I is for…

Isaac Basire

Title page of Homilia Æthiopica de Nativitate Domini Nostri Jesu Christi (1660)

Dedication by the author/printer of Homilia Æthiopica de Nativitate Domini Nostri Jesu Christito (1660) to Isaac Basire

The chaplain to Charles I travelled widely during the turbulent years of that monarch’s reign, and among the items he acquired was this wonderful Latin-Ethiopic-Arabic sammelband, here dedicated to him by the authors/ printer. Most of the items from the library of Isaac Basire came to the Bolton Library in February 1710 via Archbishop William King, and included in the collection is the now rare and marked up catalogue of that sale.

Insects

An example of insect damage seen in an opening of E.4.34

Images of insects from New improvements of planting and gardening, both philosophical and practical (1720)

The remnants of a spider found in In qvatvor libros institvtionvm ivris civilis divi Iustiniani commentarivs (1618)

Villains, hitchhikers or subject matter, you cannot get away from insects in the Bolton Library: wormhole and silverfish damage, the five two-spot ladybirds in residence in Bolton Library Y.4.19, the declaration that ‘Every herb has its peculiar insect’ in the Bolton Library I.16.16, the ‘bug’ Bible. As for this find in Bolton Library Y.6.13, could we perhaps suggest Tegenaria casselensis?