Old UI book finds new home

IOWA CITY - Tim Barrett was working in the basement of the University of Iowa Main Library a year or so ago when a book title caught his eye.

The book, published in 1763, had the name “Charlevoix” on the spine. A light bulb went off for Barrett, director of the UI Center for the Book, because his family has a vacation home on Beaver Island, near Charlevoix, Mich., a city named for the early French explorer and historian.

The centuries-old book reprints the letters Jesuit Father Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix wrote to a friend in France describing his travels in North America from 1720 to 1722.

Barrett, after pulling the book off the shelf, set in motion a series of inquiries about the book that led to it finding a home with the Charlevoix Historical Society in Michigan. A private rare book appraiser put a $3,500 value on the tome, Barrett said.

“I thought somebody up there in that community would really appreciate it,” he said.

Leaders with the Charlevoix Historical Society knew of the book, but figured acquiring a copy was out of the question because of a likely high cost, said David Miles, coordinator of the Harsha House Museum for the historical society.

They were thrilled to hear from Barrett about getting this copy, Miles said. “Our hearts leapt at the prospect,” he said.

The book itself is not that rare, Miles said, but this copy is unusual because it still has an original map page of the Great Lakes.

Most copies are missing the map because collectors tear it out.

The book is under lock and key at the historical society, Miles said.

“We've had a couple of people who were just thrilled to be able to handle it,” he said.

UI Library officials were happy to see the book land somewhere fitting, said Sidney F. Huttner, head of special collections.

The book had been in the basement conservation area, where thousands of old books used to teach repair and conservation methods to UI students are stored.

“It's unusual where you can put a book at another institution where it really is appreciated,” Huttner said.