17th century book found in university donation bin
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The people who help run the Michigan State University Surplus Store come across thousands of donated books each month. Every once in a while, they come across a big find, but few like one donated last year.
The store has received some iconic first editions and plenty of signed copies, including a bowhunting guide from Michigan’s own Ted Nugent. But a find from last October takes the cake: The Surplus Store received a 17th century copy of a theology book written in Latin by an Austrian philosopher.
Chris Hewitt, the store’s operations coordinator, told Nexstar's WOOD-TV that his staff regularly sorts through lots of donations.
“We collect books daily and we have two full-time staff members along with a team of students whose job it is to go through and hand sort all of those books,” Hewitt explained. “It’s about 20,000 pounds of books a month that they hand sort. They’re going through those bins, and they have a whole process of sorting them out based on their condition and then from their value and what type of category book they are.”
Hewitt said his staff knew right away they were dealing with an extraordinary find when they realized the book was bound in pigskin.
“It looked and felt much different than any other book,” Hewitt said. “It stood out right away that it was something unique.”
The store’s researchers were able to determine that the text, written in Latin, is a copy of “Theologia Moralis” by Paul Laymann, an Austrian Jesuit moralist.
“One of the struggles with it was there is no standardization,” Hewitt said. “Now, on the front page, you have your copyright and everything. The first page says 1651. But if you go through a couple of pages, it looks like it’s a reprint from 1672 of an initial print from 1651.
“I believe this was a time when they still had to hand press everything. So, seeing how thick that book is, it is quite the labor of love to have put together.”
Hewitt’s team doesn’t know who donated the book — only that it had no library markings, suggesting it was privately owned.
According to MSU researchers, Laymann was a popular Catholic figure in his day. He taught theology across Bavaria and Austria and wrote several books. “Theologia Moralis” was his most popular work. It was considered a cornerstone text for a long time at Catholic seminaries and was reprinted for more than a century.
It’s the oldest book that the Surplus Store has received, but not the first rare finding.
“A couple years ago, we also found a first edition Charles Darwin book. It wasn’t ‘The Origin of Species,’ but it’s a different one that he wrote about worms, which is appropriate since we also have a worm facility for composting campus food waste. We thought that was a pretty good kind of full circle,” Hewitt said.
The store has also received a first edition of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and an early edition of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” when it was still separated into two parts. The store has seen some other odds and ends, too, like an eel-skin briefcase and homemade robots.
“It was a very cool find to just come across in a bin, mixed in with a Harry Potter book or some magazines,” he said.
The copy of “Theologia Moralis” has been turned over to the University’s Special Collections team to be archived and properly stored. But thousands of other books remain for sale. And donations that don’t make the cut go to a good cause, too.
“When we do the initial sort process, (we’re) trying to find the ones that are still in good shape. There are some that are too beat up; they’ve got wear and tear on them. We send those to a company that recycles them into paper,” Hewitt said. “So everything that gets donated is ultimately recycled or given a new life. But we prefer to give all the books a second chance to get out there and be reread again.”