This paper, written as a mid-term project for Kyle R. Triplett’s course LIS 689: Rare Books and Special Collections in Fall 2017, was an in-depth bibliographic study of one first edition of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s drama The Cenci: A Tragedy in Five Acts, held in the Rare Book Collection of the New York Public Library, call number *KL (Shelley, P.B. Cenci. 1819).
The project’s purpose was to use bibliographic research methods to establish a collation formula, description of the object’s production, provenance, and value for such uses as research, exhibition, and monetary estimate.
My research included direct observation of this item as well as other first edition copies held in another collection for comparative purposes. Research into historic methods of papermaking, bookbinding, typography and type production, printing, and other production details provided context for these observations. I also reviewed the extant literature about The Cenci, including literary criticism, descriptive and analytic bibliographic research, and biographical reference sources relating to the relevant period in the author’s life.
Download the PDF: LIS689_CenciEval.pdf
Carissa Pfeiffer 