The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-02-22
CONTAINS MANY
ODD CHARACTERS
Preston A. Perry Has Travelled
all Over the World in Search
Of Rare Volumes.

the Hawaiian Hotel who came to
- Honolulu on the Ventura, might
be called by some a bookworm, although
there is nothing in his appearance to
warrant one in believing that he has
delved into the outermost corners of the
earth in the search for rare books. Mr.
Preston is one of the genial-lookins,
easy-gong men whom one meets on
steamers, on railroad trains and in the
hotel Hobbies the world over, and has
gained the sobriquet of globe-trotter
That he is a lover of books, not only
for what is in them but for the era in
which they We're published uoes not oc-
cur TO a casual observer.
For years Mr.. Preston has roamed
over the globe seeking in queer, quaint,
out-of-the-way corners off the line of
general travel to ferret out some odd
volume long lost to ltoraries and forgot
ten upon the shelves of those who do not
know their true value. In mis- role as a
collector of rarities Mr.. Preston has
picked up some of the most valuable
volumes known in the book world. Many
Of them are the only ones known, and
some of them We're printed SO far back
in the Middle Ages that the history of
many countries was not even known.
Such book as this Mr.. Preston has
with him. 1t is a volume known as the
Roman Missal, or mass book, and even
Mr.. Preston is unable to gauge its prop
er value. That duplicate was ever
made, is not known, but Mr.. Preston
says that books printed by hand after
the twelfth century were rarely dupli-
Gated.
Long before the days of printing
~
vogue" said Mr.. Preston yesterday,
land almost two centuries before Cax-
ton immortalized his name by giving to
the world an invention whereby books
and papers could be printed by the
means of letters of the alphabet craven
upon blocks of wood, the monks of the
Holy Catholic church produced them by
hand with the stylus dipped in the most
perfect inks, spending, in some instances.
many years upon a single volume OF
prayers"
The Roman -Missal is not large vol
ume. 1t is perhaps six inches long, four
inches wide and about two inches thick
/ The cover is of heavy black leather,
cumbersome according to modern tastes,
and stamped with gold. The leaves are
made of parchment, turned to rich
yellow hue by more than six centuries
of time.
! From my Investigations this book was
made by the monks in Rome in the thir-
teenth century entirely by hand" said
Mr.. Preston, and as you see is most
, beautifully Illuminated. In fact, l be-
lieve it is conceded that this volume has
the most beautiful and most perfect IL
Nominations of any book yet brought to
I light. 1t was made presumably some
time in 1900 That time is fixed on ac-
count of some comment in the back. of
the book in French, many of the terms
of which are known to have been used
only at that time. Some of the express
! sions referring to Mother Mary became
obsolete after that. This comment was
written by one of the owners of the
book. 1t also belonged, presumably, to
an Italian named Rupert, whose name
! is seen in several places. The book
mark of Robert Chambers, the great
{ book collector of Edinburgh, is also past
ed on the inside cover. These missals
We're not made prior to the twelfth CEN
fury, and none We're made later than
the fifteenth century,"
49, Each page of the work is done in
handsome style, the old Roman text let
5iters being mostly in black, with now and
! then small words in red or blue At the
end of each sentence, instead of small
period being used, an illumination reg
tangular in form, often nearly the
length Of the line, has been inserted
This is done in colors, blue and gold pre-
dominating.
The chief glory of the book, however,
/ is in the seven main Illuminated let
tiers. The gold work is heavy and has
lost none of it's luster by time. 1t is
not leaf gold. but pure gold pounded to
the thinness of wafer. Modern artists
and illuminators who have seen the
work are appalled, at the amount Of
time which must have been spent by the
monks on them. The Calendar of the
SAINTS is a magnificent piece of work
Every line begins with an illuminate.
letter in gold, blue and red, while scroll
and flower designs cover the margins
I When 1t is shown that there are 1SS
pages of parchment, each with its palms.
taking array of letters, mounted In col
ors, the richness of the appearance of
the pages can be clearly understood Mr.
Preston has traced out five different
handwritings in the book, and the illu-
limitations have been made by a much
larger number. The book to Mr.. Pres
ton and all book connoisseurs who have
seen It, is not only valuable for its age
/ put as work of art many artists have
pronounced 1T a wonderful example of
! the art of the Middle Ages. In the back
OF the volume a Book of Prayers, prob
ably more than $50 years old, has been
pound In with the illuminated work by
one OF Its owners. This printed book
/ alone is valued at from $500 to 81 900 and
many offers for it have been made