Charles Davis writes “This was Posted to
Archives of LIS-LIBHIST:
The following news-cutting from the Australia “Newcastle [NSW] Morning Herald” of 24
July 2003 has been sent to me by a colleague. I’d like to hear from anyone
with information, and I can scan a photo of the “book” (which seems to be
less than palm-sized) on request. As far as I can see, it bears no writing
on what looks like a closed book carved from granite, with imitation simple
blind tooling.
Quote: “Mystery of tome set in stone. By Carly Hennessy. Archivists would
like to close the book on a mysterious stone artefact which has been donated
to the Newcastle [NSW] University Library.
The stone book was passed down from benefactor Robert Stephens’ grandfather
to his father and then to him.
Auchmuty Library archive officer Gionni Di Gravio is searching for clues
about the book’s origins and purpose.
‘(Mr Stephen’s) understanding was that prior to the age of printing, when
books were rare, these stone books were carried by people to church,’ Mr Di
Gravio said.
Charles Davis writes “This was Posted to
Archives of LIS-LIBHIST:
The following news-cutting from the Australia “Newcastle [NSW] Morning Herald” of 24
July 2003 has been sent to me by a colleague. I’d like to hear from anyone
with information, and I can scan a photo of the “book” (which seems to be
less than palm-sized) on request. As far as I can see, it bears no writing
on what looks like a closed book carved from granite, with imitation simple
blind tooling.
Quote: “Mystery of tome set in stone. By Carly Hennessy. Archivists would
like to close the book on a mysterious stone artefact which has been donated
to the Newcastle [NSW] University Library.
The stone book was passed down from benefactor Robert Stephens’ grandfather
to his father and then to him.
Auchmuty Library archive officer Gionni Di Gravio is searching for clues
about the book’s origins and purpose.
‘(Mr Stephen’s) understanding was that prior to the age of printing, when
books were rare, these stone books were carried by people to church,’ Mr Di
Gravio said.He had emailed photos of the book to museums and libraries across the globe,
hoping to get some idea of its age.
He said it was likely to date to pre-Victorian days, possibly the Georgian
era.
‘It could have been a stone missal that acted as a substitute for a Bible,’
he said.
‘It was possibly blessed by a priest and then took the place of a Holy Bible
as spiritual protection for someone who couldn’t read.’
The other theory was that it was a memorial for the dead.” “
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