Come discover something uncommon with Rare Books & Special Collections at Boatwright Memorial Library, University of Richmond, as we explore the collections, highlight new acquisitions, and share information about what we have and what we do.
In collaboration with the Virginia Museum of Natural History, Boatwright Memorial Library’s Science Librarian, Heather Ervin, and Rare Books and Special Collections have put together a new exhibit case on the second floor of the library themed around visual science communication. Visual science communication is used in order to teach scientific ideas in a visual manner. This often means that scientists and artists must work together in order to create an educational piece of scientific visualization. Common representations of visual science communication are textbook depictions of nature, photographs, and videos.
Scientific visualization has changed greatly over the years. Even 30,000 years ago, human beings made cave paintings of animals that they came into contact with. Although art historians and scientists alike are unsure what the intent was behind these scientific artworks from the Paleolithic period, we are able to conclude that by rendering human forms, plant life, and animals in a scientific manner with pinpoint accuracy became important to the teaching and learning of not only art, but science as well. These two areas of study revolved around each other, and it would be difficult in many regards to separate the two.
With the invention of the printing press, scientists were able to share and spread knowledge of animals and plants much more easily, and with the ability to print drawings of the animals and plants discussed in the texts, anyone who possessed the book could now have an image of the specimen in their minds. This trend of visual science communication continues to this day.
The exhibit in collaboration with the VMNH honors this culture of visualizing science by incorporating preserved specimens from their collection, including a snapping turtle, box turtle, viper, cowfish, fence lizard, spotted salamander, rattlesnake rattles, and seahorses. In addition to the physical specimens provided by the museum, the Rare Books Room has provided several books with drawings of similar specimens in text.
As our world becomes increasingly digital, it is still important to preserve physical objects that communicate visual science. The digital world does, however, continue this tradition of visual science communication in an accessible manner, which not only helps those who are trying to learn about a particular science, but also preserves the trend of visualizing science for generations to come.
We appreciate the opportunity to work with the Virginia Museum of Natural History, with special thanks to Marshall and Arianna.
Books displayed:
The animal kingdom, arranged according to its organization… by P. A. Latreille and Georges Cuvier. QL45 .C944 v.2
Brehm’s illustriertes Thierleben fur Volk und Schule; bearbeitet von Fredrick Schodler by Alfred Edmund Brehm and Friedrich Schoedler. QL 605.4 .S22 1897 v.3
Animate creation; popular edition of “Our living world”… by J. G. Wood and Joseph B. Holder. QL 50 .W882 1885
Popular zoology by Joel Dorman Steele and J. W. P. Jenks. QL 48 .S8 1887
The Riverside natural history… by J. S. Kingsley and Friedrich von Hellwald. QL 45 .K56 1888 v.3
On December 26th, 1811, several hundred Richmonders gathered together at the Richmond Theater to enjoy a night of drama, but the drama that unfolded was not a part of the play’s script. As the oil lamp chandelier was raised into the rafters for the show to begin, it caught the pine wood ceiling, the thick, heavy curtains, and the painted set pieces on fire. The building was consumed by flames, and those inside were desperate to get out. The individuals sitting in the galley and the pit of the building, where the seats were the cheapest, were the first to escape. The entrances and exits were close to these seats, unlike those in the boxes on the second floor. The box seats were expensive, and many of the most influential people in Richmond at the time were seated here. The box seats were reached by long, narrow passageways. Unfortunately, these seats were difficult to escape from in an emergency situation. The fire became so severe that people on the second floor were jumping from windows in order to survive the fire at any cost. The chaos of the evening made it incredibly difficult to figure out who was still inside the theater and how to get them out. Once the embers subsided, a panicked inquiry regarding the causes and casualties of the fire began in Richmond.
The burning of the theatre in Richmond, Virginia, on the night of the 26th. December. , . [No Date Recorded on Shelflist Card] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2003689321/
The Galvin Rare Books Room here at Boatwright has recently acquired a short book that is a collection of news articles, letters, and other miscellaneous documents related to the Richmond Theater fire. This book was published only two weeks after the fire had occurred in order to update the American public (particularly those living in Richmond) about the tragedy. The fire was the most deadly urban accident in the history of the United States at the time, with the death count totaling 72 individuals. Many notable figures within the political and economic atmosphere of the influential city of Richmond passed away or were greatly affected by the incident. The new governor of Virginia, George William Smith, who succeeded James Monroe, was tragically killed in the fire alongside “the President of the bank” and former U. S. Senator Abraham B. Venable. The book lists the names of those who died according to the Richmond neighborhood they lived in, and although many important male figures within the community passed, the majority of those lives lost were women.
The overall consensus (to current scholars and 19th century Richmonders alike) is that women were particularly susceptible to getting stuck in the building due to their heavy, frilled garments. The book recalls, however, many instances of those who attempted to save women and children who were caught in the fire. Two such gentlemen, Gilbert Hunt, a freedman who was not in attendance that evening, but witnessed the fire from a nearby shop, and Dr. James McCaw, a notable figure within Richmond’s medical community, aided women jumping from the second story by helping them jump onto a mattress on the ground floor. Hunt and McCaw saved over a dozen lives that night, and they are regarded after the fact as heroes of such a tragic event.
To commemorate the heroic work of those who saved lives and to honor those whose lives were lost, the Richmond community built a church upon the site of the theater, which was completed in 1814. This building, originally an Episcopal church, is still standing on East Broad Street as a historic landmark of the city. The church houses a crypt underground for those who passed in the fire. On the front steps of the church, there is a monument in the shape of a funerary urn. This monument is inscribed with the names of the 72 individuals who died. The white men who passed are listed on the front, facing Broad Street, and the white women and children are on the remaining three sides, while any enslaved persons are listed at the bottom of the urn.
The severity of the Richmond Theater fire was compared within the book to several other theater or fire related disasters throughout history. This comparison was made at the very end of the book, perhaps to remind the audience that these disasters, although horrific and tragic, were not isolated. This rare and unique book describing tragedy that came upon the city of Richmond that December night ends in such a way to remind the readers that Richmonders were by no means alone in their grief and that the lives of those who perished in the fire would be remembered.
For further reading on the Richmond Theater Fire, please consider The Richmond Theater Fire: Early America’s First Great Disaster by Meredith Henne Baker. Additionally, Historic Richmond’s website offers more information on Monumental Church. Rachel Beanland has recently produced a historical fiction retelling of the event and its consequences in The House Is on Fire.
For centuries, folktales have been used to guide (or spook) children into being good little boys and girls. There are countless stories of ghouls, goblins, trolls, and witches eating, stealing, or maiming children throughout many different cultures. The subject matter is the most simple and classic trope one could have throughout literature: good versus evil. The children often represent a pure and curious innocence, and the monstrous creatures within the stories represent the corruption of souls. Throughout these tales, the children often leave the comfort of their homes, knowing that they were not supposed to do so or at least being aware of the dangers that lurk on the outskirts of their community. After they have left, they are hunted by or stumble upon these creatures. The children have to find a clever way out of becoming victims to the evil ways of the creature they are up against, as many children have before them. These stories are prevalent in communities across the globe to read to children as they grow up, hoping to imbue them with concepts of goodness, obedience, and hope while warning them of the nature of evil.
The stories of the Brothers Grimm are likely the most recognizable of these folktales, but there are varieties of stories from Japanese, Norse, Russian, and many more cultures that fall into this category. When selecting books for the children’s folklore aspect of this exhibit, it became clear that the genre was incredibly varied. Stories weren’t just about one type of creature, and often, the creatures changed from region to region. Regardless of which creature was most prevalent within the culture, they all represented negative characteristics. Greed, laziness, hatred of others, self-isolation, trickery, and violence are by and large the most repeated traits from the stories we have in our collection. These vices may seem simple, and perhaps they are. We are all warned when we are children to be good, to be kind. The simplification of evil was deliberate. Some stories (like the Brothers Grimm) have more intense elements that we today might not deem suitable for children, but the origins of these stories are much more sinister than what the stories portray to children.
The theme of guiding others away from moral depravity was not just limited to children’s fiction literature and folktales, but indeed have origins in the treatises on the very serious crimes of witchcraft. Dark magic is hinted at within children’s literature, but the intense hold that the fear of witchcraft and devil-worship had on not only Americans, but communities across the oceans as well, was far from written about in these children’s texts. During the 17th and 18th centuries, it was believed that those who practiced witchcraft had powers to transform into other creatures, or that they transformed as a result of their sinister devotion to the devil, a consequence of evil within their hearts. The infamous witch trials of these centuries were at the forefront of the minds of the author’s who would end up writing stories of witches for children in later centuries. Even after the popularity of witch trials waned, the stories of the things that go bump in the night continued to be told. The Galvin Rare Books Room has in its collection a 1928 copy of the 1489 translation of the Malleus Maleficarum, which serves as a great example of the origins of witchcraft literature and stories of devil-worship under patronage of the church (in fact, written by a man of the cloth himself). This text, as well as Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft (from 1841) and The Discoverie of Witchcraft (from 1930), all describe women as being the primary users of dark magic. These witches were to blame for the moral depravity in the community, and the church would show people how to avoid such sinful behavior.
Church authority dominated the role of moral guide, but as the centuries passed, so did the authority of religion. Who, then, would guide the children into doing rightly? It may be argued that this role passed to the authors of children’s literature. Parents could read these simplified stories to their children, simultaneously entertaining them and reminding them of what to do and what not to do. This transition of power might provoke a few questions to think about. What authority has guided you to do rightly? Is it religion? Family? Perhaps, it is much less simple. Perhaps, we are guided by and away from our greatest fears, whether it be creatures that lurk within the dark, misty woods or the very darkness that lurks within our own souls.
For further reading on the subject of folklore and fairy tale origins, consider reading Werewolves, Witches, and Wandering Spirits: Traditional Belief and Folklore in Early Modern Europe by Kathryn A. Edwards.
Edwards, Kathryn A., ed. Werewolves, Witches, and Wandering Spirits: Traditional Belief and Folklore in Early Modern Europe. Vol. 62. Penn State University Press, 2002. https://doi.org/10.5325/j.ctv1c9hp4x.
For more information on how folklore affects children and their educational development in the early 20th century, read Gudren Thomsen-Thorne’s “The Educational Value of Fairy-Stories and Myths.”
Thorne-Thomsen, Gudrun. “The Educational Value of Fairy-Stories and Myths.” The Elementary School Teacher 4, no. 3 (1903): 161–67. http://www.jstor.org/stable/993304.
For more information on moral lessons within dark fairy tales and folklore, consider reading “Peasants Tell Tales: The Meaning of Mother Goose” in The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History by Robert Darnton published in 1984.
List of Items Displayed:
The Goblin Spider PZ8.1 .G63 1899
Fairy Tales from Grimm / edited and with an introduction by Hamilton W. Mabie. Pictures and decorations by Ethel Franklin Betts. PZ8.G882 Fl
Fairy Tales of the Grimm Brothers / Decorated by Aldren Watson for the Peter Pamper press. PZ8.G882 F
Fifteen Norse Tales / by Sir George Dasent ; selected by E. E. Reynolds ; illustrated by Doris Pailthorpe. PZ8 .A89 Fi 1931
Russian Fairy Tales: illustrations by A. Alexeieff. PZ8 .A26 Ru
The Princess and the Goblin / by George Macdonald ; illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith. PZ8 .M1754 P
Malleus Maleficarum / translated with an introduction, bibliography and notes by the Rev. Montague Summers. BF1569 .A2 I5 1928
The Discoverie of Witchcraft / by Reginald Scot; with an introduction by the Rev. Montague Summers. BF1565 .S4 1930
Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft / Addressed to J. G. Lockhart, Esq., by Sir Walter Scott, Bart. BF1531 .S5 1841
In addition to the various ghost-related books discussed in the previous post, the Galvin Rare Book Room is also home to a variety of materials pertaining to witchcraft. While the notion of “a witch” existed for hundreds of years, the witch trials in Europe and the British colonies in the Americas reached their peak between 1450 and 1750. Historians continue to study the many aspects of this phenomenon, exploring the varied cultural, social, religious, and political foundations that led to, and supported, the belief structures behind them. A quick search in the Boatwright Library catalog offers many options to read further on this topic.
The collections of materials on witchcraft in the Rare Book Room offer research opportunities into the topic, especially for students in Professor Sydney Watts’ History 199 course “Witches, Heretics, and Unbelievers: Orthodoxy & Heterodoxy in Western Europe, 1520-1800.” In this course, students focus on the basic elements of historical thinking and research by exploring the challenging concepts of the problem of truth and reality through the lens of witchcraft and heresy in early modern Europe. Examining primary and secondary sources are part of that research journey, and we always appreciate the opportunity to work with faculty, students, and staff on their research projects.
One of the primary texts defining the concept of a witch was
the Malleus Maleficarum, or the
Hammer of Witches, first published in 1486. Written by Catholic clergymen, the
book functioned as a handbook for secular courts across Europe to assist in the
identification, and eradication, of those deemed guilty of witchcraft. Its three sections use natural philosophy and
theology to prove the existence of evil, illustrate how witches recruit protégés,
offers remedies and reversals for the spellbound, and provides legal guidelines
on how to run a witch trial. The Galvin Rare Book Room copy is a facsimile
edition featuring an English translation of the 1486 text. This edition totaled
1275 numbered copies, of which this item is number 537; it was a gift from St.
Paul’s Episcopal Church. (catalog
link)
Earlier this year, we added a new work to the materials available to study the history of witchcraft, Del Congresso Notturnao delle lammie libri tre. (catalog link) Published in 1749, this item is a first edition printing highlighting arguments about practical magic and witchcraft coming from the Venetian Inquisition. Arguing against the more traditional viewpoints, the author Girolamo Tartarotti, claims that rather than demonic possession and satanic pacts, the behaviors tagged as magic relate more to medicinal herbs and potions and the fantasies and visions those concoctions produced. Even further, he suggests that the public spectacles of witch burnings fueled additional charges and outbreaks, noting that implementing less harsh measures might reduce the allegations by giving them less public attention. One notable chapter focuses specifically on werewolves, which Tartarotti believed were also the result of drug-induced visions.
Studying witchcraft in the American colonies focuses primarily
on the trials held in Salem, Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693
when more than 200 people were accused and 19 executed by hanging after being
found guilty of the charges. Several items in the collection relate directly to
the happenings in Salem, including:
Cotton Mather, The
Wonders of the Invisible World: being an account of the tryals of several
witches lately executed in New-England; to which is added, A Farther Account of
the tryals of the New-England Witches by Increase Mather. London: John Russell
Smith, 1862 (catalog
link)
Robert Calef, More
Wonders of the Invisible World displayed: in Five Parts Boston: T.
Bedlington, 1828. (catalog
link)
Salem Witchcraft:
Comprising More Wonders of the invisible world, collected by Robert Calef; and
Wonders of the Invisible World, by Cotton Mather; together with notes and
explanations by Samuel P. Fowler. Boston: W. Veazie, 1865 (catalog
link)
R.R. Hinman, The Blue
Laws of New Haven Colony, usually called blue laws of Connecticut; Quaker Laws
of Plymouth and Massachusetts; blue laws of New York, Maryland, Virginia, and
South Carolina. First record of Connecticut; interesting extracts from Connecticut
records; cases of Salem witchcraft; charges and banishment of Rev. Roger
Williams, and other interesting and instructive antiquities. Hartford:
Case, Tiffany, 1838 (catalog
link)
Other materials in the Rare Book Room also offer information
on the study of witchcraft, including Sir Walter Scott, Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft. New York: Harper &
Brothers, 1841 (catalog
link). Witchcraft appears in other
texts as well, including fictional works and in the artists’ books collection.
Mary Johnson’s The Witch, published
in 1914, is a novel set in 1600s England about a young English girl and a
county physician who were part of the accused of sorcery and witchcraft (catalog
link). Stories of witchcraft in colonial Virginia include James Bowyer’s The Witch of Jamestown, a story of colonial
Virginia, published in 1890 (catalog
link) in the Rare Book Room collection, while various depictions of the
case of Grace Sherwood can be found in the circulating collection of the
library. Even the historic children’s literature collection has two books on
the topic: Tomie DePaola’s Strega Nona
meets her match, published in 1993 (catalog
link) and perhaps my personal favorite, Ib Spang Olsen’s The Marsh Crone’s Brew, translated by
Virginia Allen Jensen in this 1960 version (catalog
link).
Finally, one of the items in the artists’ books collections
brings a contemporary experience to the study of witchcraft with the recently
added work by Raeleen Kao, The Witch is
Inside of Me. As indicated in the accompanying information sheet with the
work, Kao describes it as a piece that “upends the nefariousness attributed to
curiosity, sexuality, and disobedience in females and imbues the characters who
raised me with power by embracing the corruptible, dual-faced nature within all
of us.” (catalog
link)
Oh, in case you were wondering when we’d get to the vampires
in the title? There is indeed a work about vampires available. The Galvin Rare Book Room is home to a first
edition, printed in 1746, of Augustin Calmet’s Dissertations sur les apparitions des anges, des demons & des
espirits. Et sut les revenans et vampires De Hongrie, de Moheme, de Moravie,
& de Silesie. This comprehensive study contains nearly 500 pages of
analysis about sorcery and witchcraft, demons and angels, and perhaps his most
controversial comments about vampires.
As with some of the studies on witchcraft that attempt to reframe the
conversation away from psychic or demonic elements and more towards physical aspects,
Calmet’s opinions on vampires center on the effects of chemical substances in
the soil on corpses. (catalog
link)
Although under construction through Summer 2022, materials in the Galvin Rare Book Room are made available to UR faculty, staff, and students by appointment during this time.
Ghost stories have long been a part of American storytelling traditions. During the 19th century, however, those stories took on new depth as the beliefs of Spiritualism took hold. Many historians date the beginnings of the Spiritualist movement to the 1848 occurrences in Hydesville, New York, where the young Fox sisters engaged in rapping games with unseen spirits. These three sisters raised the possibility of having not merely encounters but conversations with those who had passed away, including the exchange of information and knowledge between this world and the next. Although talking to spirits was nothing new, their work, which included founding the first Spiritualist society, is credited as being the start of Spiritualism, a movement that would eventually expand worldwide and capture the imagination of millions, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Much like the time of the Scientific Revolution, where the
triumph of reason was expected to destroy magical belief systems, many
individuals at the end of the 19th century expected the rising
industrialism and new science to quickly stamp out what appeared to be mere
ghost stories. Such was not the case, as Spiritualists quickly adapted the
tools of science to help further their cause, developing their own language of
communication and tools during an era which saw tremendous advances in
technology. Historian Molly McGarry
noted, “Speaking to the dead may have seemed no less strange than communicating
across cables or capturing the living on film. Like freezing an image on a
photographic plate, the Spiritualists’ ghost catching was a collapsing of time:
the past perceived in the present for the future” (McGarry, 20). Spiritualism in
the 19th century, then, was much less about the reality of life
after death and communicating with the spirit world, as this belief predated
the Spiritualist movement. Rather, it was the guiding rubric of science and
technological development which shaped Spiritualism in this age, as
practitioners “aimed to authenticate the immaterial presence of spirits of the
dead through ‘objective,’ observable, and repeated experiences and through a
rationalist discourse of ‘factual’ evidence” (Weinstein, 126).
While no ghosts (that we know of anyway), the Galvin Rare
Book Room is home to a small collection of works about Spiritualism and ghost
stories.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The New Revelation. New York: George H. Doran Co., 1918 Galvin Rare Book Room BF1272 .D7 1918 Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Verser Todd. (catalog link)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first became interested in
Spiritualism around 1881 after attending a lecture. With further reading and
study, Conan Doyle became a supporter and advocate of the movement. He was
involved with organizations such as the British Society for Psychical Research
and the Society for the Study of Supernormal Pictures, where he served as
vice-president. In addition to his two-volume work on The History of Spiritualism, he also wrote about spirit photography
(The Case for Spirit Photography) and
about his own experiences with Spiritualism (The New Revolution, and The
Wanderings of a Spiritualist). With the loss of his son during World War I,
Conan Doyle continued his work and was considered an international expert in
the field. Some credit his work in Spiritualism for one of his more famous
quotes from The Case-Book of Sherlock
Holmes, “When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever
remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
Charles Beecher, Spiritual Manifestations Boston: Lee & Shepard; New York, C.T. Dillingham, 1879. Galvin Rare Book Room BF1251 .B42 1879 (catalog link)
Charles Beecher was a noted American Congregationalist
minister, composer, and author, something common among his siblings, including
his sister Harriet Beecher Stowe and brother Henry Ward Beecher. His book, Spiritual Manifestations (1879) offers
descriptions of his own experiences and encounters with Spiritualism.
Walter Cooper Dendy, The Philosophy of Mystery. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1845. Galvin Rare Book Room BF1031 .D5 1845 (catalog link)
Practicing surgeon as well as an author. A collection of anecdotes about spectral
apparitions, this work highlights dreams and spectral illusions in an attempt
to explain or demystify the mysterious nature of fantastical things, and it is
written in the style of a narrative dialogue.
Ray Bradbury, The Ghosts of Forever New York: Rizzoli, 1981. Galvin Rare Book room PS3503 .R167 G47 1981 (catalog link)
Originally started as a script for a Smithsonian planetarium
show that was never produced, The Ghosts
of Forever combines the wordsmithing of Bradbury, in poems and a short
story, with illustrations by Aldo Sessa into a delightful space-age adventure
as only Bradbury’s mind could conjure up.
Amélie Rives (Princess Troubetzkoy). The Ghost Garden: A Novel. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1918. Galvin Rare Book Room PS3092 .G47 1918 (catalog link)
Best known for her book The
Quick and the Dead, Rives’ work is set in colonial Virginia and tells the
tale of lovelorn struggle between the living and the dead. Richmond-born, Rives
was a prolific writer who was especially interested in educational reform and
women’s suffrage. Also of note is the study of Rives’ life written by prominent
UR faculty emeritus W.D. Taylor in 1973.
Marguerite du Pont Lee, Virginia Ghosts & Others. Richmond: William Byrd Press, 1932. Inscribed “To my ghosts” by the author to the Marion Garnett Ryland Virginiana Collection at the University of Richmond. Galvin Rare Book room F227 .L48 1932 (catalog link)
Printed in Richmond in 1932, Virginia Ghosts contains more than 100 ghost stories from around
the commonwealth, many with pictures of the haunted sites and homesteads.
Stories from Richmond include ones near Englewood and Westover as well as the
governor’s mansion. Not surprisingly,
the author was a serious student of psychic phenomena of Richmond and beyond as
well as being a proponent of women’s rights.
Works Cited
McGarry, Molly. Ghosts
of Futures Past: Spiritualism and the Cultural Practices of Nineteenth-Century
America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008.
Weinstein, Sheri. “Technologies of Vision: Spiritualism and
Science in Nineteenth-Century America,” in Jeffery Andrew Weinstock, ed. Spectral America: Phantoms and the National
Imagination, 124-140. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2004.
Two recent additions to the Galvin Rare Book Room collection offer a glimpse of life in Richmond and surrounding areas during the late 1700s. Travels in North-America, in the years 1780, 1781, and 1782 by the Marquis de Chastellux (1787) and A Tour in the United States of America… written by J.F.D. Smyth (1784) describe journeys around the country, and both men visited Richmond during their travels. Both authors offer descriptions of the Richmond area and especially travel on the James River; Smyth also described an excursion to Westham. These two works join others in the collection that offer historical insights into travel, commerce, tobacco, and other cultural elements of the region.
Currently open to UR students, staff, and faculty, Rare Books & Special Collections in Boatwright Library is home to a growing collection of materials covering a wide variety of topics across the disciplines. The department preserves and provides access to a significant collection of books and printed materials dating between 1472 and 2019 and archival collections pertaining to the Civil War, World War I and II, UR history, civil rights, maritime adventures, and other 19th and 20th century events. You can also explore a variety of artists’ books in the collection. Use OneSearch to explore holdings in the collection, and if you are interested in incorporating these materials in your classes or for an assignment, we’re happy to work with you by appointment.
Chastellux, Francois Jean, marquis de. Travels in North America in the years 1780, 1781, and 1782. London: Printed for G.G.J.&J. Robinson, Pater-noster Row, 1787. 2 volumes (Catalog record)
Stuart, John Ferdinand Smyth. A Tour in the United States of America: containing an account of the present situation of that country, the population, agriculture, commerce, customs, and manners of the inhabitants, anecdotes of several members of Congress and general officers in the American army, and many other interesting and singular occurences[sic]: with a description of the Indian nations, the general face of the country, mountains, forests, rivers, and the most beautiful grand, and picturesque views throughout that vast continent: likewise improvements in husbandry that may be adopted with great advantage by Europe. Dublin: Printed by G. Perrin for Messrs. Price, Montcrieffe, Walker, Exshaw, Wilson, Burnet, Jenkin, White, Burton, Byrne, Whitestone, Colbert, Cash, Heery, and Marchbank, 1784. (Catalog record)
Title page from Walter Raleigh’s Judicious and select essayes and observations…..
One of our new summer acquisitions is this lovely octavo volume of Walter Raleigh’s essays, Judicious and Select Essays and Observations. A collection of four essays authored by Raleigh, this first edition, first issue volume was the first to bring together all four essays into a single volume. Two of the essays, “Excellent observations and notes, concerning the Royall navy and sea-service” and “Sir Walter Rawleigh his apologie for his voyage to Guiana,” had been published separately the same year, but the other two, “The first invention of shipping” and “The misery of invasive warre,” were printed for the first time in this collection. As indicated by the titles, Raleigh’s knowledge of maritime and military activity was central in this set of essays, covering his experience with ships and the Royal Navy as well as a discourse on his voyage to the northeast coast of South America in an attempt to seek the renewed favor of Queen Elizabeth I. Some historians suspect several of these essays were composed during his long imprisonment in the Tower of London.
The volume itself carries two bookplates documenting previous ownership, the first noting “Ex Libris: Richard Chase Sidney” and the second from the “Scott Library Collection at the Institution of Naval Architects.” Additionally, there is an inscription from John Hunt on the title page. The engraved portrait of Raleigh is signed by Ro. Vaughn. Each of the 4 essays has its own separate title page. Overall, the volume is in good condition for its age, with minimal wear showing on its cover of half-morocco over boards as would be expected.
On its way to cataloging, the book will soon join many others in our growing collection of maritime adventures and tales across the centuries in the Galvin Rare Book Room. All of the rare book room materials can be searched in the library catalog and viewed during our research open hours.
(Note: This post was authored by Taylor McNeilly, Processing & Reference Archivist.) Happy #WyattWalkerWednesday, everyone! This week, I have a very exciting announcement: the Rare Book Room renovations I discussed a month or so ago have been completed!
As I’ve mentioned in many previous posts here on Something Uncommon, the Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt Tee Walker Collection is…kind of enormous. And there is a lot of variety in the different formats of materials. We have foam board and posters, large photographs and hand drawn art, negatives and photographic slides, metal keys and glass awards, paper and onion skin and floppy disks and vinyl records and audio reels and cloth robes and VHS tapes and audio cassette tapes and and and… And the list just keeps going. It’s a lot of different items, in a lot of different formats, which complicates our storage and preservation. And since the Walker Collection is hardly the only collection the Rare Books and Special Collections houses and maintains, we have to keep a close eye on our storage space.
To that end, RBSC has been working for years to improve our spaces for storage, education, and research. As I mentioned in my earlier post, the Rare Book Room and the Rare Book Seminar Room are both products of this work. And, starting in March of this year, the Rare Book Room Vault – where the collections are housed in an environmentally stable, controlled access room – was upgraded. That work was completed last week. This expansion brings our in-vault storage from 1200 linear feet to 6000 linear feet, a massive improvement. This is mostly due to a shift from traditional shelving, i.e. static shelves lining the walls, to compact shelving. You can read the full details in the earlier blog post I linked to above.
Now that the renovation is complete, there’s a huge project that’s already underway: moving our collections into the updated space. And of course, this includes the Walker collection! However, the vault is primarily intended for processed collections, so the Walker material won’t be finding its way in for a little while yet. In the meantime, it has shifted into a larger processing space freed up by the renovation, allowing for more efficient processing and hopefully a shortened wait time for the collection to be opened to researchers.
As always, I’ll be posting updates on how all these different projects are progressing, including getting the collections into the vault, processing the Walker collection, and everything else going on with us. So keep an eye out for more blog posts!
Another Spring Semester comes to a close here on campus. This week is the last week of classes, then finals, and the thrill of graduation weekend and summer. This semester has brought many changes to Rare Books & Special Collections, including the opening of the new Reading Room and Classroom Annex space. If you haven’t had a chance to see the newly remodeled spaces yet, please drop by the next time you are on campus for a tour!
In addition to new spaces, there have also been many new additions to both the rare book and the manuscript collections in Boatwright Library. The last blog post talked about the new World War II correspondence collection, but I wanted to share also the wonderful new additions to the maritime and naval collections that have been added this spring.
Three new first editions have been added to the rare book collection, which already houses an impressive set of travel and maritime-related works. The first new addition is a 1777 2-volume first edition of George Forster’s A Voyage Round the World, In his Britannic Majesty’s Sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the Years 1772, 3, 4, and 5. This set adds to our materials on both sea-faring voyages and exploration literature by adding another version of Cook’s sailings.
The second new first edition account is a 1779 first edition of A Voyage to New Guinea, and the Moluccas, from Balambangan: including an account of Magindano, Sooloo, and other islands; and illustrated with thirty copperplates. Performed in the Tartar galley, belonging to the Honourable East India company, during the years 1774, 1775, and 1776 to which is added, a Vocabulary of the Magindano Tongue. This account was written by one of the most experienced ship captains and documents social and cultural life as well as maps, panoramas, coastal charts, genealogy, and a English to Magindano and Papua vocabulary.
The third new addition to the rare book maritime collection is the 1802 first edition travel account of a woman traveler through the Crimea and Black Sea regions. The book is written in the form of letters by Maria Guthrie, and translated and edited by her husband, Matthew Guthrie. Her letters document her varied encounters during her travels, including a whirling dervish ceremony and a letter concerning Jews in the Crimean region.
Three new manuscript maritime collections have also been added to the Boatwright Library archival materials. The largest of the three documents the work of U.S. Naval Commander Horace Elmer, who had an illustrious naval career including heading the department of seamanship at the U.S. Naval Academy from 1883 to 1886. His last service included organizing and commanding the Mosquito Fleet, including the inner coast defense of the Atlantic and Gulf States during the Spanish-American War. The archival collection includes journals from his time at the naval academy and a number of ship’s logs which include precise technical sketches including the engines of the U.S.S. Monitor. There are also several scrapbooks including one from his daughter, Edith Elmer Wood, which contains images of family, the Naval Academy, and the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
Two smaller manuscript items have been added as well. The first item is the journal of Edward Reavely, Quartermaster First Class serving on the U.S.S. Chester in 1917. As a destroyer, the Chester was active during World War I as an escort between Gibraltar and Britain. The second item is the private journal of Edward Paul Duffy, a printer on board the U.S. flagship Trenton, written in 1881. While on board, Duffy printed the twice-monthly Trenton Herald and served as a special correspondent to the Baltimore Sun. His journal documents his print work, the weather, and trips off the ship as well.
Each of these new additions bring new stories of explorations, travel, and sea voyages just waiting to be discovered.
It’s June already and the construction is well on it’s way. The reading room outside the rare book room is taking shape, as is the classroom around the corner. Also included in this reconfiguring is an office for our new Archivist and Book Arts Studio Coordinator. But pictures will tell you more than words at this point so here goes!
The entrance to the new reading room.
The bones of the reading room. There will be tables and display shelves.
And here is the classroom, first looking back toward the rare book room, then towards the door to the workroom.
And finally the new office.
May not look very exciting right now, but it will add so much to what we can do! So this fall look for the sign on the new door and come and explore our new Uncommon space!
