Sender: Rare book and manuscripts <EXLIBRIS-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Please excuse cross-posting.
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Maggie Heran, Director
Lloyd Library & Museum
513-721-3707
mheran@lloydlibrary.org
For Immediate Release
February 9, 2007
Book Once Owned by Jean-Jacques Rousseau Discovered
at the Lloyd Library and Museum
Rousseau expert Takuya Kobayashi recently verified that Jean-Jacques Rousseau, well-known 18th century French philosopher and writer, previously owned Lloyd's copy of Dominique Chabrey's 1658 Omnium Stirpium Sciagraphia et Icones, an abridged edition of French botanist Jean Bauhin's three-volume Historia Plantarum Universalis. Kobayashi is a Japanese scholar, who for the past four years has been working on a doctoral dissertation at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland, in which he explores Rousseau's study of botany. He spent three days at the Lloyd Library in September 2006 examining the Chabrey, which includes Rousseau's signature on the title page as well as hundreds of annotations throughout in his handwriting. Kobayashi also inspected many other books from the Lloyd collection known to have been in Rousseau's library. He commented that the Lloyd was one of the rare libraries where scholars could investigate not only a botanical book owned and annotated by Rousseau, but also so many other titles within the context of Rousseau's study of botany at the same time. Kobayashi will devote a chapter of his doctoral dissertation to the book and will also write a paper on it for the journal Annales de la Societé Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
This discovery added important new knowledge about Rousseau and the whereabouts of his library's contents. The 1678 Chabrey was known to have belonged to Rousseau at the time of his death, but its location was unknown until early in 2006 when the volume was brought down from Lloyd's stacks and brought to light. It had been at the Lloyd since at least 1893, but very little attention was given to the signature and annotations within before last year. According to Kobayashi, the book is one of only eight botanical books worldwide verified as having belonged to Rousseau. Two are in the United States (one at Harvard and one at the Lloyd); three are in the United Kingdom; one is in France; and, two are in private collections.
The book will be on display from March 10 through May 31, 2007 in an exhibition at the Lloyd. In Rousseau's Own Hand-His Book, His Notes, and Botany will feature the Chabrey along with a remarkable number of other botanical books from the Lloyd collection-titles known to have been in Rousseau's library at the time of his death, though not his copies. On March 10, 2007 Takuya Kobayashi will be at the Lloyd to speak on Rousseau's study of botany. For more details about these events, visit the Lloyd website at www.lloydlibrary.org. For more information about the Lloyd, see below.
The Lloyd Library and Museum, located at 917 Plum Street, downtown Cincinnati, is a local and regional treasure. The library was developed in the nineteenth century by the Lloyd brothers-John Uri, Curtis Gates, and Nelson Ashley to provide reference sources for Lloyd Brothers Pharmacists, Inc., one of the leading pharmaceutical companies of the period. Today the library is recognized worldwide by the scientific community a s a vital research center. The library holds, acquires, and provides access to both historic and current materials on the subjects of pharmacy, botany, horticulture, herbal and alternative medicine, pharmacognosy, and related topics. Although our collections have a scientific focus, they also have relevance to humanities topics, such as visual arts and foreign languages through resources that feature botanical and natural history illustrations, original artworks, and travel literature, thereby revealing the convergence of science and art. The Lloyd is open to anyone with an interest in these topics. Free parking is available for patrons and visitors behind the library building. For more information, visit the Lloyd website at www.lloydlibrary.org.
Lloyd Library and Museum
917 Plum Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
513-721-3707
www.lloydlibrary.org
Open Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Open the third Saturday of the month, September through May, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Bringing Science, Art, and History to Life
Maggie Heran, MLS, Director
Lloyd Library and Museum
917 Plum Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
mheran@lloydlibrary.org
Phone: 513-721-3707
Fax: 513-721-6575
www.lloydlibrary.org
Maggie Heran, MLS, Director
Lloyd Library and Museum
917 Plum Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
mheran@lloydlibrary.org
Phone: 513-721-3707
Fax: 513-721-6575
www.lloydlibrary.org