<
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/nov/27/the-1920s-desecration-of-a-gutenberg-bible-shocked-the-us-but-miraculously-gave-a-jewish-family-new-life-in-australia>
"It was a brazen act of extreme literary vandalism that desecrated one of the
world’s most valuable books. But it also allowed a family of Holocaust
survivors to forge a new life in Australia.
The extraordinary tale was uncovered by the author and journalist Michael
Visontay while researching his family history during Covid lockdown and has now
been published as a book,
Noble Fragments.
It tells how 100 years ago a New York bookseller pulled apart a Gutenberg Bible
– one of only 45 then thought to exist – and sold the individual pages for a
fortune.
“It was the holy grail of rare books,” Visontay says.
“Noble fragments was a fancy term to cover up the fact that what was done was
literary sacrilege.
“To break up any book is offensive to most people, but to break up a Gutenberg
Bible, that was a crime against history.”
Visontay’s discovery began with a mystery surrounding the second of his
grandfather’s three wives, a woman the family appeared to have erased from
existence. There were no photos of Olga, no indication of where she was buried,
and an unspoken family rule that she was never to be discussed or acknowledged.
Yet rummaging through old papers after the death of his mother five years ago,
Visontay came across Olga’s name in what appeared to be a legal document
demanding money.
Also mentioned in the document was a name Visontay had never heard before:
Gabriel Wells.
A simple Google search set the writer on an entirely new trajectory of his
research.
Visontay discovered online a 1946 obituary for Wells, who, he learned, had been
one of the most influential antiquarian book dealers in the US in the first
half of the 20th century."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
