{"id":904,"date":"2024-05-10T12:58:08","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T12:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/lyell\/?p=904"},"modified":"2024-06-10T13:25:37","modified_gmt":"2024-06-10T13:25:37","slug":"recreating-connections-exploring-charles-lyells-offprint-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/lyell\/2024\/05\/10\/recreating-connections-exploring-charles-lyells-offprint-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"Recreating Connections: Exploring Charles Lyell’s Offprint Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"

An<\/span> <\/span>offprint<\/span><\/span> is a separate printing of a work that originally appeared as part of a larger publication<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span><\/span> such as an <\/span><\/span>academic journal<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, magazine,<\/strong> or edited book.<\/strong><\/span> Offprints are used by authors to promote their work and ensure a wider dissemination and longer life than might have been achieved through the original publication alone. <\/span>They <\/span>are<\/span> valued by collectors as akin to the first separate edition of a work and, as they are often given away,<\/span> and<\/span><\/strong> may bear an inscription from the author.<\/strong><\/span> Historically, the exchange of offprints has been a method of correspondence between scholars<\/span>; by studying Lyell\u2019s offprints, we will be able to <\/span>extend our understanding of his network, for example, contrasting the <\/span>correspondence files<\/span>, or by following up references in his not<\/span>e<\/span>b<\/span>ooks<\/span>, <\/span><\/strong><\/span>but<\/span><\/span>, to do that, first we need a list! <\/span>Please welcome Harriet Mack and <\/span>C<\/span>l<\/span>aire<\/span> Bottoms, who are now charged with that task<\/span>….<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi,<\/span> we are<\/span> Harriet<\/span> and Claire, <\/span>and we <\/span>have been <\/span>working for<\/span> about a month on Charles Lyell\u2019s collection of <\/span>offprints<\/span> held<\/span> by Heritage Collections.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>These<\/span> offprints <\/span>are<\/span> a series of publications collected and kept by Charles Lyell (<\/span>1797-1875<\/span>) <\/span>assisting<\/span> with his understanding of scientific principles. The<\/span>ir<\/span> numerous<\/span> locations and authors help expose the <\/span>exten<\/span>sive network<\/span> of researchers publishing – f<\/span>rom <\/span>Paris<\/span>, <\/span>Geneva<\/span>, <\/span>Berlin<\/span>, <\/span>Sicily <\/span>to <\/span>North <\/span>America – <\/span>as well as<\/span> being a<\/span> record of <\/span>Lyell\u2019s <\/span>wide-reaching <\/span>interests – <\/span>from <\/span>geology<\/span>, history, science, <\/span>anatomy<\/span> and civil engineering –<\/span> to name a few<\/span>!\u00a0<\/span> Using Lyell\u2019s own work and his archive collection, and by listing these offprints, we <\/span>are<\/span> recreat<\/span>ing<\/span> Lyell’s<\/span> network and reference library<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span><\/span> providing <\/span>researchers with a route to Lyell\u2019s own <\/span>reading and research<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Catalogue of Land Shells in the Royal Collection of the late King of Denmark. Fam. Cochleadea. Trib.1. Vitrinida, by Henrik Hendriksen Beck.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Map of Hindostan and the Countries Adjoining, showing the tracks of the most remarkable earthquakes since 1819, the principal volcanoes and hot wells, the localities of hailstorms, direction of the wind in the rainy season, etc. by George Buist<\/p><\/div>\n

From the get-go we were focusing on the specific primary metadata that could be taken from each offprint. These include<\/span> the<\/span> t<\/span>itle, author, paginations, language, date, publisher, and any handwritten notes. Titles are often long and specific to geological terminology with many <\/span>in German, Italian, French, and English with some outliers of Latin and Swedish<\/span> \u2013 <\/span>we’ve<\/span> been spending a lot of time on Google translate<\/a>!<\/span> What is interesting is that the dates follow <\/span>a huge range<\/span> across Lyell\u2019s lifetime<\/span>, with some early works from <\/span>1811<\/span><\/span> and later works <\/span>dated in the months before<\/span> hi<\/span>s <\/span>death in <\/span>1875<\/span>.<\/span> We <\/span>are pulling<\/span> out publishers and journal titles as they provide crucial information concerning the works of learned societies, publications of similar dates, similar interest<\/span>s<\/span> at the time, and an understanding of the priorities in each year.<\/span> So far, we have recorded over 200 offprints covering a wide range of topics.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Of great interest are the handwritten notes that <\/span>accompany<\/span> the printed works<\/span> \u2013 which <\/span>reveal h<\/span>idden <\/span>details<\/span>. These <\/span>appear<\/span> often on the cover of the offprints and <\/span>contain<\/span> dedications <\/span>by the<\/span> authors, as well as <\/span>notes made<\/span> by Lyell and his team<\/span> – wife<\/span> <\/span>Mary<\/span> Lyell<\/span><\/span><\/a> (<\/span><\/span>1808<\/span>–<\/span>187<\/span>3<\/span>)<\/span><\/span> and <\/span>secretary<\/span> <\/span>Arabella Buckley<\/span><\/span><\/a> (1840 \u2013 1929<\/span><\/span>).<\/span> Working through the collection, we have uncovered <\/span>these additional layers <\/span>to Lyell’s <\/span>administrati<\/span>ve <\/span>organisation<\/span>; <\/span>t<\/span>hese added names and dates ensure that the offprint can be identified by the cover as well as the title page.<\/span><\/span>\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

One of our <\/span>favourite<\/span> dedications<\/span> so far is <\/span>on the cover of<\/span><\/span> Notes on the Vegetation of Buenos Ayres<\/span><\/span> and the neighbouring districts<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em> by <\/span><\/span>Sir Charles James Fox Bunbury<\/span><\/span><\/a> (<\/span><\/span>1809-1886)<\/span><\/span> dated 1854. The dedication stands out as it is to Mary Lyell rather than Charles: \u2018<\/span><\/span>to Mary E. Lyell with the Author\u2019s love<\/span><\/span>\u2019.<\/span> Charles Bunbury married Mary\u2019s sister, <\/span><\/span>Frances<\/span><\/span><\/a> (1814\u20131894)<\/span><\/span>. Lyell\u2019s wider archival collection holds correspondence that details their family and working relationship \u2013 <\/span>it’s<\/span> gratifying to see this extend to the sharing of offprints.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Surprisingly colourful, Lyell’s offprints come in a range of pastel shades<\/p><\/div>\n

Lyell’s offprints have been fascinating to look through. W<\/span>e have gained a colourful wealth <\/span><\/span>of knowledge on specific regions and geological phenomena<\/span>,<\/span> as well as an understanding of broader nineteenth century scientific knowledge. At the same time, it is easy to get lost; a common rabbit hole has been the pink journal <\/span>Revue des Sciences. <\/span><\/i>For this title, Lyell kept specific monthly editions in full. By doing this, he has enabled us to see what else was printed in each edition, widening our understanding of what he and his contemporaries (his network of ‘able investigators\u2019) were reading in connection with one another. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

We are really looking forward to continuing looking, and finding more!<\/span><\/p>\n

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Le Plesiosaurus Dolichodeirus conyb. Du Musee Teyler, By T.C. Winkler<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An offprint is a separate printing of a work that originally appeared as part of a larger publication, such as an academic journal, magazine, or edited book. Offprints are used by authors to promote their work and ensure a wider dissemination and longer life than might have been achieved through the original publication alone. They […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":198,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcnwkP-eA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/lyell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/lyell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/lyell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/lyell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/198"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/lyell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/lyell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":949,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/lyell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904\/revisions\/949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/lyell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/lyell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/lyell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}