, a first edition, bears witness to this four-century long history. While the provenance of this copy only becomes clear from the mid-twentieth century, the book carries several marks of this past–seemingly having been subject to many repair jobs.

From the moment it of publication in 1603, The Generall Historie became an instant classic. The book, being the first major English work tackling the history of the Turks, garnered an appreciation for Knolles’ ability to create a narrative from different sources (Woodhead 2004). This regard can be seen by the fact that The Generall Historie got republished in six editions in its first century of existence (Woodhead 2004). These were not mere reprints either; other authors such as Edward Grimeston extended the narrative to the year of their publications using diplomatic dispatches, even after Knolles’ death Woodhead 2004). That subsequent scholars felt the need to regularly update the history marks it as something special.

Scholars endured in their appreciation for the work. Writing in The Rambler no. 122 over a century after Knolles wrote his book, writer and critic Samuel Johnson praised him as the best historian England ever had, and that The Generall Historie in particular, “displayed all the excellencies that narration can admit” (Johnson 1751). The book’s influence does not stop there; Its fans included Lord Byron, and scholars believe it influenced even the writing of Knolles’ contemporary, Shakespeare (Bingham 2017). All this is to say that, centuries after first being put into print, The Generall Historie became immensely popular and shaped the English world’s perception of the Ottoman Empire and of History writing.

Figure 1: the beginning of the Discourse section

One question that that emerged during my research is over the book’s last section, titled “A briefe discourse of the greatnesse of the Turkish empire.” According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Knolles added this section starting with the second edition, making its presence in a first edition striking (Woodhead 2004). It of course could have been added after the fact–it starts at the beginning of a gathering, according to the signature mark–but that the page also contains the end of the proper narrative bugged me (figure 1). Surely the placement would not so neatly align between editions, and the discourse would start on a separate page. As an amateur I could not discern if this section got added afterwards by physically examining it, so comparing it to other copies became my best bet. I found a digitized first edition on Google books, and it matched Dickinson’s copy exactly, and a digitized 1631 edition on the Internet Archive has the same discourse on its own page after a continuation of Knolles’ narrative. It is certainly possible that two copies could have been altered the same way, but I believe this is doubtful. More work must be done to know for sure. Two possible scenarios include the title page simply wrong, or that the ODNB’s claim is incorrect.

Figure 2: various marks and doodles picked up over the centuries

Besides this possible addition, the only marks from the first few centuries of the book’s life are scant doodles and the wear of time (figure 2). More recently, however, the book has seen quite substantial repair work. Certain pages have extensive decay; large chunks of paper missing and their edges frayed. In these areas, someone has added a backing of a thin sheet of perhaps rice paper to stabilize the damage (figure 3).

Figure 3: An example of extremely worn pages with repairs

There have also been missteps. On page 534 and 535, another person appears to have placed several pieces of tape, the adhesive leaving massive brown stains on the pages (figure 4). It is unknown when work occurred, but they certainly wanted to preserve this copy.

Figure 4: Tape and stains from the adhesive

During the early 1940s Dickinson’s copy finally surfaces in the historical record. At some point, this copy came into the possession of Francis Wayne McVeagh. According to an inscription on the reverse of the title page, he gifted the book to his friend T. Edward Munce on June 13, 1941. An alumnus of Dickinson College (class of ’39), he sent the book to the institution in 1958 according to a memo, where it has resided ever since

Figure 5: Memo that dates when The Generall Historie came to Dickinson

(figure 5). This paper trail may give insight into another of the book’s mysteries: when it got rebound. The current binding is not original; the endpapers are of a much different stock, and the title on the spine has the modern spelling for starters. This begs the question of when this rebinding took place? A clue might be that MacVeagh’s message to Munce is written on the title page. Why not on write this on the blank endpapers instead of the centuries old paper? Munce wrote his name on the endpapers at some point, so why not MacVeagh? A possible solution could be that the rebinding occurred when MacVeagh or Munce owned the book. MacVeagh could not have written on the endpapers because they did not exist. This theory is, admittedly, a stretch. The work required to definitively prove this one way or the other is beyond my ability, requiring someone properly trained in book conservation and history.

The Generall Historie of the Turkes has been enjoyed by countless readers over the centuries. As an important work of history, its value has been recognized by several of those readers. As a work of history, it serves as a testament to that discipline’s early beginnings. The quality of Knolles’ narration impressed many critics over the centuries like Samuel Johnson. The care put into its restoration by a mystery book conservator who repaired this copy’s pages proves many people have recognized the immense value in its pages. The Generall Historie of the Turkes has had quite the afterlife indeed.

Works Cited

Bingham, Jonathan. “On Jon’s Desk: The Generall Historie of the Turkes, a beautiful book

linking the past with the present.” The University of Utah, 27 Mar. 2017, https://openbook.lib.utah.edu/tag/the-generall-historie-of-the-turkes/.

“Generall Historie of the Turkes First Edition – Richard Knolles.” Bauman Rare Books

<https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/knolles-richard/generall-historie-of-the-turkes/111711.aspx>

Knolles, Richard. The Generall Historie of the Turkes. Adam Islip, 1603.

Knolles, Richard. The Generall Historie of the Turkes. Adam Islip, 1603. Google Books.

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_generall_historie_of_the_Turkes.html?id=BudbAAAAcAAJ.

Knolles, Richard. The Generall Historie of the Turkes. Adam Islip, 1603. Internet Archive, 2

Mar. 2021, https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.02270/page/n805/mode/2up.

“The Rambler.: [pt.4].” In the digital collection Eighteenth Century Collections Online.

University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/004772607.0001.004.

Woodhead, Christine. “Knolles, Richard.” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford

University Press, 2004. https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128- e-15752?rskey=i063hN&result=1#odnb-9780198614128-e-15752-div1-d1770859e286.

Fig. 1: Title page with Laurence Johnson’s engraving

The first thing one notices about The Generall Historie of the Turkes is its size. Standing a 12 in long by 8½ in wide by 3⅞ in tall and consisting of over 1152 pages, one cannot help but be drawn to it. This curiosity is rewarded when, turning over the cover, you are greeted by an intricate engraving that depicted the title flanked by a colonnade and two armored men (figure 1). The sheer length of the title, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, From the First Beginning of That Nation to the Rising of the Othoman Familie: with all the Notable Expeditions of the Christian Princes Against Them. Together With the Lives and Conquests of the Othoman Kings and Emperors Faithfullie Collected Out of the Best Histories, Both Ancient and Moderne, and Digested into One Continuat Historie Untill This Present Yeare 1603, demands further investigation.

Fig. 2: Bookplate and Munce’s signature

Apart from its artistry of this page, engraved by Laurence Johnson, one can glean much information about the book’s biography. Richard Knolles authored it, and Adam Islip published the work in London 1603, making it a first edition (“Generall Historie of the Turkes First Edition – Richard Knolles”). T. Edward Munce Sr is written on the bookplate, informing the observer who donated the book to Dickinson, where it currently resides (figure 2). A friend named Francis Wayne MacVeagh apparently gave the book to Munce, evidenced by an inscription on the back of the title page, though where he got the book is not apparent. A last name is associated with the book, King James I of England, to whom a lengthy dedication is written just after the title page (figure 3). This regal audience explains the amount of money put into the work.

Fig. 4: The book cover, showing the worn leather binding

Fig. 3: Dedication to King James I

The Generall Historie of the Turkes’ physical condition has much to tell an observer about the book’s story. The binding, composed of half leather and half stiff fabric according to archivist Melinda Triller, is obviously not original but still is showing its age (figure 4). The leather is heavily worn along the joint making the front cover feel like it might detach from the book. It is also flaking-small, almost powdery bits are left on the desk after handling. The bottom right corner is torn, revealing the cardboard beneath. Despite this exterior wear, the book never feels at risk of falling apart in your hands. Acid from the leather, or perhaps the glue holding down the boards, has stained the end papers that got installed with the new binding, which is of a much sturdier stock of paper than the book itself (figure 2).

Fig. 5: An example of extremely worn pages with repairs

The original paper is of varying quality and state of repair. For the most part it has held up well; the paper is sturdy and thick. However, occasionally, the paper feels quite thin and flimsy, reminding you that the book is centuries old. The most glaring issues are the several pages that are far more worn, its edges frayed and stained (figure 5). These pages have had substantial repair work done to them, with the deteriorated page affixed to a backing of thin paper that has an almost tape-like texture to it. The backing brings the page back to its original proportions and stops more wear from page turning. Some pages in the front matter have been cropped, as evidenced by Laurence Johnson’s name being partially cut off (figure 1).

Fig. 7: Portrait with a poem

The book is full of other of Johnson’s engravings. He made detailed headpieces for the different sections of the history, along with initial letters for each chapter. Most impressive, I would say, are the black-and-white engravings of the Ottoman kings and emperors’ portraits present at the beginning of their respective biographies, as well as that of some of the other important figures such as Skanderbeg (figure 6). The beginning of each monarch’s biography also has a poem, written by Knolles or another poet, and written in both Latin and English about their reign (figure 7). Knolles also put aides for his Christian audience that list some contemporaneous rulers of Europe. These features make this book special and show off the care taken in its crafting.

Fig. 6: Two example portraits

Fig. 8: A page with no paragraph breaks

Fig. 9: Knolles’ use of quotations in the narrative

Reading the book is interesting as a modern person. Paragraph breaks are scarce, some pages having none (figure 8). Perhaps to aid with this, several letters are placed in the margins to break up the walls of text. The largest barrier to surmount, though, is the 17th century spelling. The infamous long s is easy enough to adapt to, but other quirks like how v and u seemingly being interchangeable slows reading down considerably. Trying to parse words such as ‘diuers’ (diverse) is particularly a challenging experience. The content of the book is more chronology that what we would call history, although Knolles tries to explain the Ottomans’ success in an afterword. His narrative style is accentuated by his inclusion of sometimes long quotations of speeches (figure 9). To aid the reader’s understanding of chronology, and to help find certain events, short blurbs are placed in the margins summarizing events.

Fig. 10: Someone notated the book with blue ink

Fig. 11: Another person’s doodles

The last 421 years have left the book with many marks. There are, of course, the various stains one might expect from such an old book, from water or occasional ink. Along with these, though, are some quite intriguing finds. For a few pages starting with pg. 220, someone notated the text with blue ink, underlining certain passages (figure 10). Bayezid I’s conflict in with Tamerlane greatly interested this mystery annotator, it would seem. Another annotator made many doodles and marks around page 468 (figure 11). There is some damage, such as a tear on page 309 and interestingly a burn mark on page 248 (figure 12). The most humanizing, I think, is someone’s math on page 293 (figure 13). This equation to figure out how long ago an event took place really spoke to me, showing how I am connected through this physical artifact to someone from 1722.

Fig. 12: The tear and burn

Fig.13: Someone’s math to figure out how long ago an event occurred

Works Cited

“Generall Historie of the Turkes First Edition – Richard Knolles.” Bauman Rare Books

<https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/knolles-richard/generall-historie-of-the-turkes/111711.aspx>

Knolles, Richard. The Generall Historie of the Turkes. Adam Islip, 1603.

Author: Adam Hall

The Generall Historie of the Turkes’s Long Legacy

The Generall Historie of the Turkes

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