Directory of Research and Expertise

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Research Summary and Profile

Research interests:

History of the book, Library, Manuscript studies, Palaeography

Research keywords:

History of libraries, Provenance research, History of the antiquarian book-trade (19/20th c.), Bibliographical studies

Regions:

Europe, North America

Summary of research interests and expertise:

I am a book historian who specialises in the study of the antiquarian book trade, the formation of libraries in the 19th and 20th centuries, and provenance research. After completing my D.Phil. at Oxford, I was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of London from 2020 to 2023 and researched the trade in medieval manuscripts in Germany, c. 1900–1945. I am currently an early career research fellow at the Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, conducting a project on the provenance history of incunables in Valais libraries. Since April 2024, I have also been collaborating on the exhibition 'Sur les traces d’un chef-d’oeuvre. La Bible de Moutier-Grandval', which will be held in the Musée jurassien d'art et d'histoire in Delémont (CH) this spring.

I have regularly published peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on the sale of incunables, manuscripts, and booksellers' activities. My first monograph (forthcoming by Brepols in 2025) focuses on the Swiss antiquarian book trade and the purchases of Sir Thomas Phillipps there in 1822–1823. 

Having catalogued more than 600 incunables in various American and European libraries, I have extensive experience with the Material Evidence in Incunabula database, Latin, French, German, and English palaeographical skills, and thorough knowledge of the antiquarian book trade. I have also received fellowships from the Huntington Library, California, and the Staatsbibliothek and the Freie Universität in Berlin.

Languages:

	Spoken	Written
French	Fluent	Fluent
German	Good	Good
Latin	Good	-

Publication Details

Related publications/articles:

Date	Details
01-Nov-2024	The Values of German Medieval Literature in the 1930s: Martin Bodmer, Erwin Rosenthal, and the “Nibelungenlied” Chapters Angéline Rais, ‘The Values of German Medieval Literature in the 1930s: Martin Bodmer, Erwin Rosenthal, and the “Nibelungenlied”’, in ‘Value’, Michael Gamper, et al. (eds), Articulations (November 2024)
01-Jul-2024	The Pre-Modern Manuscript Trade and its Consequences, ca. 1890–1945 Edited Book
01-Jul-2024	Jacques Rosenthal's Marketing Strategies: An Analysis of the Bibliotheca Medii Aevi Manuscripta (1925 and 1928) Chapters
20-May-2024	A List of Manuscripts Offered for Sale by Jacques Rosenthal in Bibliotheca medii aevi manuscripta (Munich, 1925 and 1928)_version 2 Papers
01-Jan-2024	Valuing rare books in 1920s Germany: Prices in Jacques Rosenthal's Bibliotheca medii aevi manuscripta Chapters
25-May-2023	Taxer avec Epicure: le discours de Samuel Engel devant l’Äusserer Stand de Berne (1732) Chapters Angéline Rais and Solmeng-Jonas Hirschi, ‘Taxer avec Epicure: le discours de Samuel Engel devant l’Äusserer Stand de Berne (1732)’, in Lionel Bartolini, Isaline Deléderray-Oguey, and Grégoire Oguey (eds), Chanter l’histoire en réveillant les sources. Mélanges d’histoire(s) offerts au professeur Jean-Daniel Morerod (Neuchâtel: Alphil, 2023), pp. 363–95
01-Oct-2022	Ein nationales Ereignis: der umstritten Verkauf des “Missale speciale” der Kapuziner von Romont (1953) Journal articles Adrian Holderegger and Angéline Rais, ‘Ein nationales Ereignis: der umstritten Verkauf des “Missale speciale” der Kapuziner von Romont (1953)’, Freiburger Geschichtsblätter 99 (2022), pp. 65–96
01-Oct-2022	Sur les traces du plus fameux bibliophile anglais en Suisse: Sir Thomas Phillipps et l’étude des montagnes Chapters Angéline Rais, ‘Sur les traces du plus fameux bibliophile anglais en Suisse: Sir Thomas Phillipps et l’étude des montagnes’, in Musée sauvage: habiter la collection, ed. Mélanie Hugon-Duc ([Le Châble]/Gollion: Musée de Bagnes/Infolio, 2022), pp. 75–85
01-Jan-2022	A National Affair. The Scandalous Sale of the Missale Speciale of the Capuchins at Romont Journal articles Angéline Rais and Adrian Holderegger, ‘A National Affair. The Scandalous Sale of the Missale Speciale of the Capuchins at Romont’, Helvetia Franciscana 50 (2021), pp. 91–124.
01-Jan-2021	How to Sell a Carolingian Illuminated Manuscript in the Nineteenth-Century? The Basle Book-dealer J. H. von Speyr-Passavant and the “Moutier-Grandval Bible” Journal articles Angéline Rais, ‘How to Sell a Carolingian Illuminated Manuscript in the Nineteenth Century? The Basle Book-dealer J. H. von Speyr-Passavant and the “Moutier-Grandval Bible”’, Histoire et civilisation du livre 17 (2021), pp. 215–36
01-Jan-2016	Livres et lectures d’un ecclésiastique de la fin du Moyen Âge. La bibliothèque de Guillaume Grimaître Journal articles Angéline Rais, « Livres et lectures d’un ecclésiastique de la fin du Moyen Âge. La bibliothèque de Guillaume Grimaître », Bulletin du bibliophile 275 (2016), pp. 275-303

Publications available on SAS-space:

Date	Details
Oct-2021	How to sell a Carolingian illuminated manuscript in the nineteenth century? The Basle book-dealer J. H. von Speyr-Passavant and the "Moutier-Grandval Bible" PeerReviewed
Nov-2023	A List of Manuscripts Offered for Sale by Jacques Rosenthal in Bibliotheca medii aevi manuscripta (Munich, 1925 and 1928) NonPeerReviewed The following appendix describes the 200 manuscripts Jacques Rosenthal offered for sale in his two-volume catalogue Bibliotheca medii aevi manuscripta (BMAM) published in 1925 and 1928. It presents data extracted from BMAM and archives I analysed in my publications investigating Rosenthal’s working methods and the criteria he used to assign a financial value to the manuscripts. Its aim is therefore not to provide detailed descriptions of the manuscripts but to gather information provided by BMAM, even though it has been since revised and could be completed by additional research, and archival sources. For my publications, see Angéline Rais, ‘Jacques Rosenthal’s Marketing Strategies: An Analysis of Bibliotheca medii aevi manuscripta (1925 and 1928)’ in The Pre-Modern Manuscript Trade and its Consequences, ca. 1890–1945, ed. by Laura Cleaver, Danielle Magnusson, Hannah Morcos, and Angéline Rais (York: ARC Humanities Press, forthcoming 2024); Angéline Rais, ‘Valuing Rare Books in 1920s Germany: Prices in Jacques Rosenthal’s Bibliotheca medii aevi manuscripta’, in The Economics of the Rare Book and Manuscript Trade, ca. 1890–1939, ed. by Federico Botana and Laura Cleaver (York: ARC Humanities Press, forthcoming 2024).
Feb-2024	THE ECONOMICS OF THE MANUSCRIPT AND RARE BOOK TRADE, ca. 1890–1939 PeerReviewed The market for rare books has been characterized as unpredictable, and driven by the whims of a small number of rich individuals. Yet behind the headlines announcing new auction records, a range of sources make it possible to analyze the market as a whole. This book introduces the economics of the trade in manuscripts and rare books during the turbulent period ca. 1890–1939. It demonstrates how surviving sources, even when incomplete and inconsistent, can be used to tackle questions about the operation of the rare book trade, including how books were priced, profit margins, accounting practices, and books as investments, from the perspectives of both dealers and collectors.
May-2024	The Pre-Modern Manuscript Trade and its Consequences, ca. 1890-1945 PeerReviewed This collection brings together current research into the development of the market for pre-modern manuscripts. Between 1890 and 1945 thousands of manuscripts made in Europe before 1600 appeared on the market. Many entered the collections in which they have remained, shaping where and how we encounter the books today. These collections included libraries that bear their founders’ names, as well as national and regional public libraries. The choices of the super-rich shaped their collections and determined what was available to those with fewer resources. In addition, wealthy collectors sponsored scholarship on their manuscripts and participated in exhibitions, raising the profile of some books. The volume examines the collectors, dealers, and scholars who engaged with pre-modern books, and the cultural context of the manuscript trade in this era.

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