Category Archives: Rare Books

Pertaining to our rare book collection materials

Autumn Exhibit 2024: Alchemy, Spiritualism, and Witchcraft

woodblock image of two older women in dresses stirring a cauldron as a third figure flies in on a broom and a cat jumps towards them while rats and a snake scurry in front. — “Soul-Killing Witches” image from the frontispiece of the 1928 edition of Robert Calef’s _The Wonders of the Invisible World Displayed_

When our university’s mascot is a spider, it’s not surprising that the return of autumn has us excited for all things fall – football, leaves changing color, and all the spooky things the season brings with it. In previous blog posts, we have explored some of the materials that we have in the collections, including items related to tales of folklore, witchcraft and spiritualism.

A new exhibit on display in Boatwright Memorial Library through mid-November focuses on similar themes as it highlights some of the Galvin Rare Book Room holdings on alchemy, spiritualism, and witchcraft. Included are some new additions during the past couple of years that add to the depth of the materials available for research on this topic.

Many of our witchcraft-related materials were highlighted in an earlier post from 2021, including the newly acquired Del Congresso Notturnao… and the artist book by Raeleen Kao, The Witch is Inside of Me, as well as our 1746 first edition of Augustin Calmet’s Dissertations sur les apparitions… with his thoughts on sorcery, demons, and vampires. Similarly, some of our works on spiritualism also had their moment on the blog as well that same fall.

The exhibit also showcases 3 works on alchemy, which have not been highlighted as of yet. These items point to a particularly fascinating time in history during which the science of alchemy – for it was considered a science based on the transformation of matter – as well as offering researchers an opportunity to explore its philosophies. Let’s look at these 3 items in a bit more detail.

Thomas Norton, The Ordinall of Alchemy, 1929 (Galvin Rare Book Room QD25 .N6 1652)

Norton was a noted 15^th-century alchemist and served as a member of King Edward IV’s Privy Council. He believed the knowledge of alchemy could only be learned by working with a master alchemist, and his Ordinall, a long poem, he provides an account of his own initiation into the art and science of alchemy. Originally written in 1477, the Ordinall was one of the earliest works on alchemy in Middle English and became one of the most influential as it sought to educate English readers on this “new science.” Its first appearance in print in 1652, and the copy in the collection is a 1929 facsimile of that 1652 edition.

Martin Ruland, Lexicon Alchemiæ, 1661 (Galvin Rare Book Room QD25 .R9 1661)

Martin Ruland the Elder (1532-1602) was a German scientist and alchemist who practiced the beliefs put forward by fellow scientist Paracelsus, who pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine. Born in 1569, Martin Ruland the Younger followed in his father’s path to become a noted physician and alchemist in his own right. For a time, Ruland the Younger served at the Hapsburg court under Emperor Rudolf II. The combined knowledge of father and son allowed them to develop a foundational and exhaustive dictionary of alchemical symbols, concepts, and terms, first published in 1612.

Johann Rudolh Glauber, Tractus de Natura Salium, 1658 (Galvin Rare Book Room QD27 .C58 1658)

Born in Germany in 1604, Johann Rudolf Glauber worked in both Amsterdam and the German states as a self-described chemical philosopher. Known for his invention and refinements of scientific equipment such as his distillatory furnaces, he also worked in the wine industry and as a dispenser of medicines. One account of Glauber’s practical work was in his book, Furni novi philosophici, in which he described materials and processes for constructing and using his chemical furnaces. Other published works included a collection of medial preparations (Pharmacopoea spagyrica)and his Teutschlands-Wohlfahrt. In 1658, he published the small book Tractus de natura salium, in which he discussed the importance of sal mirabile (“miraculous salt,” which became known as Glauber’s salt) for its medicinal properties.

Galvin Rare Book Room Works on Exhibit

Charles Beecher, Spiritual Manifestations (1879)
August Calmet, Dissertations sur les apparitions des anges, des demons et des esprits: et sur les revenans et vampires de Hongrie…. (1746)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The New Revelation (1918)
Samuel Fowler, Salem Witchcraft: Comprising More Wonders of the Invisible World by Robert Calef & Wonders of the Invisible World by Cotton Mather (1865)
Johann Rudolf Glauber, Tractatus de Natura Salium (1658)
Raeleen Kao, The Witch is Inside Me, (2018)
Jeinrich Kramer & Jacob Sprenger, Malleus Maleficarum (1958)
Thomas Norton, The Ordinall of Alchemy (1929)
Martin Ruland, Lexicon Alchemiæ (1661)
Sir Walter Scott, Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft (1841)
Girolamo Tartarotti, Del Congresso notturno delle lammie… (1749)

Fall 2024 Exhibit: Come Sail Away!

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As the new semester begins, the Book Arts, Archives, & Rare Books division at Boatwright Memorial Library is pleased to announce a specialized exhibit that highlights a distinctive component of its rare book and archival collections: maritime-related materials. Many of these items, which reside in the Galvin Rare Book Room & Archives, have been acquired largely through the generous endowment of the Beverly Lyle Britton Fund. Beverly Lyle Britton, an esteemed alumnus of Richmond College (Class of 1935), devoted much of his professional life to service in the United States Navy, where he held notable positions including Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy and Press Liaison. Established following Britton’s passing in 1995, the fund is dedicated to procuring materials that pertain specifically to the United States Navy, maritime history, and the sea. This ongoing financial support has enabled the library to continuously enhance its collection with annual acquisitions.

The current exhibit, titled Come Sail Away, offers a curated selection of the library’s maritime-themed holdings, providing a window into the breadth and depth of the collection. This exhibit serves not only as a sampling of the diversity of the library’s resources but also as an invitation to students, faculty, staff, and the broader academic community to engage with and explore these valuable materials for research and scholarship. The exhibit is located on level 2 of Boatwright Library, just outside the administrative offices.

Below is a list of the exhibit’s categories and some of the corresponding materials on display that are available for use through the Galvin Rare Book Room & Archives. For a more comprehensive exploration of the library’s rare book holdings, we encourage the use of the online catalog—pro tip: select the “Rare Books” tab to focus your search on materials housed in the Galvin Rare Book Room. Additionally, searching for “Britton” will yield results for items procured through the Britton Fund. Archival materials are accessible through the ArchivesSpace database, where new and updated content is continually integrated as it becomes available.

Ships & Ship Life

David M. Clinger, Romantick & Whimsical Words of the Sea and of Sailing-ships Stingray Point, VA: 2004. MS-35 David M. Clinger Collection, Box 26 This miniature book was hand-set in well-work Garamond foundry type and printed on the antique press of Chesapeake Bay Retriever and Sandy Bottom News at Stingray Point Farm, Stingray Point, Virginia. This first edition was limited to 20 copies.
Herman Melville, Moby Dick: or, The Whale New York: Norton, 1976 Illustrated by Warren Chappell, Richmond College Class of 1926 — 50^th Anniversary Class Gift from the Class of 1926
Frank Shay, ed. Iron Men & Wooden Ships: Deep Sea Chanties Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, & Co., 1924 In 1920, Shay opened a tiny bookshop where he both sold and published books. The initial volume of this work was published by Shay in 1921, then this expanded edition was picked up and published by Doubleday in 1924. (Note: This book is a newly acquired work that is in the process of being cataloged into the collection.)

Latitude & Longitude

Matthew Fontaine Maury, A New Theoretical and Practical Treatise on Navigation: in which the auxiliary branches of mathematics and astronomy, comprised of algebra, geometry,…. variation of the compass, etc., are treated of. Also the theory and most simple methods of finding time, latitude, and longitude….. Philadelphia: Key & Biddle, 1836 Inscribed by the author. Maury was a naval officer and oceanographer and considered one of the founding pioneers of modern oceanography. This work was his first published book, completed at the age of 30 after participating in three extended voyages, including the first circumnavigation of the globe by a U.S. Navy vessel. Maury served as the head of the United States Naval Observatory from 1844-1861.
William Whiston, The Longitude discovered by the eclipses, occultations, and conjunctions of Jupiter’s planets: with descriptions of those refracting and reflecting telescopes… that are useful for the discovery of longitude both at land and sea… London: Printed for John Whiston at Boyle’s Head, Fleet Street, 1738 Instrumental in helping pass the British Longitude Act of 1714, Whiston spent a considerable amount of time working on the problem of longitude. This first-edition work explains the various instruments and experiments Whiston explored in his attempts.

Sea-faring Adventures

Hamilton M. Baskerville, My Cruise Diary: North Cape & Russia Cruise, 1931 Richmond: Whittet & Shepperson, 1932. Privately printed for the author for distribution among his friends, #62/200. This work is inscribed by the author: “For the library of the University of Richmond, presented by the author, alumnus, 1899-1900.”
Frank I. Wilson, Sketches of Nassau… Raleigh, NC, 1864 Teacher, reporter, and writer, Frank Wilson of North Carolina published this work documenting his travels to Nassau in 1864 aboard a blockade-runner.

Exploring the South Pacific

Alexander Dalrymple, An Historical Collection of Several Voyages & Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean London: Printed for the author and sold by J. Nourse, bookseller in ordinary to his majesty, 1770-1771 This important collection, published in two volumes in 1770-1771, contains accounts of notable Iberian and Dutch voyages in the southern hemisphere, translated and edited by Alexander Dalrymple (1737-1808). Hydrographer to the Admiralty from 1795, Dalrymple produced this work as part of his research into the belief at the time that there existed an undiscovered continent in the South Pacific. These volumes were intended to demonstrate the knowledge of the region to date. The first volume covers sixteenth-century Spanish and Portuguese voyages, beginning with Ferdinand Magellan and including those of Juan Fernández, Álvaro de Mendaña y Neira, and Pedro Fernandes de Queirós. The second volume contains the seventeenth- and eighteenth- century Dutch voyages of Jacob le Maire and William Schouten, and Abel Tasman.
Rockwell Kent, Voyaging Southward from the Strait of Magellan New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1924 Graphic artist and avid traveler Rockwell Kent takes readers on an illustrated adventure of his sailing the southern tip of South America, dramatically illustrated with the author’s woodcuts.

Artist Book

Jessica Spring, Fathoming Tacoma, WA: Springtide Press, 2015 Book Arts Collection #37 From the colophon: “”[L]etterpress printed with handset Latin Condensed and Bernhar Gothic with vintage maritime cuts. The edition includes a varied copy for each of the seven seas, featuring collectible tobacco cards sold with packages of cigarettes from 1924-37. Printed by Jessica Spring and bound in an adaptation of Hedi Kyle’s flag book structure with Japanese maritime maps from 1945 [on exterior of concertina spine]. [Drop-spine] boxes bound and portholes scuttled by Gabby Cooksey. Removable flags are held in place with sewing rather than attached to concertina spine (as in the traditional flag book binding by Hedi Kyle). Concertina attached at either end to blue cloth over boards with three circular cut-outs in each, displaying illustrations and the title. Spine is letterpress printed with various nautical terms and their definitions on recto, with historic maritime maps on verso.”

Manuscript Material

SC-1: Ship’s Log of Whaling Journeys (1850s) This manuscript documents at least four different voyages during the 1850s, although the entries record varying levels of detail. Many are dated and often include the longitude and latitude of the vessel as well as information about the weather. The intent of the various sailings was clear, no matter the ship: they were hunting whales. On September 4, 1858, for example, the author documented that the crew “saw a very large school of sperm whale which is something uncommon in this latitude and longitude. Sketches and drawings of whales highlight some pages, especially when their hunt was successful. In fact, the main image on our blog is from this manuscript!

From Curiosity to Codex: A Voyage Through Natural History Illustration

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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

For further reading, check out the libguide made by Heather Ervin at https://libguides.richmond.edu/bio_display_SP24, and consider reading Visual Science Communication: Learn About It. (n.d.). Guild of Natural Science Illustrators at https://www.gnsi.org/visual-scicomm.

The Book on the Richmond Theater Fire of 1811

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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.

Freaky Folklore: Witchy Origins

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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
Pierio Valeriano’s Hieroglyphica PJ1093 .V3 1594

Witchcraft, Werewolves, & Vampires

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Sepia toned image of black cat, old woman, and woman flying on broomstick in the countryside. — Image from the title page of Salem Witchcraft.

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.

Spiritualism & Ghost Stories

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Cover image of Ghosts of Virginia, grey with white flowers.

Ghost stories have long been a part of American storytelling traditions. During the 19^th 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 19^th 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 19^th 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.

Early Views of Richmond

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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. title page from Chastellux

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 19^th and 20^th 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)

New Acquisition: Walter Raleigh’s Essays

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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.

Rare Book Room Renovations Completed

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(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!