MSU Libraries breaks rare 16th-century cartography text out of its cage

One of Michigan State University’s rarest and most valuable books in its Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections recently got the “full spa treatment” by MSU conservation librarian Garrett Sumner.

Ptolemy’s “Geographia,” published in 1535, has been in the collection since 1951, but it has been kept in a special safe due to its fragile condition. There are approximately 60 known copies of the 16th-century cartography text in the world.

In the centuries since its publication, the book has survived numerous floods and a precarious trip through the streets of Milan, hidden in the undercarriage of a cab. It was a trip worthy of a spy novel due to a ruling by the late Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini that no historical documents could leave the country.

The smuggler was Fred P. Warren of Three Oaks, who was the son of wealthy industrialist E. K. Warren. The E.K. Warren Foundation donated the tome to MSU in 1951. And there it sat.

The library sought to have it preserved several times, but the cost far exceeded the budget, so it languished in its safe. Then, rare books curator Tad Boehmer decided to take another look at the book after coming across it in its safe.

Boehmer brought the book, nestled in a box with a note on top warning of mold, to Sumner.

 “We pulled it out and found there was actually no active mold,” Sumner said. From there, it was full speed ahead, with a slight delay due to COVID lockdowns and remote work.

Upon examination, despite there being no mold, the book was in tatters, with the covers hanging on by threads. It was dirty and looked nothing like a valuable book.

Garrett Sumner prepares the parchment cover for “Geographia.”

For Sumner, who was charged with evaluating how to preserve the book, the most difficult decision was whether to do nothing, which is always an option.

Sumner and Boehmer finally decided to give it the “full spa treatment,” which included disbinding it; washing all the pages; resizing, mending, sewing and rebinding the pages; and housing the book in a custom enclosure. A recent upgrade to the Florence G. Wallace Conservation Lab allowed the preservation to move forward.

The 228-page book is a gem of early cartography. It contains 49 maps with woodcut borders, which some scholars have attributed to Renaissance artists Hans Holbein the Younger and Urs Graf. It was originally written in the second century, with inaccuracies corrected in later editions, such as MSU’s second edition.

MSU’s book has quite a pedigree. It contains one of the earliest uses of the word “America” in print, according to Boehmer. It was printed by the Trechsel brothers in Lyon, France, in 1535 and was translated by German Renaissance lawyer, author and humorist Willibald Pirckheimer. At one point, it was housed by the Somaschi Fathers, an order of priests, at San Bartolomeo church in Somasca, Italy. Boehmer believes an inscription in the book is likely from the first half of the 16th century.

What makes this preservation project so important is that the book will now be available for use in classes and by the public. There will be a short delay as the Special Collections moves from the library’s basement to new space on an upper floor, which has been in the works for years. The move will help ensure that “Geographia” will no longer be subject to floods. It sounds nerdy, but it’s a remarkable achievement.

Other book news:

In case you missed it, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s new memoir, “True Gretch,” reached No. 3 on The New York Times’ best-seller list for combined print and e-book nonfiction and No. 4 on its list for hardcover nonfiction the week of July 28. Congratulations to Whitmer. Making this list is a major accomplishment for an author.

Put this on your calendar: On Oct. 24 at MSU’s Pasant Theatre, the Michigan Humanities will host a reunion of Great Michigan Read authors. Numerous award-winning authors will be in attendance. Watch facebook.com/MichiganHumanities for the announcement.