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‘one of the most comprehensive collections of early European prints in America.’<br />
Not surprisingly, they include many of the plates from Scheuchzer’s Physica Sacra.<br />
Wolfson’s book, a Bible illustrated from Scheuchzer’s masterpiece, may well be<br />
unique. Its provenance is unknown. The title-page shows two prices: ‘10/- and fine<br />
engravings’ [10 shillings, or 50p], and ‘Fine imp, £28’. The binding is probably<br />
calf over pasteboard, with traces of gilding here and on the spine with its six<br />
raised bands. The marbled endpapers are typical of the nineteenth century, so we<br />
may conclude that a prosperous previous owner during that period selected the<br />
illustrations and had them bound up with his (it was probably a ‘he’) Bible according<br />
to his own wishes. Bibliophiles more often bound several unrelated works together<br />
in one volume, but this practice was not very unusual.<br />
A number of the illustrations in our book feature fossils. Professor Kennedy<br />
‘Grangerized’ his own talk and the book display by bringing some of the actual<br />
fossils, which were placed next to their depictions. It was a special occasion indeed,<br />
for which thanks are due to Professor Kennedy, to Dr Penney, and to those who were<br />
unable to attend in person but were doubtless present in spirit: Godfrey Lienhardt,<br />
Antoine Vitré, Johannes Jacob Scheuchzer, and the unknown previous owner.<br />
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