By Doreen Simonsen
Humanities & Fine Arts Librarian, dsimonse@willamette.edu

any people have been involved with the creation, printing, illustrating, selling, and purchasing of this particular book over the centuries. The most recent owner this book was Dr. John M. Canse, President of the Kimball School of Theology, a part of Willamette University from 1906 to 1930.  The book is called L. Coelii Lactantii Firmiani Diuinarum institutionum libri VII or The Divine Institutes, and the large initial M on the left is one of the illustrations by Hans Holbein the Younger inside this book.   “Printed entirely in Latin…it shows the struggle between the ideas of Paganism and those of Christianity… and in 1926, Dr. J. M. Hitt, State Librarian of Washington State considered it to be the oldest book from moveable type found in the Northwest at that time.” ¹

On June 17, 1953, Dr. Canse gave this book to Willamette University, and inscribed it with the following:

“This author was the silver-tongued Christian of the 4^th century.  This copy came from a German Monastery to Fort Wayne, Ind. Where I secured it in 1906.  Perhaps the oldest book in Moveable type in the Northwest.”²

This silver-tongued Christian was Lactantius, who was born a citizen of the Roman Empire circa 250 C.E. in the northern African town of Cirta, where he taught Latin. Emperor Diocletian summoned him to his court in Nicomedia in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) to teach Latin Rhetoric to administrators of his empire.  As a courtier, Lactantius met another follower of the Roman (Pagan) religion, the future emperor Constantine.  Both eventually converted to Christianity, and Lactantius fled the region during Emperor Diocletian’s Great Persecution of Christians in 303 C.E.

While in exile, Lactantius wrote this work, The Divine Institutes, “a treatise which sought to commend the truth of Christianity to men of letters and thereby for the first time set out in Latin a systematic account of the Christian attitude to life.”⁵ “It is the earliest systematic account of Christian morality in Latin.” ⁶ His written command of the rhetoric of classical texts and “pagan” mythology created a rational argument for Christianity that led him to be called the Christian Cicero.  Later he was also called a Christian Humanist and was widely read and published during the Renaissance.

The Dutch philosopher, Erasmus, was one of the many 15^th and 16^th century Humanistic authors who published an edition of Lactantius’ Divine Institutes.  In 1521, the year that our copy of this book was published, Erasmus had settled in Basel, Switzerland, where he befriended the young artist, Hans Holbein the Younger, who painted this famous portrait of him. Erasmus introduced Holbein to his friend, Sir Thomas Moore of England, whose portrait he also painted, and through his connection with Moore, Holbein became the court artist of the Tudors, especially Henry VIII.

However, while living in Basel, Holbein also created designs for several woodcuts used by printers in that city,⁸ including Andreas Cratander, who printed our book in 1521.  Besides the beautiful title page, Holbein designed Cratander’s Printer’s Mark.  An earlier version can be seen  on the bottom of the title page of our 1521 book, and the 1525 version is included the images of Printers’ Marks on the ceiling of the West Corridor. Library of Congress Thomas

Jefferson Building.¹¹  “Cratander repeatedly used as his mark the figure of Occasio, or Opportunity. Bald at the back, her hair blown before her, with winged feet she strides the world; in her hand she carries a razor to show how sharply is divided the fleeting present from the irrevocable past.”¹²

Basel was a major center for Renaissance Humanist and later Protestant publishing during the Reformation. On the title page, Holbein includes putti (cherubs) at the top and the bottom of the page, a classical Italianate frame around the text, and the images of two women on each side.  On the left is Lucretia, a noblewoman of Ancient Rome, who committed suicide by stabbing herself under her breast after being raped by Tarquin, the king’s son.  The other woman is Judith, a Israelite widow who beheads Holofernes, an Assyrian general, in order to protect her city.  At the bottom are two more putti holding the printer’s mark of Cratander between two Roman medaillons in bottom corners. Cratander also used this same title page border later that year for a work by Johannes Oecolampadius, a German Protestant reformer, for whom he continued to publish Protestant works for several years.¹⁴

On top of the text of the title page is a stamp from the book’s next known destination, the Jesuit Monastery of Gorheim, in Sigmaringen, Southern Germany, which was in operation from 1852 – 1872. ¹⁵ 

This may be where the booksellers Simeon & Brother at 714 Calhoun Street in Fort Wayne, Indiana found and purchased our book. They were noted vendors of German and Theology books.¹⁷  And they were also listed in the International Adressbuch des Deutschen Buchhandels (Addressbook of German Bookstores) as the only only German bookstore in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1905.¹⁸ This is where Dr. Canse must have found and purchased this book in 1906. 

Born in Orland, Indiana in 1869, Dr. Canse graduated with the class of 1899, at DePauw University (a Methodist University) in Greencastle, Indiana, where he later earned his Doctorate in Divinity in 1918. In 1907 he moved from Fort Wayne to the Pacific Northwest, where he served as a minister to several places in Oregon and Washington.  He researched the early Methodists in the region and was also active in the Washington State Historical Society.  In 1926 he was offered the position of President of Kimball School of Theology by Willamette University’s Board of Trustees, and he held this position until the school closed in 1930. ¹⁹  “He gave considerable attention to original research on the Indian Mission Period of Old Oregon.  A text entitled, “Missionary Colonizers of the Pacific Northwest,” was written.  It appeared first in the Pacific Christian Advocate,”²⁰ a newspaper founded in 1859 in Salem, Oregon by Alvan Waller, one of the founders of Willamette University.

In 1930 Canse published a biography of Jason Lee called Pilgrim and Pioneer: Dawn in the Northwest. His book includes chapters on “Red Tribes Seek the White Man’s Secret of Success, Indian Camp Meetings and War Clouds, and Indian Missions Fade into White Churches.” In 1932 a reviewer noted that work was “uncritical of Lee…Its chief value, and this is important, is its emphasis upon the religious devotion and zeal that animated Lee’s work.”²²

The terror of Diocletian’s Great Persecution of Christians in 303 C.E. forced Lactantius to flee Nicomedia and inspired him to write his arguments in favor of Christianity for educated Latin readers of the 4^th century. The printing whirlwind of 16^th century Basel produced religious tracts at the beginning of the Reformation, including our book which ended up at a Jesuit monastery in Germany. An American bookseller found it there and added it to his inventory in Indiana, where it fell into the hands of a scholar who celebrated the colonizing of the Northwest by Methodist missionaries. This text has traveled through centuries of religious convictions, conflict, and conversions. If you would like to see this book for yourself, please contact Doreen Simonsen, dsimonse@willamette.edu to make an appointment.

Endnotes:

1. “The Oldest Book of Northwest is Possession of Doctor Canse.” The Willamette Collegian. Vol. VI, No. 7, April 1895, p. 1.

2. Lactantius, Markos Mousouros, Andreas Cratander, and Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus. L. Coelii Lactantii Firmiani Diuinarum institutionum libri VII … Basileae: apud Andream Cratandrum, 1521. Mark O. Hatfield Library. https://orbiscascade-willamette.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01ALLIANCE_WU/2i92kk/alma9930454435201454

3. “Kimball to Close during 1930-31.” The Willamette Collegian. Vol. XLI, No. 18, February 20, 1930, p. 1.

4. “Fourth-century mural possibly depicting Lactantius (also possibly Apuleius).  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lactantius.jpg

5. Edwards, Mark. “Lactantius.” In The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. : Oxford University Press, 2022. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199642465.001.0001/acref-9780199642465-e-4053.

6. Baldwin, Barry. “Lactantius.” In The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. : Oxford University Press, 1991. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-2984.

7. Hans Holbein the Younger (German, 1497/8 – 1543), Erasmus, 1523oil on wood, 73.6 × 51.4 cm.  The National Gallery, London. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holbein-erasmus.jpg

8. Schmid, Heinrich Alfred. “Holbeins Thätigkeit für die Baseler Verleger.” Jahrbuch der Königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen 20 (1899): 233–62. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25167403.

9. Hans Holbein the Younger (German, 1497/8 – 1543), Printer’s Mark of Andreas Cratander, 1525, Metalcut print on paper, 85 × 59 mm.  The British Museum, London. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

10. Lactantius, Markos Mousouros, Andreas Cratander, and Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus. L. Coelii Lactantii Firmiani Diuinarum institutionum libri VII … Basileae: apud Andream Cratandrum, 1521.

11. Highsmith, Carol M, Photographer. Second Floor Corridor. Printers’ marks+Columns. Printer’s mark of Cratander in West Corridor. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. , 2007. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2007684459/.

12. Willoughby, Edwin Eliott. “The Cover Design.” The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 21, no. 2 (1951): 127–127. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4303991.

13. Hans Holbein the Younger (German, 1497/8 – 1543), Title-Border with Judith and Lucretia, 1521, Metalcut print on paper, 174 × 121 mm.  The British Museum, London. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

14.  Colombo, Matteo, Benjamin Manig, and Noemi Schürmann. 2024. “A Reformation in Progress: The Path toward the Reform of Johannes Oecolampadius” Religions 15, no. 9: 1147. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091147

15. “Kloster Gorheim.” https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Gorheim

16. “Simeon & Bros. Bookstore.” Souvenir of Fort Wayne, Indiana. 1888, page 12.  https://archive.org/details/souveniroffortwa00fort/page/n11/mode/2up

17. “Simeon & Brother.” The Bookmart: A Monthly Magazine of Literary and Library Intelligence, Vol.2, No. 4, September 1, 1884, page 391. https://books.google.com/books?id=Z1ADAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA391&dq=Siemon+%26+Brother.+Booksellers+Wayne&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi_lp225aL7AhWlCTQIHRQ5AEQQ6AF6BAgDEAI#v=onepage&q&f=false

18. “Fort Wayne (Indiana).” Adressbuch des Deutschen Buchhandels.  1905, V. Abteilung, Seite. 378. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044092543537&seq=940&q1=amerika&view=1up

19. John Canse Papers, 1884-1958.  Finding Aid. https://wshs-collections.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Ms%20148%20Finding%20Aid.pdf

20.“Kimball Policy Yet Uncertain: President Canse Here: Newly Elected Administrator is Well Known Figure in Northwest Circles.” The Willamette Collegian. Vol. XXXiX, No. 1, September 29, 1926, p. 1.

21. Canse, John M. Pilgrim and Pioneer : Dawn in the Northwest. New York ; The Abingdon Press, 1930. https://archive.org/details/pilgrimpioneerda01cans/mode/2up

22. R. C. Clark, Pilgrim and Pioneer: Dawn in the Northwest. By John M. Canse and Jason Lee: Prophet of New Oregon. By Cornelius J. Brosnan, Journal of American History, Volume 19, Issue 3, December 1932, Pages 447–448, https://doi.org/10.2307/1892791

By: Sarah Samala, ‘28

When you think of ballet, what comes to your mind? For most, it’s pink tights, pale tutus and classical music. However, when I was going through the materials donated by visual artist Tom Cramer in the Pacific Northwest Artists Archive, I came across the bright, almost psychedelic backdrops and hand-painted costumes of Oregon Ballet Theatre’s Jungle. Seeing Cramer’s strange, pop-art-esque art that typically covered cars or carved wood totems adorn the bodies and stage of the Oregon Ballet Theatre brought to mind several questions. Why was Tom Cramer chosen to set and costume a ballet? What was Jungle about? And finally, how did Cramer’s sets play into its narrative? Through research and the wealth of papers in the Willamette University Archives, I discovered the history of Jungle, and why Tom Cramer’s art was essential to its role within the modern dance world.

Tom Cramer was born in 1960 in Portland Oregon. He earned his BFA at the Museum Art School, now known as the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 1982. Cramer often combined different cultural mediums in his art. His early work, which consisted of abstract art and hand-carved totems, took inspiration from a variety of techniques like traditional Native American wood-carving and German expressionism. Cramer’s bright and chaotic style even made it onto unconventional canvases, as evidenced by his painted Volkswagens. Tom Cramer’s art was loud and memorable, yet described as eerily dark and foreboding by many. It was these qualities that caught the eye of dance agent Alex Dubay, who reached out to the Oregon Ballet Theatre’s artistic director, James Canfield, and pushed the visual artist into the world of ballet and theatre.

The Oregon Ballet Theatre first featured Cramer’s work in the 1994/95 season, where his first ever ballet set debuted in the American Choreographer’s showcase. The showcase was a culmination of several young choreographer’s original works, meant to challenge choreographers and dancers alike through its experimental nature. Shortly after being imbursed for this initial commission, Canfield sought out Cramer for another piece, one that would become one of Canfield’s most well-known works.

The 1996/97 season’s “James Canfield Signatures,” featured Jungle, a fast-paced piece meant to capture the violence and majesty of animal life. Unlike most productions, Jungle’s set, which was a thirty-by-sixty-feet mural that channeled the essence of nature in Cramer’s style, was actually created before the choreography. This unconventional choice challenged choreographers to mold their work around the energy of Cramer’s art, making it the foundation of the entire piece. The music used within Jungle was also an unusual choice; forms I, II, III and IV from Future Sound of London’s Lifeforms, uses ambient electronic sounds to mimic the bird and insect sounds of nature rather than carry the audience to a dramatic or climatic ending. The costumes reflect this unorthodox theme as well, instead of tailoring costumes to each dancer, Cramer painted a large piece of nylon in his colorful abstract style that was cut and sewn into the dancer’s outfits, meaning each costume carried a piece of the larger artwork. Some costumes were even painted directly onto the bodysuits while they were on the dancers.

Aside from the American Choreographer’s Showcase, Jungle and its accompanying James Canfield Signatures were a modern first for the company, which typically produced traditional shows such as The Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet. Similar to Cramer’s innovative method of combining different mediums, artistic director Canfield wanted Jungle to change the expectations of a “standard” ballet by merging the traditional art form with unconventional practices and abstract art. Throughout his work in the Oregon Ballet Theatre, Canfield strived to “carry ballet from one century to the next” (Box 2, Folder 2) and elevate the older artform for growing modern audiences. Cramer’s unique art served as the backbone for Canfield’s goal, and the contemporary Jungle became an important fixture within the Oregon Ballet Theatre’s history.

After its run in 1997, Jungle went on to fulfill its show’s title and become a James Canfield Signature, eventually being revived in 2002 as one of James Canfield’s final pieces before he left the company. Even today, Oregon Ballet theatre continues to stylize their performances. In the 24/25 season’s Hansel and Gretel, an eerie silent-film aesthetic was combined with gaudy and colorful sets, creating a sense of unease and like with Jungle, causing the production to visually stand out. Cramer went on to paint one more ballet set for Ballet Pacifica’s As is Us, which makes both his work at the Oregon Ballet Theatre and Ballet Pacifica nearly one of a kind. Though Cramer’s art strays toward wood reliefs more than painted murals nowadays, the production still stands as a crucial part of his legacy, and an important milestone in the modernization of the Oregon Ballet Theatre’s shows.

Works Cited

Cramer, Tom. Jungle 1997. Tom Cramer Art. https://www.tomcramerart.com/pages/jungle1.htm
Future Sound of London. Lifeforms, Virgin Records, 1994. Youtube,https://youtu.be/nhOXE4wn6Sk?si=X1oLslwk1oHe3EZ9.
Newspaper articles about art, 1986-2012, Subseries B, Box: 3, Folder: 3. Tom Cramer papers,
WUA122. Willamette University Archives and Special Collections.
Newspaper clippings (and exhibit fliers and correspondence to Betty Perkins (mother) and
Francesca Stevenson), circa 1979-2011, Subseries B, Box: 3, Folder: 2. Tom Cramer
papers, WUA122. Willamette University Archives and Special Collections.
Oregon Ballet Theatre booklets and fliers (season schedules), 1994-1997, Subseries A, Box: 2,
Folder: 10. Tom Cramer papers, WUA122. Willamette University Archives and Special
Collections.
Oregon Ballet Theatre. Oregon Ballet Theatre, https://www.obt.org/. Accessed 9 Mar. 2025.
Oregon Ballet Theatre “Spring Romance” (article about Tom Cramer), 1995 March 9 – March 12,
Subseries B, Box: 4, Folder: 5. Tom Cramer papers, WUA122. Willamette University
Archives and Special Collections.
Portfolio and resume, circa 2005-2009, Subseries D, Box: 3, Folder: 14. Tom Cramer papers,
WUA122. Willamette University Archives and Special Collections.