{"id":512,"date":"2024-12-13T22:11:44","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T22:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/historyofthebook2024\/?p=512"},"modified":"2024-12-13T22:11:44","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T22:11:44","slug":"the-known-and-unknown-afterlife-of-divine-songs-for-children-1812","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/historyofthebook2024\/2024\/12\/13\/the-known-and-unknown-afterlife-of-divine-songs-for-children-1812\/","title":{"rendered":"The Known and Unknown Afterlife of Divine Songs for Children, 1812"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dickinson College Archive\u2019s copy of <\/span>Divine Songs for Children<\/span><\/i>, printed by Archibald Loudon in 1812, is far from in its pristine condition.\u00a0 It has many signs of wear, along with indications of its importance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The archives have no records of any previous owners of the small book (it measures a modest 10.25cm x 6.8cm x 0.2cm ).\u00a0 However, it is apparent from markings on the first two pages of <\/span>Divine Songs<\/span><\/i> that it had at least one owner before its time in the archives.\u00a0 On the very first page of the book, above the frontispiece, someone wrote on the upper margin in script.\u00a0 Overtime, the ink has faded and expanded.\u00a0 This, together with what appears to be water stains on the top left corner of the page, makes it difficult to read the words with certainty.\u00a0 The first line seems to be someone\u2019s name, maybe \u201cSarah Muller.\u201d\u00a0 Or maybe it\u2019s \u201cSarah Milter.\u201d\u00a0 Presumably, this \u201cSarah\u201d was an owner of <\/span>Divine Songs, <\/span><\/i>possibly even the book’s original owner.\u00a0 Written underneath the name is a date, \u201cJanuary 11th, 1834.\u201d\u00a0 Before the date there is another word, which I believe says, \u201cborn on.\u201d\u00a0 January 11th, 1834 is likely Sarah\u2019s birthday, meaning the book might have been a gift for her birth or her baptism.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Given the content of the book, the owners were almost certainly religious; likely they were protestants, as the author of the hymns used in <\/span>Divine Songs<\/span><\/i>, Issac Watts, was a Protestant minister.\u00a0 We do not know if <\/span>Divine Songs for Children<\/span><\/i> had a different owner before Sarah or if she was the first.\u00a0 There are twenty-two years between the year written in the book and its year of publication (<\/span>Divine Songs<\/span><\/i> was published in 1812); unfortunately, there is no information or evidence about where the book was during this time, or of any further owners, before or after Sarah.\u00a0 On the following page, there is more handwriting in the upper margin, however it is illegible.<\/span><\/p>\n

Besides the handwriting on the first page, there are many other signs of wear and use throughout the book.\u00a0 As I mentioned briefly earlier, there is a water stain on the first page and several other less severe stains on the following pages. \u00a0 The marbling on the cover is worn down, and the edges of the pages have small chips.\u00a0 On the top edge of a couple pages, most prominently page 5, there are what appear to be burn marks.\u00a0 Perhaps someone held the book too close to a candle?\u00a0 There are some areas where the text has faded, but never to the point of illegibility.\u00a0 Based on the wear that <\/span>Divine Songs for Children<\/span><\/i> has endured, I think it is unlikely that this book was heavily used, especially by a child.\u00a0 It is still, even after 212 years, in very good condition.\u00a0 There is no glaring damage, no tears or rips, no harsh creases.\u00a0 The book was used, yes, it was owned and read.\u00a0 But likely, it spent most of its life tucked away.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is unclear when <\/span>Divine Songs for Children<\/span><\/i> was acquired by the Dickinson College Archives.\u00a0 There is no record of when, or how, the book came into the archive’s possession.\u00a0 There is a <\/span>Dickinson<\/span><\/i> ink stamp on the inner margin of the third page; these ink stamps were used until 1956 whe<\/span>\"\"n the practice was updated.\u00a0 Ordinarily, books with the <\/span>Dickinson<\/span><\/i> ink stamp also had a stamp showing the book’s inventory number.\u00a0 <\/span>Divine Songs<\/span><\/i>\u2019 call number is written in pencil on the second page, but there is not a second stamp in the book.\u00a0 Starting in 1927 until the end of the century, acquisitions of the Dickinson College Archive were recorded in handwritten ledgers.\u00a0 Unfortunately, these records were not always comprehensive, and specific titles would get left out.\u00a0 For example, a record would say a title \u201cand three other books\u201d were donated, leaving many texts in the archives without records or histories.\u00a0 <\/span>Divine Songs for Children<\/span><\/i> is one of these texts.\u00a0 It is not found in the ledgers.\u00a0 Maybe it was acquired before 1927 and before the use of the ledgers?\u00a0 Or maybe it was acquired since but not documented specifically?\u00a0 The book\u2019s past is lost; its history is unknown.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u00a0<\/span>do know, however, what has happened to <\/span>Divine Songs for Children<\/span><\/i> since arriving in the archives.\u00a0 In 2020, the Dickinson College Archives worked with a preservation specialist to have a clamshell made for the book.\u00a0 This endeavor was headed by James (Jim) Gerencser, the Associate Dean for Archives & Special Collections.\u00a0 Because <\/span>Divine Songs<\/span><\/i> was not bound with any boards, it is fragile and susceptible to damage.\u00a0 The clamshell would act as a protective box for the book.\u00a0 The clamshell was custom-made for the book to fit perfectly within it.\u00a0 The clamshell was created by<\/span>\"\" Linda Sale, a preservation specialist from Oct\u00e1vaye.\u00a0 Founded in 2001, Oct\u00e1vaye is a company based in Texas that \u201cprovides artifactual restoration and preservation services\u00a0<\/span>by adding contemporary approach through art and design,\u201d (as stated on their Instagram, @octavaye).\u00a0 Looking through their profile and a blog post by another client (\u201cOctavaye\u201d), Oct\u00e1vaye specializes in custom protective boxes for books and other documents, without wor<\/span>king on the book itself.\u00a0 Oct\u00e1vaye\u2019s boxes are intricate and meticulous, covered with stunning fabrics and hand-marbled paper, often crafted with moving parts to support the book.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The clamshell for <\/span>Divine Songs<\/span><\/i> was designed to appear like a typical book from the outside.\u00a0 There is a recreation of the title page on the \u201ccover\u201d ofthe clamshell, and on the \u201cspine\u201d is a label with the title, <\/span>Divine Songs<\/span><\/i>, and the book’s call number.\u00a0 The clamshell is significantly larger than the small <\/span>Divine Songs<\/span><\/i> (the clamshell’s dimensions are 21.8cm x 14.7cm x 2.6cm).\u00a0 Along with the clamshell’s firmer makeup, its larger and more standard size allows <\/span>Divine Songs for Children<\/span><\/i> to be easily and safely shelved alongside other books in the Dickinson College Archives.\u00a0 In total, the creation of the clamshell box cost $350.00.\u00a0 This book is a valued piece of the archives, based on the effort and money put into preserving it.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Works Consulted\/Cited<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOctavaye.\u201d What\u2019s in Woodson, 17 Nov. 2020, <\/span>https:\/\/woodsononline.wordpress.com\/tag\/octavaye\/<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOctavaye-Preservation Instagram Profile.\u201d Instagram, https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/octavaye\/?hl=en. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ossoinig, Wendy. \u201cOCTAVAYE LinkedIn.\u201d LinkedIn, https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/octavaye\/. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWatts, Isaac.\u201d <\/span>Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica Online<\/span><\/i>, Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica Inc, 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dickinson College Archive\u2019s copy of Divine Songs for Children, printed by Archibald Loudon in 1812, is far from in its pristine condition.\u00a0 It has many signs of wear, along with indications of its importance. The archives have no records of any previous owners of the small book (it measures a modest 10.25cm x 6.8cm […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5519,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/historyofthebook2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/historyofthebook2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/historyofthebook2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/historyofthebook2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5519"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/historyofthebook2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/historyofthebook2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/historyofthebook2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/historyofthebook2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/historyofthebook2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}