Title page from Shield, W. The Woodman: a comic opera, as performed with universal applause at the Theatre Royal Covent Garden. Composed chiefly by Willm Shield. The poetry by Mr. Bate Dudley. (London: Printed by Longman and Broderip, c.1794) (Friends Collection, Friends 649)
William Shield (1748-1829) is a much-neglected figure in British music yet, in his day, was a prolific composer of opera and Master of the King’s Music.
The son of a singing master, he was born in Swalwell (Gateshead). His father gave him musical instruction but died when William was nine years old. Thereafter, William was apprenticed to a Tyneside boat builder but continued to study music. He enjoyed a particularly good relationship with Charles Avison (another celebrated composer from Newcastle upon Tyne) who was then organist at St. Nicholas’ Cathedral, Newcastle. Under Avison, William learned about composition, started to perform at concerts and dances, and became a significant violinist in Newcastle’s programme of subscription concerts. He was 21 years old when he was given his first commission: to compose an anthem which would be sung at the consecration of St. John’s Church, Sunderland.
Completion of his boat building apprenticeship allowed him to work away from Tyneside and he began to lead theatre orchestras in Scarborough and Stockton-on-Tees. At the same time, he struck up a friendship with the antiquarian Joseph Ritson with whom he shared an interest in the folk music tradition.
He was persuaded to move to London and by 1772 was playing violin in the Covent Garden Opera, becoming principal violinist in 1773. The chamber music which he wrote during this period could not compete with the more exciting music of Joseph Haydn but his first comic opera, The Flitch of Bacon (1778) was an immense success and contributed to William’s being appointed composer to Covent Garden. It is in comic operas that William’s contribution to English music lies. Hayden attended the first performance of The Woodman (c.1794) which is featured here.
In 1817 he became Master of the King’s Music and, upon his death; his favourite violin was given to King George IV.
The Woodman comprises 97 pages of music for solo voices and a chorus, and an accompaniment for keyboard. It was gifted to Newcastle University Library by Dr. David Garder-Medwin, President of the Friends of the University Library, in December 2010.
Music score from Shield, W. The Woodman: a comic opera, as performed with universal applause at the Theatre Royal Covent Garden. Composed chiefly by Willm Shield. The poetry by Mr. Bate Dudley. (London: Printed by Longman and Broderip, c.1794) (Friends Collection, Friends 649)
Pages from Morris, W. A Dream of John Ball (London: Kelmscott P, 1892) (Rare Books, RB821.86 MOR)
In the Nineteenth Century, book-making became an industrialised process: hand-made rag, or linen, laid paper was replaced with wove paper, often made from wood pulp; hand presses were replaced with steam-powered rotary presses. Improved literacy levels and the rise of the middle classes created a demand for cheap, mass-produced books. One reaction to this was the establishment of private presses which typically focussed on a return to traditional craftsmanship, creating books which were typographic works of art and which were issued in small print runs.
One such private press was the Kelmscott Press of William Morris, established in January 1891. The last book to have been printed at the Kelmscott Press was A Note by William Morris on his aims in founding the Kelmscott Press together with a short description of the press by S.C. Cockerell, & an annotated list of the books printed thereat (1898). In it, Morris describes his admiration of fifteenth-century books, which he observed “were always beautiful by force of the mere typography, even without the added ornament, with which many of them are so lavishly supplied [e.g. illumination and pen-work flourishing]”.
Morris favoured linen paper, with subtle chain lines, modelled on an example of Bolognese paper from 1473. He designed a Roman fount along the lines of that designed by fifteenth-century Venetian printer, Nicholas Jenson, and followed the types of Gothic fount that were used in the first 20 years of printing, such as that of Gunther Zainer at Augsburg. Morris was also concerned that any decoration be in harmony with the pages of type.
This book, A Dream of John Ball, was published by the Kelmscott Press in 1892. It is a small quarto, printed in black and red, with embellished capital letters. The woodcut illustration you see here was designed by Edward Burne-Jones, who illustrated many Kelmscott Press books; Morris designed the borders around the text. The Philip Robinson Library copy is one of 300 paper copies, which were sold by Reeves & Turner. The text block has been sewn and bound in limp vellum.
Text block from Morris, W. A Dream of John Ball (London: Kelmscott P, 1892) (Rare Books, RB821.86 MOR)
Page 32 from Jane Lorraine’s Recipe Book on how to make ‘Carraway Cakes’, ‘Sugar Plait’ and other recipes (Miscellaneous Manuscripts, Misc. MSS. 5)
This additional treasure of the month has been provided by Catherine Alexander, a student in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, who has recently completed a summer research project based around a seventeenth-century recipe book, held in Special Collections.
This is a seventeenth century cook book manuscript, written by Jane Loraine, who lived in Northumberland. She is likely to have been the wife of Nicholas Loraine, son of Ambrose Loraine of Hartburn, and probably a member of the Fenwick family. The cook book is firmly rooted in Northumberland, and there are extensive records of the Loraine family in Kirkharle. Reference to individuals also demonstrates a local community; in this recipe Mrs Charleton’s surname locates her in Charlton, near Bellingham in North Tynedale. There are 67 recipes attributed to 41 individuals in this cook book, only 13 of whom are men.
Recipe: To maike mackrowns page 31 fol. 24V
25 Mackrowns Mrs Charletons this Take 4 new Laid eggs beat them a quarter of an houre in a glased earthen pot put to them ten spoun fulls of rose water beat it a quarter of an houre longer then put six spounfuls more of rose water beat it a quarter or an hour Longer then put one pound of lose sugar down weight finely beaten beat it halfe an houre Longer then put in halfe a pound of London flower beat it till it is well mixt butter your cofins deep in a good spounfull set them in as fast as you can let your oven be as hot as for white bread it must be A clay oven
The manuscript, in folio format, is 78 pages long and contains 665 recipes. The page numbering, added later, shows missing pages.
The annotation beside the recipe title: ‘this‘, shows use of the book and the selection process for the contents page.
Page 31 from Jane Lorraine’s Recipe Book on how to make ‘Macrowns’ (Miscellaneous Manuscripts, Misc. MSS. 5)
This manuscript is typical in its medical emphasis and over half of the recipes are medical, while only a quarter are culinary. These food recipes focus on cakes, creams and preserves, while the medical receipts cover a range of illnesses, focusing on common concerns such as consumption, and women’s health, particularly childbirth. There are also some recipes for beauty treatments and perfumes. Nine percent of the recipes represent the overlap between food and health, in the waters and wines which function as drinks as well as preventative medicines and cures.
Page 66 from Jane Lorraine’s Recipe Book showing multiple recipes for a common cold or cough (Miscellaneous Manuscripts, Misc. MSS. 5)
This hybridity has an impact on the domestic roles of women, as they commanded authority on medical as well as culinary issues.
Many parallels and similarities can be seen with other cook book manuscripts and printed texts at this time, and this manuscript is part of a widespread communication of ideas and advice. This genre was popular in the seventeenth century and gave women a literary voice.
Page 65 from Jane Lorraine’s Recipe Book showing multiple recipes for a consumption (Miscellaneous Manuscripts, Misc. MSS. 5)
Collaboration is also typical within the recipe book format, and this can be seen through reference to individuals as well as in the six different handwritings identifiable in the text. The secretary hand which dominates 70% of the text can be associated with Jane Loraine, through the 13 signatures given. Many of these are dated between 1684-6.
Map of part of Cumberland from Speed, John, 1552?-1629.: The theatre of the empire of Great Britaine : presenting an exact geography of the kingdomes of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the iles adioyning: with the shires, hundreds, cities and shire-townes, within ye kingdome of England. London, : And are to be solde by I. Sudbury and G. Humble, 1611. (Post Incunabula, Folio PI 912.42 SPE)
John Speed was born in Fardon, Cheshire in 1552. He was a tailor by trade, working in his father’s business until he was nearly 50. He then moved to London to work, but his main interest increasingly became the study of history. He joined the Society of Antiquaries. An allowance from Sir Fulke Greville enabled him to continue his research full time. William Camden encouraged him to begin a history of Britain.
Map of part of Bishoprick, Durham from Speed, John, 1552?-1629.: The theatre of the empire of Great Britaine : presenting an exact geography of the kingdomes of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the iles adioyning: with the shires, hundreds, cities and shire-townes, within ye kingdome of England. London, : And are to be solde by I. Sudbury and G. Humble, 1611. (Post Incunabula, Folio PI 912.42 SPE)
The Historie of Great Britaine was published in 1611 but of greater importance was the atlas that accompanied it – The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, published in the same year, which is the subject of this month’s Treasure.
The atlas contains maps for each of the counties of England and Wales, 5 maps of Ireland and a general map of Scotland.
The first map (Cheshire) had been ready for engraving in 1604 but the death, in that same year, of the person selected to engrave the maps caused a serious delay.
In 1607 Flemish engraver Jodocus Hondius Sr. based in Amsterdam was asked to carry out the engraving which was completed between 1607 and 1611.
Map of part of Cumberland from Speed, John, 1552?-1629.: The theatre of the empire of Great Britaine : presenting an exact geography of the kingdomes of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the iles adioyning: with the shires, hundreds, cities and shire-townes, within ye kingdome of England. London, : And are to be solde by I. Sudbury and G. Humble, 1611. (Post Incunabula, Folio PI 912.42 SPE)
Probably the earliest county atlas of England and Wales, most of the county maps contain town plans which in many cases were the first depiction of that town.
Although the county maps were based on earlier works many of the town plans were in fact surveyed by Speed.
The town plans marked with a Scale of Passes [paces] being those that Speed had surveyed. A pace being equal to 5 feet.
The Library’s copy of The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine is incomplete but does include the map for Northumberland. The eastern half of the map includes a plan of Newcastle and various antiquarian objects.
Map of part of North Cumberland showing the Farne Island from Speed, John, 1552?-1629.: The theatre of the empire of Great Britaine : presenting an exact geography of the kingdomes of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the iles adioyning: with the shires, hundreds, cities and shire-townes, within ye kingdome of England. London, : And are to be solde by I. Sudbury and G. Humble, 1611. (Post Incunabula, Folio PI 912.42 SPE)
The western portion includes armorials of various local families and a town plan of Barwick [Berwick]. The Theatre of the Empire also includes maps of Farne and Holy Island.
Map of part of Northumberland showing Holy Island from Speed, John, 1552?-1629.: The theatre of the empire of Great Britaine : presenting an exact geography of the kingdomes of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the iles adioyning: with the shires, hundreds, cities and shire-townes, within ye kingdome of England. London, : And are to be solde by I. Sudbury and G. Humble, 1611. (Post Incunabula, Folio PI 912.42 SPE)
This additional treasure of the month has been provided by Catherine Alexander, a student in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, who has recently completed a summer research project based around a seventeenth-century recipe book, held in Special Collections.
Extract from Jane Loraine’s Recipe Book(Miscellaneous Manuscripts, Misc. MSS. 5)
This is a seventeenth century cook book manuscript, written by Jane Loraine, who lived in Northumberland. She is likely to have been the wife of Nicholas Loraine, son of Ambrose Loraine of Hartburn, and probably a member of the Fenwick family. The cook book is firmly rooted in Northumberland, and there are extensive records of the Loraine family in Kirkharle. Reference to individuals also demonstrates a local community; in this recipe Mrs Charleton’s surname locates her in Charlton, near Bellingham in North Tynedale. There are 67 recipes attributed to 41 individuals in this cook book, only 13 of whom are men.
To maike mackrowns page 31 fol. 24V
25 Mackrowns Mrs Charletons this Take 4 new Laid eggs beat them a quarter of an houre in a glased earthen pot put to them ten spoun fulls of rose water beat it a quarter of an houre longer then put six spounfuls more of rose water beat it a quarter or an hour Longer then put one pound of lose sugar down weight finely beaten beat it halfe an houre Longer then put in halfe a pound of London flower beat it till it is well mixt butter your cofins deep in a good spounfull set them in as fast as you can let your oven be as hot as for white bread it must be A clay oven
The manuscript, in folio format, is 78 pages long and contains 665 recipes. The page numbering, added later, shows missing pages.
The annotation beside the recipe title: ‘this‘, shows use of the book and the selection process for the contents page.
Page 31 from Jane Loraine’s Recipe Book, showing the recipe on how ‘to maike mackrowns’ (Miscellaneous Manuscripts, Misc. MSS. 5)
This manuscript is typical in its medical emphasis and over half of the recipes are medical, while only a quarter are culinary. These food recipes focus on cakes, creams and preserves, while the medical receipts cover a range of illnesses, focusing on common concerns such as consumption, and women’s health, particularly childbirth. There are also some recipes for beauty treatments and perfumes. Nine percent of the recipes represent the overlap between food and health, in the waters and wines which function as drinks as well as preventative medicines and cures.
This hybridity has an impact on the domestic roles of women, as they commanded authority on medical as well as culinary issues.
Many parallels and similarities can be seen with other cook book manuscripts and printed texts at this time, and this manuscript is part of a widespread communication of ideas and advice. This genre was popular in the seventeenth century and gave women a literary voice.
Collaboration is also typical within the recipe book format, and this can be seen through reference to individuals as well as in the six different handwritings identifiable in the text. The secretary hand which dominates 70% of the text can be associated with Jane Loraine, through the 13 signatures given. Many of these are dated between 1684-6.
Further information about this manuscript can be found on the Turning Pages software in the School of English.
Extract from Jane Loraine’s Recipe Book(Miscellaneous Manuscripts, Misc. MSS. 5)
[Mary, Queen of Scots] In the Royal Palace of St. James’s an Antient Painting. 1580. Delineated and sculpted by G. Vertue (1735) (Clarke (Edwin) General Collection)
This month marks the 450th anniversary of Mary, Queen of Scots’ return to Scotland aged nineteen, following the death of her husband, King François II of France. Mary was born in 1542 and became Queen of Scotland six days later following the death of her father, King James V, after his defeat at the battle of Solway Moss. King Henry VIII was determined to marry the infant Queen to his son, Edward, thus finally uniting the crowns of Scotland and England. This was unpopular with the Scottish nobles who instead made a deal with the French to marry Mary to the Dauphin. This was ratified by the Treaty of Haddington in 1548 and Mary was sent to live in France – a safe distance from the attempts by English troops to kidnap her.
After Francois’ death Mary decided to return to Scotland to rule the country of her birth. Her mother, Mary of Guise, had ruled as regent until her death in 1560 and now the nobles had seized power under her half-brother, Lord James Stewart. They welcomed Mary’s return. Scotland was now a Protestant, and turbulent, country and, as a Catholic, Mary had to compromise over religion during her reign.
Mary was determined to have her claim to the English throne recognised and hoped that she would be named by Queen Elizabeth as her heir. They made plans to meet in summer 1562 but Elizabeth pulled out at the last minute. Mary was upset and annoyed that she had listened to Elizabeth’s opinions about who she should marry. Elizabeth had suggested her own favourite, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, as she thought this would allow her to manipulate Mary’s decisions. In the end, Mary married her English Catholic first cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley at Holyrood Palace on 29th July 1565. She married without consulting Elizabeth who was furious as both Mary and Darnley were claimants to the English throne and any children would inherit both parents’ claims and thus be next in line for the crown.
At first Mary was infatuated with Darnley but before long he became arrogant, demanding more power and to be crowned King. He was also jealous of Mary’s friendship with her private secretary, David Rizzio, and he entered into a secret plot with the nobles to get rid of him. They were jealous of Rizzio’s position as Mary’s favourite and of his influence over her. On 9th March 1566, a group of the lords, accompanied by Darnley, murdered Rizzio in front of the pregnant Mary at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. Mary was kept prisoner but she managed to lure Darnley back to her side and they escaped. However, she could now no longer trust him.
In June, their son James was born. Those nobles who were loyal to Mary met to discuss the problem of Darnley and swore a bond vowing to get rid of him. Darnley knew the tide had turned against him and, fearing for his safety, fled to his father in Glasgow. Here he was taken ill, with what is now believed to have been syphilis. Mary encouraged her husband to come back to Edinburgh and arranged for him to recuperate in a house at the former abbey of Kirk o’ Field, within the city walls. In February 1567 an explosion occurred in the house in the middle of the night, and Darnley was found dead in the garden. He appeared to have been strangled. He and a servant were found in their bedclothes with a variety of objects including a chair, a dagger and a rope, leading historians to suggest that they were aware the house was going to explode and were trying to escape. It is possible that they were apprehended whilst fleeing and were strangled to death.
One of the nobles, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, was quickly accused of having supplied the gunpowder for the explosion and he was believed by many to be responsible for Darnley’s death. It was Mary’s and Bothwell’s actions in the wake of Darnley’s murder that convinced everyone of their guilt. Such was the evidence against Bothwell that Mary had to arrange a staged trial before Parliament, during which he was acquitted. Bothwell then managed to convince the nobles to sign the Ainslie Tavern Bond, in which they agreed to support him in his attempt to marry the Queen. By now the Scots were beginning to become suspicious of Mary.
In April 1567, Mary visited her son at Stirling, for what would be the last time. On her way back to Edinburgh she was abducted by Bothwell and his men and taken to Dunbar Castle, where she was allegedly raped by Bothwell. They returned to Edinburgh and at Holyrood they were married. Mary believed the marriage had the support of her nobles because of the Ainslie Tavern Bond. But they soon turned against the newlyweds and raised an army against them. Mary and Bothwell confronted them at Carberry Hill on 15th June. Although no fighting took place, Mary agreed to go with the Lords on condition that they let Bothwell go. However, they imprisoned her in a castle on an island in the middle of Loch Leven and forced her to abdicate the throne in favour of her son, James. Her brother James was to act as regent.
In May 1568, Mary escaped and managed to raise a small army. After her army’s defeat at the Battle of Langside, she fled by boat across the Solway Firth into England. She appealed to her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, to help restore her to her throne but Elizabeth, fearful of Mary’s presence in her country, instead imprisoned her for nineteen years. Following years of plots and escape attempts, Elizabeth eventually had Mary executed at Fotheringhay Castle in 1587. Upon Queen Elizabeth’s death, Mary and Darnley’s son ascended to the English throne as King James I, finally uniting the Scottish and English crowns.
Historians have examined the evidence and debated whether Mary and Bothwell plotted Darnley’s death, without reaching any definitive conclusion. Bothwell was almost certainly involved in Darnley’s death, but so were most of the nobles – after all they had signed a bond vowing to get rid of him. It is likely that they pointed the finger of blame at Bothwell in order to save their own lives. That Mary so unquestioningly took his side and then quickly married him has been taken as evidence of her guilt. However, as much as she hated Darnley at this point, as a ruling Queen, it is unlikely that she would have plotted his death. In the aftermath of his murder she would have been fearful for her own life and may have seen Bothwell as a protector. After he allegedly raped her, she would have had no choice but to marry him or forgo her honour. Almost as soon as she was in England, she promised to divorce him and marry someone of Elizabeth’s choosing in return for her freedom. It is unlikely she would have been so quick to cast her husband aside if he had been worth committing murder and jeopardising the throne for, just months earlier.
Illustration of ‘Chippeway Squaw & Child’ from M’Kenney, T.L. History of the Indian tribes of North America, with biographical sketches and anecdotes of the principal chiefs. Embellished with one hundred and twenty portraits from the Indian Gallery in the Department of War, at Washington (Philadelphia: Edward C. Biddle, 1837) (19th Century Collection, 19th C. Coll 970.1 MAC Elephant folio)
Thomas Loraine McKenney (1785-1859) served as Superintendent of Indian Trade (1816-1822) and as Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the newly-formed Bureau of Indian Affairs (1824-1830). The 1820s were a time when the Eastern Native American tribes faced a government policy which forced them to abandon traditional lands and move westwards. McKenney thought that the Native Americans would benefit from complying with the U.S. Government and was an advocate of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson’s American Indian ‘civilization program’. Jefferson believed that it was the environments in which Native American tribes lived which rendered them ‘savage’ and that removal west, into European-style towns, would see them progress to become ‘full Americans’. Nevertheless, Jefferson and McKenney shared the opinion that Native Americans were intellectual and moral equals to white men and defended Native American cultures.
McKenney was instrumental in bringing Native American delegations to Washington D.C. where they negotiated re-settlement terms and treaties. Keen to capture something of a vanishing way of life, he commissioned Charles Bird King to paint the portraits of Native American leaders and those paintings were housed in the War Department’s museum.
Later, Henry Inman was asked by McKenney to reproduce the paintings for publication in a three-volume portfolio: History of the Indian Tribes of North America. The portfolio took more than twelve years to complete, featured hand-coloured lithography and was expensive to both produce and purchase. The gallery of original portraits was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1858 but was destroyed by fire on 24th January, 1865.
Whilst the portfolio features the portraits of several well-known Native American leaders, a small number of female subjects are included in the study. Selected images are accompanied here with extracts from the text.
Chippeway squaw and child
Extract;
“The life of the Indian woman, under the most favourable circumstances, is one of continual labour and unmitigated hardship. Trained to servitude from infancy, and condemned to the performance of the most menial offices, they are the servants rather than the companions of man. Upon them, therefore, fall with peculiar severity, all those vicissitudes and accidents of savage life which impose hardships and privations beyond those that ordinarily attend the state of barbarism”
“The woman who, during the season of plenty, was worn down with the labour of following the hunter to the chase, carrying the game and dressing the food, now [during periods when resources are scarce] becomes the purveyor of the family, roaming the forest in search of berries, burrowing in the earth for roots, or ensnaring the lesser animals. While engaged in these various duties, she discharges also those of the mother, and travels over the icy plains with her infant at her back.
Iroquois and Sioux tribes, by the late Eighteenth Century they controlled Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio but lost most of their land when white settlers forced them onto reservations in the Nineteenth Century. Despite the name Hiawatha deriving from the Iroquois, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic poem, The song of Hiawatha (1855), contains place names and stories originating from the Chippeway”.
“Women (and children) were expected to perform such tasks as foraging for food and firewood, selecting plants to be used as thatch, farming, preparing feasts, making dyes and needlework (the moccasins worn by both sexes were often dyed red, yellow, blue and green and the winter months were passed adding quill work and moose hair designs)”.
(vol. 1)
The Chippeway widow
The portrait of a Chippeway widow is a representation rather than the portrait of a known individual.
Illustration of ‘A Chippeway Widow’ from M’Kenney, T.L. History of the Indian tribes of North America, with biographical sketches and anecdotes of the principal chiefs. Embellished with one hundred and twenty portraits from the Indian Gallery in the Department of War, at Washington (Philadelphia: Edward C. Biddle, 1837) (19th Century Collection, 19th C. Coll 970.1 MAC Elephant folio)
Extract;
“A Chippeway widow, on the death of her husband, selects from his scanty wardrobe, a complete suit of his best clothes, which she makes up into a bundle. This is placed near her while at work, and is carried wherever she goes. She calls it her husband, treats it with the respect which would be due to a living lord and master, and would be considered as disgracing herself and treating his memory with disrespect, if she was to part with it even for a moment . . . . The Chippeway widow carries her “husband” during the season of mourning, which is one year, and during that time cannot marry without gross impropriety. If she does not marry at the close of the year, she usually continues to carry the badge of her widowhood until she is relieved of it by the nearest relatives of her deceased husband, who may at any time, whenthey conceive she has mourned long enough, call upon her, and take away the bundle, after which she is at liberty to contract a second marriage“.
(vol. 2)
Pocahontas
Illustration of ‘Pocahontas’ from M’Kenney, T.L. History of the Indian tribes of North America, with biographical sketches and anecdotes of the principal chiefs. Embellished with one hundred and twenty portraits from the Indian Gallery in the Department of War, at Washington (Philadelphia: Edward C. Biddle, 1837) (19th Century Collection, 19th C. Coll 970.1 MAC Elephant folio)
Pocahontas (c.1595-1617) was the daughter of a Native American chief in Virginia. When English settler, Captain John Smith, described his capture by a Native American hunting party, he retrospectively credited Pocahontas as having saved him. The omission of her from his earliest accounts has made historians question the veracity of the tale but it has been established that she at least befriended Smith and visited the Jamestown colony, bringing food when it was most needed and playing with the children.Fiction romanticises the relationship between Pocahontas and Smith but there is no evidence that they were lovers. Captured by the English in 1613, she was taught about Christianity and baptised as Rebecca.
“Though born and reared in savage life, [Pocahontas] was a creature of exquisite loveliness and refinement. The gracefulness of her person, the gentleness of her nature – her benevolence, her courage, her noble self-devotion in the discharge of duty, elevate this lovely woman to an equality with the most illustrious and most attractive of her sex; and yet those winning graces and noble qualities were not the most remarkable features of her character, which was even more distinguished by the wonderful tact, and the delicate sense of propriety, which marked all the scenes of her brief, but eventful history.”
Illustration of The Weavers or Carliol Tower and The Mechanics Institute, 1878 from from Boyle, J.R. Vestiges of old Newcastle and Gateshead. 2 vols. (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Andrew Reid; London: Elliot Stock, 1890) (Rare Books Collection, RB 942.82 BOY Quarto)
In 1769 James Granger’s Biographical History of England was published with deliberately blank pages for the purchaser to customise. Thus grangerised entered rare books terminology. Extra-illustrated is a more user-friendly term which has come to be commonly used today. Typically, book owners have customised copies by adding engraved portraits and topographical prints but sometimes autograph letters, drawings, watercolours and other documents have been pasted in and this is exactly what W.B. Bond has done with his copy of J.R. Boyle’s Vestiges of old Newcastle and Gateshead (1890).
The publication is not as scarce as some other titles held in the Philip Robinson Library’s Special Collections: twelve other institutions are listed on COPAC as holding copies, from the National Library of Scotland, to the British Library and Trinity College Dublin. What make our copy unique are the two hundred and thirty engravings, watercolours and autographs which have been added. These include: autograph letters from historians and antiquaries John Hodgson, John Collingwood Bruce, W.H. Longstaffe, and Richard Welford; engraved portraits of King Charles II and Oliver Cromwell; a bookplate taken from a copy of Il Decamerone (1727), the title page of which had borne the inscription of musician Charles Avison; engravings of local views and landmarks, such as Alnwick Castle, Sunderland harbour, and Jesmond cemetery; and original watercolours depicting the Holy Jesus Hospital, an old house in Low Friar Street, almshouses in Westgate Street, Thomas Bewick’s workshop at St. Nicholas’ church yard, and more.
Two local watercolours have been chosen to illustrate this ‘treasure’: The Weavers or Carliol Tower and The Mechanics Institute, 1878 and The Temporary Bridge over the Tyne – August 17th 1875, both signed by W.B. Bond.
The Weavers or Carliol Tower and The Mechanics Institute, 1878 (above): Newcastle was fortified in the Thirteenth Century and Carliol Tower, named after the De Carleiol family, was one of the seventeen towers which were features of the town wall. The discovery, by workmen in 1824, of a cannonball is evidence that it came under fire when the Scots stormed Newcastle in 1644. Less than twenty years after the violence of the English Revolution, or Civil War, the Weaver’s Company appropriated the tower as a meeting house. The tower was repaired and enlarged in 1821 but, like many of the town’s defensive towers, was demolished in the late Nineteenth Century. The foundation stone for The Mechanic’s Institute which adjoined Carliol Tower, on New Bridge Street, had been laid on 19th April, 1865. From 1866, it housed a library and was a venue for lectures on industrial developments and for delivering engineering classes. In 1880, The Mechanics’ Institute became part of the new City Library.
The Temporary Bridge over the Tyne – August 17th 1875 (below): Bond has not specified the location of this temporary bridge over the Tyne. However, a temporary bridge existed whilst the Swing Bridge was being constructed and it is possible that this is what Bond painted, looking across the river towards Gateshead and St. Mary’s Church. The Roman Pons Aelius had first spanned the Tyne but it had been replaced by a mediaeval stone bridge. When this was destroyed by the flood of 1771, a new stone bridge was built in its place. Increased shipping resulted in that bridge being removed in 1866 and it wasn’t until 1876 that the Swing Bridge was opened. Thus, it is possible that the watercolour depicts the temporary wooden bridge at time when it had almost run the course of its usefulness and with the construction of the Swing Bridge glimpsed immediately behind it.
According to a manuscript annotation on a front endpaper, Bond inserted the additional engravings, watercolours and autographs whilst in San Sebastiano, Venice, 1913 and two items which had been addressed to him there are tipped in at the end of the second volume.
Illustration of The Temporary Bridge over the Tyne – August 17th 1875 from Boyle, J.R. Vestiges of old Newcastle and Gateshead. 2 vols. (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Andrew Reid; London: Elliot Stock, 1890) (Rare Books Collection, RB 942.82 BOY Quarto)
Page from Opera chirurgica(Pybus (Professor Frederick) Collection, Pybus, Pyb. C.v.5)
Pybus Collection: Pyb C.v.5
John Arderne (1307-1380) practised as a surgeon in Newark and London and earned himself great renown particularly for his medical works, written in Latin despite his lack of a university education. Arderne was typical of medical practitioners in the Fourteenth Century – embracing medical advances, pioneering new methods and referencing the likes of Hippocrates, Galen and Avicenna yet harking back to the Anglo-Saxons’ astrological approaches to medicine.
Page from Opera chirurgica showing marginalia illustrations (Pybus (Professor Frederick) Collection, Pybus, Pyb. C.v.5)
Arderne’s manuscripts were commonly illustrated, both to show techniques and remedies, and to aid the reader in navigating a potentially confusing text. This manuscript, written in Latin but including some passages in French near the beginning, has been illustrated with pictures of operations, instruments, plants, blazons, &c.
The manuscript was formerly part of the private collection of Professor Pybus (1883-1975) who donated his history of medicine books, engravings, portraits, busts, bleeding bowls and research notes to the University Library in 1965. The manuscript now bears his presentation bookplate but there is further evidence of provenance: it has been inscribed by W. Harrysson, Silvester Rowlestone, Sarah Ridall, Mary [Riddall?], Richard Pearson, Mster [sic] Rutter and Christopher Wainman.
Roughly contemporaneous with Arderne’ manuscripts, is Chaucer’ Canterbury Tales, the Prologue of which contains the following depiction of a physician grounded in astronomy, led by ancient classical texts, dressed in taffeta and silk, with a penchant for gold:
With us ther was a Doctour of Phisike; In all this world ne was ther non him like To speke of phisike and of surgerie, For he was grounded in astronomie. He kept his patient a ful gret del In houres by his magike naturel: Wel coude he fortunen the ascendant Of his images for his patient. He knew the cause of every maladie, Were it of cold, or hote, or moist, or drie, And wher engendred, and of what humour: He was a veray parfite practisour. The cause yknowe, and of his harm the rote, Anon he gave to the sike man his bote. Ful redy hadde he his apothecaries To send him dragges and his lettuaries, For eche of hem made other for to winne: His friendship n’s not newe to beginner. Wewl knew he the old Esculapius, And Dioscorides and eke Rufus, Old Hippocras, Hali, and Gallien, Serapion, Rafis, and Avicen, Averrois, Damascene, and Constantin, Bernard, and Gatisden, and Gilbertin. Of his diete mesurable was he, For it was of no superfluitee, But of gret nourishing, and digestible: His studie was but little on the Bible. In sanguine and in perse he clad was alle Lined with taffeta and with sendalle. And yet he was but esy of dispence; He kepte that he wan in the pestilence; For gold in phisike is a cordial, Therfore he loved gold in special.
Extract from The Poetical Works of Geoff. Chaucer … (Edinburgh: At the Apollo Press by the Martins, 1782) Vol. 1. (White (Robert) Collection W821.17 CHA)
Front cover of the Annual Report of the Northumberland Handicrafts Guild, 1918-1919 (Northumberland Handicrafts Guild Archive, NHG 3/11)
The Northumberland Handicrafts Guild was formed in June 1900 with the aim of promoting the study and practice of handicrafts, such as embroidery, wood work, basket work, leather work and weaving, in the County of Northumberland.
The Guild’s formation had its origins in the Arts and Crafts Movement which began in England in the 1880s in response to the growth of industrialisation and mass production by machines. The Movement called for a revival of real craftsmanship and traditional craft techniques, and embraced nostalgia for the mediaeval age which was seen as the golden age of creativity and freedom. Leading figures in the Movement believed in a social and utopian society where artists and craftsmen were viewed as equals. One of the founding fathers of the Movement was William Morris who famously advised, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”.
A key feature of the Movement was the establishment throughout the country of societies and guilds to bring together artists and craftsmen, and to help publicise the movement through meetings, classes, lectures, exhibitions and craft demonstrations. The use of the word “guild” harked back to the mediaeval trade guilds which protected and promoted the common interests of craftsmen. The Northumberland Handicrafts Guild was one such example, and other examples included the Guild and School of Handicraft in the East End of London, the Century Guild and John Ruskin’s Guild of St George.
The decorative motif carried on the front cover of the Northumberland Handicrafts Guild’s Annual Reports, as depicted here, typified the artistic and graphic styles which were associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement, while the Guild’s motto proclaimed, “by hammer and hand all arts do stand”.
The Guild arranged teaching classes and lectures in most areas of the county, new classes in its first year including needlework and embroidery, led by Lady Anne Bowes-Lyon at Haydon Bridge and by Mrs H. Pease at Cramlington. Lectures in the first year included the Reverend S. Gates on “Lace Working and Embroidery” at Haydon Bridge, Messrs Hatton and Williams on “Handicrafts in relation to home life” at Allendale and Mr G. Blount on “Democratic Art” in Newcastle.
There were strong links between the Guild and the Art Department of the Durham College of Science at Newcastle upon Tyne, known from 1904 as Armstrong College (and ultimately to evolve into the present day Newcastle University). The Guild’s first Vice President was Charles W. Mitchell, Chairman of the College’s Art Committee and a member of the College Council, while its first Honorary Secretary was the historian Thomas Edward Hodgkin, also a member of the College Council. Other Armstrong College figures such as Richard George Hatton, for many years Professor in Fine Art, Ella Pease and Miss Noble held office or served on the Guild’s committee. Craft work produced during the Guild’s classes was exhibited annually in the College and entries were judged by a team of experts, with awards given for individual work.
The Guild was also the first organisation of its kind to teach handicrafts to wounded soldiers during the First World War. Classes were held in Armstrong College, part of which was being used as a ward of the First Northern Military Hospital, and doctors testified to the psychological benefits which patients derived from the work.
![[Mary, Queen of Scots] In the Royal Palace of St. James's an Antient Painting. 1580. Delineated and sculpted by G. Vertue (1735)](https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/speccoll/files/2020/03/mary.jpg)
