By Allyson Long (Dartmouth ’17)

One work found in Stainforth’s collection that is of particular interest to us is Sophia Hovenden’s The Hand Unseen, etc. [In verse.] published in Jerusalem in 1846. According to its Worldcat record, The Hand Unseen was published in both English and Hebrew in Jerusalem in this year, and a microform copy of the English version exists today in the British Library (see the BL record here). Otherwise I have not been able to find any reference to our Sophia Hovenden anywhere on the Internet. Nonetheless, this work is a unique edition to Stainforth’s collection, and we hope to gain more information about it and about the author in the future! (Editor’s note: It is the only book published in Jerusalem that Stainforth owned, as far as we know now.)