Imprints in Time, Selections from the Great Collection of Stuart and Mimi Rose, are on Display at the Folger Shakespeare Library through January 5, 2025
- by Michael Stillman
To the moon and back, the Apollo 11 Flight Plan.
The Folger Shakespeare Library recently opened its inaugural exhibition in its new gallery. The exhibition title is Imprints in Time, items from the amazing collection of Stuart and Mimi Rose of Dayton, Ohio. They have a large and exceptional collection of books and related material, with this exhibition featuring some the most exceptional of all. There are 52 items on display and you know them all, though may never have seen most if any before. This is your chance.
The Folger has described the display as a “journey through time.” As such, the Roses' collection is not so much subject related. Rather, they have collected enormously important works in various fields through time. Six centuries are represented, as are fields from science to religion, literature, children's books, early printing, political, fiction, and poetry. The common thread is importance.
Imprints in Time now offers an extraordinary chance to see many dozens of exceptionally rare books together in one space without the constraints of topic or time period. These items from the collection of Stuart and Mimi Rose are shared exactly as they would be experienced in a private collection - all together, overlapping, recombined, and highlighting the features that make them unique, from author's inscriptions, rare dust jackets, and incredible book making. The quality of the pieces Stuart has collected over many years is breathtaking. A first edition Pride and Prejudice in its original boards as issued from the printer sits next to the original manuscript draft of Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, in his hand - and that's just one single case. Throughout the exhibition great works in nearly singular condition offer visitors a chance to see literature, history, and religion through a variety of traditions.
Here are few more of the items you will see if you attend the exhibition at the Folger Library.
An Egyptian Book of the Dead used to accompany a woman named Ta-er-pet on her journey into the afterlife. Maybe she will stop by. From the first century BCE.
A Columbus Letter, an account of his journey to the New World in 1492 sent to monarchs and financiers on his return, relating what he saw.
De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, a first edition from 1543. Nicolaus Copernicus proposes that the sun, not the Earth, is the center of the universe. Do you mean we aren't the center of the universe? That did not go over so well with many people.
Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, an 1859 first edition which explained how life on Earth had come about through evolution by natural selection. This claim was as controversial and unwelcome as Copernicus' claim was 300 years earlier.
The Apollo 11 flight plan flown to the moon. One small step. Annotated by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
A Bible printed by Fust and Schoeffer in 1462. One of the earliest printed books by partners who assisted Gutenberg in creating the first printed book.
Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, printed by William Caxton in 1473. It is the first book printed in English.
An advance press copy of Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech.
A first edition of Isaac Newton's Principia, where he set down the laws of motion and gravity.
That just scratches the surface. There's lot more where these came from.
This exhibition takes place within the context of the Folger Shakespeare Library's new exhibition halls, where the range of rare books on display contains 82 copies of the 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare's works, playbills and prompt books from 400 years of Shakespearean performances, and printed works by Caxton, Moxon, and others. For the rare book collector or enthusiast, the Folger's current exhibition is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
If you can't make it to Washington for the exhibition, or you would like a preview before you go, there is an online view of the items on exhibit including information about each one. It's the next best thing to being there. Here is a link: www.folger.edu/explore/the-stuart-and-mimi-rose-collection
The exhibition runs from now through January 5, 2025.
Sotheby’s Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone 25 June – July 7
Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.
Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000.
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000
Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000
Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500
Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000
Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum Auctions The Private Library: Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers July 9, 2026
Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000
Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000
Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000
Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000
Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000
Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000
Forum Auctions The 10th Anniversary Sale Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper July 16, 2026
Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000
Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000
Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000
