Falnama and Bibliomancy Cultural Traditions

Over the past decade, I experienced periodic urges to study and learn more about bibliomancy, the art and practice of divination based on the content of a book, text or illustration, via the random selection of a page, used as the source of the divination.  A simple process, pose a question, choose a book and open the book to a random page, read the page, and then divine insight or guidance to answer the question vis the content of the page.  When down in the dumps about life and happiness I sometimes think the answer to all that troubles me is to simply "hang a shingle" and build an app to provide divination through book content.  Traditional books used for bibliomancy include a, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Vigils Metamorphosis, Dante's Divine Comedy, The Bible (Old and/or New Testament), and The Works of Shakespeare, seem to be most mentioned.  The choice of book is not set, and any beloved book is acceptable.  My choice of book would most likely be Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel although a close second would be Henry Miller, Tropic of Capricorn.  While I often fantasize about such a bold move, I generally just laugh at myself and bury the idea deep in my mind for future comic relief.

A few years ago, while pondering, yet again, the launch of a bibliomancy practice I stumbled upon a reference to bibliomancy traditions and Islamic cultural variation, and I spent a few days searching for a book on that tradition to add to my library.  My search was successful, and I acquired a used, in fine condition, copy of a museum exhibition catalog.  I was initially surprised by the cost of the acquisition, I ended up paying more than I expected, but the need was solid and the enjoyment priceless.   The book I found was Falnama: The Book of Omens by Massumeh Farhed, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 2009.  A standard Museum Exhibition publication which includes various essays concerning the history of Islamic bibliomancy traditions and reproductions of manuscript pages from the Exhibit.  At the time I was happy to discover the paperback edition which was more affordable than the few hardcover copies available.  That remains the case today with four copies of the hardcover available from $275-$1000 and five copies of softcover available from $95 to $900,via www.abe.com.

Falnama: The Book of Omens by Farhed Massumeh, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 2009 Paperback.  

The various essays in this volume and the illustrations are comprehensive, detailing the content and the role of the Falnama in Islamic culture, especially Iran and Turkey in the 16th and 17th centuries.  A wonderful edition and a wide-ranging introduction to Islamic bibliomancy tradition and practice.

I recently discovered a facsimile edition of one of the very rare editions of a complete Falnama and gladly ordered a copy.  I was at least a year late in discovering this recent publication and it took a few searches to find a copy for sale, but I was able to secure a new copy for a very reasonable price! 

https://www.khalilipublications.com/product/the-khalili-falnamah/

 

This is a beautiful edition of a rare Indian manuscript which includes wonderful background essays on the history and practice of Islamic bibliomancy traditions and practice and a complete facsimile of the original manuscript.  It is very affordable direct from the Khalili Foundation website.  The above link includes not only purchasing information but a nice gallery of the facsimile sample pages.  .  I have no idea of the initial printing size  but I am certain the available, new copies, will sell out.   Prices on the secondary market will rise quickly, the time to acquire is now.

 A lovely and collectable new title with an outstanding lay-flat binding.  

The Books that Made the European Enlightenment: A History in 12 Case Studies, by Gary Kates. A great read and fuel for further exploration and blog posts!

 

I recently completed reading this wonderful study of books that impacted the early Enlightenment (1699-1780) under the general rubric of social history.  The primary source material was bespoke databases of archival materials from the era , an example of the rapidly expanding efforts in the digital humanities, providing insightful reactions to the content, both public and private, at the time of publication and during the 18th Century.  The author is masterful in presenting the publishing history of key authors and works, the drama that was publishing during the 18^th Century, reader reactions, Government and Religious reactions, and the influence of the published content on the evolution of Enlightenment thought.  This is one of the most enjoyable reads I have completed in the past few years! 

The Books that Made the European Enlightenment:  A History in Twelve Case Studies, Gary Kates, Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 2022

 

The Content via Chapter Titles.

List of Illustrations
Preface
1. The Enlightenment Reading Public
2. Fénelon's Adventures of Telemachus (1699)
3. Montesquieu's Persian Letters (1721)
4. Voltaire's History of Charles XII (1731) & Montesquieu's Considerations on the Greatness and Decline of the Romans (1734)
5. Voltaire's Philosophical Letters (1733-1734)
6. Richardson's Pamela (1740)
7. Hume's Essays Moral, Political, and Literary (1741-1742)
8. Graffigny's Letters from a Peruvian Woman (1747)
9. Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws (1748)
10. Rousseau's Emile (1762)
11. Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776)
12. Raynal's Philosophical and Political History of the Two Indies (1770-1780)

 

Focusing on 12 authors (and their publications) I was excited to learn about the original publication, early translations, and reception of these classic enlightenment works in the 18^th century and beyond.   For many years I have acquired first edition first printings of key books that have greatly influenced my intellectual (and life) journey and while every book discussed in this book are one’s I would covet for my private library they are all to expensive for my collecting budget!  As I studied the content, I kept finding motivation to search for Open Access digital facsimiles of these true First Editions to experience the content as a reader of the time did.  The artifact, the typography, the content as was experienced upon publication places me within the aura of initial publication and that means something, at least to me. I can’t own an original, but I hoped to be able to experience on screen, the experience of reading that first appearance (in English translation where necessary).  I often wonder if the earliest publication of works that are still important to read, but now, with the look and feel of 21^st Century publication practice, impacts the reader experience differently.  While modern editions certainly are helpful for the reading experience today, the extra effort it takes to experience the original publication must impact the reader’s reaction to the content and ideas on offer.  That is often my main motivation to acquire a First Edition and while that is a slow and often expensive quest to acquire a book I have come to appreciate; I enjoy reading or browsing digital editions as a viable alternative to the physical artifact.  The books presented here included a few I was unfamiliar with, most notably, The Life and Adventures of Telemachus, Pamela: or Virtue Rewarded, and Letters of a Peruvian Princess. Three titles added to my TBR list and if possible, I hope to read them in digital facsimile and not a contemporary reprint!  

I hope to be able to continue this focus by posting a link to the original publications, in English, so that others may easily access these key titles from the 18^th Century.  Today I share one to get me started as I am still searching for and befuddled that the Benjamin Franklin edition of Pamela: or Virtue Rewarded is not available online and I really want to read a digital facsimile of that particular artifact, the first novel printed in Colonial America.  Seems like a missed opportunity for digitizing Franklin’s key printing efforts.  While my overall goal is to focus on the first appearance in English, publishing practice in the 18^th Century makes this difficult to pursue.  In the end, I accepted the complex publishing history and am linking to translations from that era, or at least, shortly after, that are available and represent an early complete translation of respected editions.  

François de Salignac de La Mothe Fénelon, The Adventures of Telemachus was first published in French in 1699.  While originally an authorized publication celebrated for story and writing, the popular book eventually was banned for reasons involving an attack on Royalty and Religion which finally caused the French authorities to ban the book which, as is often the case, propelled it into best seller status in France and in translation.  I am sharing the

 

 

The Adventures of Telemachus, The son of Ulysses, Fénelon, François de Salignac de La Mothe-, Manchester, UK, Thomas Johnson (Publisher), Translator- John Hawksworth, 1847, Retrieved from The Internet Archive, California Digital Library Collection (accessed 03/19/2023)

Critique of the Monarchy?  A Religious purpose?  For children/young adults? Popularized political philosophy?  A grand tale adored by young and old readers?

 

A collection of illustrations from 1808:

 

Bartolomeo Pinelli, The Dream of Telemachus, from The Adventures of Telemachus, Book 4, 1808, Bartolomeo Pinelli, The Art Institute of Chicago, CCO 1.0

From the Art Institute of Chicago website:

“These twelve drawings depict scenes from the French novel The Adventures of Telemachus (Les aventures de Télémaque) by François Fénelon. First published in 1699, it was one of the most popular books of the 1700s and 1800s. Telemachus is the son of Ulysses from Homer’s Odyssey, the first four books of which describe the hero’s search for his father. Fénelon invented further adventures for Telemachus, in which he undergoes many trials while accompanied by his tutor, Mentor, who is actually the goddess Minerva (the embodiment of wisdom) in human disguise. A scathing critique of autocratic government and a diatribe against war, the book denounces luxury and decadence and calls for the simplicity and equality Fénelon believed ancient Greece best exemplified.

(The Art Institute of Chicago, accessed 05/30/2023

 https://www.artic.edu/artworks/17988/the-dream-of-telemachus-from-the-adventures-of-telemachus-book-4).

 

As I explored the digital edition, I discovered a set of illustrations from the same era available from The Art Institute of Chicago’s digital collection.  I was amused by viewing the illustrations as I read through the content of Book 4!  While a publication 148 years after the original publication in French, this appeared to me to be a fine edition that met my interest in reading an early complete English translation.

CC BY 4.0

Museum and Books : Nathaniel Hawthorne at the Peabody Essex Museum

The Peabody Essex Museum 2019. 
20th century addition (far left), original,19th century East India Marine Hall. New addition
(same source of granite) to the far right

The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem,  Essex County, Massachusetts opened a much awaited new building recently, expanding the gallery space, and allowing better display of the vast and important holdings.   The museum, which originated in 1799 as the East India Marine Society, required that every ship returning from travels bring something back to contribute to the Society in the tradition of cabinets of curiosity dominant at the time.  In 1825 the Society and a growing collection of objects became headquartered in the newly constructed East India Marine Hall.  The Hall, still in use today, retains some of the original display cases and is a direct link to the museum's earliest days.   Tracing the evolution from a Marine Society to a modern museum is a bit complex but a continuity in purpose and practice is possible to trace.

In 1821 the Essex Historical Society was established and Salem was supported by two active cultural and collecting institutions.  In 1833 a third organization formed, the Essex County Natural History Society focused on local natural wonders.  In 1848 the two societies merged to form the Essex Institute which would eventually become part of the modern museum.  Sometime after the East India Marine Society was established in the East India Marine Hall, the society adopted a new name, The Peabody Academy of Science.  Sometime during the 1960's the Essex Institute revised its mission to focus on regional art, history and architecture and divested holdings of natural science and archaeology to the Peabody Academy of Science, which transferred its holdings of historical materials to the Essex Institute.   A further name change was done in the early 20th century when the Peabody Academy of Science was renamed, the Peabody Museum of Salem and continued to focus on international art objects and culture arising from the earliest days of returning ships with objects to contribute associated with diverse and distant cultures.   The Essex Institute pursued a decidedly historic Salem focus and continued to acquire properties of great architectural value and developed historical interpretation for the Salem community.   By the late 20th century the two local cultural and collecting institutions were connected by not only proximity but also collections and in 1992 merged to form the current Peabody Essex Museum (PEM).    {All preceding sourced from  https://www.pem.org/about-pem/museum-history}. 

 Since the 1992 merger, PEM has experienced evolution of capacity, collections, and exhibition opportunities.  A community museum free to all Salem residents PEM is a dynamic cultural conglomerate with varied collections spanning, art, architecture, books, historical records and is poised to take a leadership role for museums in the 21st Century.   This trajectory is best illustrated by PEM and the noted designer and cultural maven, Iris Apfel who essentially brought the Peabody Museum in to the contemporary era with a donation to the museum of objects from her personal collection of textiles and fashion.  Apfel became enamored with the Peabody Essex a few years ago, when her traveling exhibition was so warmly received and supported by this ever evolving museum.  The new addition and the past 25 years or so of mergers and expansion are celebrated with the recent opening of the new wing to the museum and supported by wide ranging exhibitions and new galleries displaying items from the permanent collection.  I so love the original East India Marine Hall that I am more excited to re-visit the Hall, since it is now again an active gallery and was much missed, after years of diverse use while construction of the new addition was completed.  I do plan to explore the new addition but my first stop will be the classic Marine Hall.

One noted benefit of the museum expansion is that now, PEM has a dedicated gallery to exhibit items drawn from the vast Phillips Library collections.  The Library collections are a great source for genealogical research and documentary history of the area along with collections focused on the rich literary tradition of New England and specifically local authors from the Salem geographic area.  To celebrate the opening of the new PEM and to illustrate the new range and space for exhibitions, the PEM expansion launch includes a special exhibition from the permanent collection focused on Nathaniel Hawthorn of House of Seven Gables and The Scarlet Letter fame.   

Museum and books is a favorite focus and I am excited to visit and experience the collections associated with Salem's (and New England's, America's and world's),own Nathaniel Hawthorn.  Coinciding with the opening of the new museum building the Phillips Library, the research/library collection of PEM,  has put together an exhibition of highlights of their Nathaniel Hawthorn collection of published and archival holdings.

Sadly PEM has not done a very good job with creating a digital exhibition in support of the physical space.  I'll need to verify this once I visit but the web presence is just not that compelling!  While it is most likely the real goal of the museum is to attract visitors during the opening of a new space, it is a missed opportunity when the associated web coverage of the exhibition is a disappointment.  Interest in Nathaniel Hawthorn is not geographically limited and there are many who would be interested in viewing virtually, the exhibition, which I imagine includes many fine examples of editions rare, illustrated and displayed in a new dedicated book gallery.  While I can dream of what is on display I sadly, just do not know what to expect as PEM's website is basically devoid of details on the exhibition.  If you are interested in a brief biography of Hawthorn, I urge you to visit his page at the American National Biography site.

The spirit of the exhibition is clearly and cleverly designed to focus on Hawthorn's creative legacy.  Since there is little to go one all I can share are the facts mentioned in the digital exhibition and a bit of detail on a recent artist's treatment of a Hawthorn short story, The Minotaur,  from his Tanglewood Tales, recently acquired by the museum and featured in this exhibition.  I imagine and hope that the exhibition displays numerous examples from Hawthorn's published and documentary past along with illustrated editions, of which there are many outstanding examples, and I assume all are part of the permanent Hawthorn collection.

Book artist, Mindy Belloff recently reinterpreted Hawthorn's The Minotaur in a beautifully crafted new edition of this tale.  Produced by Intima Press the artist book is sure to delight visitors to the PEM and the Hawthorn exhibition!

 

The details of this artist edition follows:

A Golden Thread: The Minotaur – A Contemporary Illumination
Mindy Belloff, artist, designer, printer, and publisher.
Text The Minotaur short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne from Tanglewood Tales, 1853. Additional text includes quotes of Carl Jung and text from Lorem Ipsum.
Edition of 32 standard in quarter leather and 8 deluxe design bindings, all with 23-karat gilt edges, one hundred original drawings and two hundred press runs; 14.75 x 11 inches; 2018.
(Please email IntimaPress at yahoo.com for current price.)

At least one copy is available in the rare book market at $6,500USD via the ever impressive Lux Mentis Books.  While I am interested in seeing this edition in person I also really want to experience the new book gallery at the PEM.  If you are in the Boston area this is a must attend exhibition.  This seems an awfully depressing post and certainly not what I intended as I waited for the opening of the new addition and the launch of supporting promotional and website coverage of the new exhibitions, especially the books.  Perhaps I'm still waylaid by a bout of September depression that visited me and the anticipation of this exhibition as I waited for the material to go live.  It looks like I won't be able to visit the new PEM until the day after Thanksgiving but I will be there, then.  Hopefully with a wee bit less malaise.