Lo! An English Duchess in Sundance, Utah (Margaret Cavendish Society Conference)
Frontispiece of Margaret Cavendish's The Worlds Olio.
Serious students of early-modern women writers surely know Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (Essex, 1623 – Welbeck Abbey, Nottingham, 1673). A prolific producer in almost all 17th century literary genres, Duchess Margaret was an unusual, flamboyant, and fearless personality. Ever courting fame, she boldly asserted rank and access directly on the title-page of her many published works: “Written by the thrice noble, illustrious and excellent princesse the Duchess of Newcastle”. But this was also a forward-looking writer whose work thoughtfully engaged with the New Science, university-level education for women, and visionary worlds (science-fiction).
This summer, the Margaret Cavendish Society shall continue to honor the accomplishments of this remarkable woman in its Tenth Biennial International Cavendish Conference, this year at the Sundance Resort in Utah, July 12-14. With a conference theme of “The Art of Nature and the Nature of Art,” this gathering offers a rich selection of scholarly papers, awards & prizes, museum tours, displays, a keynote speaker, a festive banquet, and such special events as a costume presentation. The event is sponsored by the Cavendish Society, Brigham Young University, and the Renaissance Studies Group at Brigham Young. The event’s Organizing Committee includes such Cavendish stalwarts as Professors Brandie R. Siegfried, James Fitzmaurice, Sara H. Mendelson (current Society president), and Lisa T. Sarasohn. Launched at the June 1997 Cavendish Conference at Oxford (UK), the Society was established as a present-day steward of Margaret Cavendish studies. As the Society’s web site shows, this dedicated group, through its members’ publications, scholarly meetings, awards, online resources, and newsletters, fosters continuing conversation and research on Cavendish and her legacy.
Maureen E. Mulvihill (Princeton Research Forum, Princeton NJ) will be the Keynote Speaker of the 2013 Cavendish Conference in Sundance. A respected scholar and rare book collector (as well as a subscriber to Americana Exchange), Dr Mulvihill will speak on: “What Do You See? Frontispieces of Margaret Cavendish - Invention, Authority, Book Arts.” Her presentation will include a table display of rare books from her collection, each with its own frontis, and a distributed bibliography: “Literature & The Visual Arts.”
ALDE, Apr. 8: GUEVARA (ANTONIO DE). Histoire de Marc-Aurèle, Empereur Romain, vray miroir et horloge des Princes. Paris, Pierre et Galliot du Pré, frères, 1565. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: HEURES DE LA VIERGE. Horæ in laudem beatissimæ virginis Mariæ ad usum Romanum. Paris, Charles L'Angelier, 1556. €4,000 to €5,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: MONTAIGNE (MICHEL DE). Les Essais. Édition nouvelle, trouvée après le deceds de l'autheur… Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1595. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [ROJAS (FERNANDO DE)]. Celestina, tragicomedia di Calisto et Melibea, tradotta de lingua castigliana in italiano idioma… Venise, 1531. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CAMÕES (LUÍS DE). Os Lusiadas. Lisbonne, Pedro Crasbeeck, 1613. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Bruxelles, Roger Velpius & Huberto Antonio, 1611. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: LA FONTAINE (JEAN DE). Fables choisies, mises en vers. Paris, Denys Thierry et Claude Barbin, 1678-1694. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid, Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: DIDEROT (DENIS) ET JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Paris, 1751-1765. €15,000 to €20,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. LAMARTINE (Alphonse de). Les Laboureurs. Poème tiré de Jocelyn… Lyon, J. A. Henry, 1883. €8,000 to €10,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. Livre de prières tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle. Lyon, [A. Roux], 1886. €5,000 to €6,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections Open for Bidding 2-17 April
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.
