Tag Archives: Rare Books

Joseph Alsop Papers rediscovered in ARB – Part I – Joe Alsop Reports on the Greek Bronze Age

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Professor Jack Davis of UC’s Classics Department is a regular visitor to the Archives and Rare Books Library.  Recently he has been examining the Joseph Alsop papers, which contain a manuscript copy of Alsop’s book, From the Silent Earth, a Report on the Greek Bronze Age and correspondence about the manuscript.  Below is the first of a series of blogs in which Jack Davis discusses Joseph Alsop and the collection in ARB.  It was originally published on From the Archivist’s Notebook, a blog of Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan, head of the archives at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.  

By:  Jack Davis, Carl W. Blegen Professor of Greek Archaeology at the University of Cincinnati 

Several months ago Louis Menand’s New Yorker review (Nov. 10, 2014) of Gregg Herken’s The Georgetown Set: Friends and Rivals in Cold War Washington kindled my interest in Joseph W. Alsop (1910-1989), influential journalist, syndicated newspaper columnist, and trustee (1965-1985) of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. A bit of archival sleuthing at the University of Cincinnati (see below) led to the discovery that on Saturday, December 14, 1963, Alsop had summoned an A-list of Classical archaeologists and art historians to dine with him and his wife, Susan Mary, in their Georgetown, Washington, D.C., home — a strange flock for this longtime Washington insider to host.

On the cover, Joseph and Stewart Alsop (photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson)

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ARB's "50 Minute Talk" in January

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Fresh back from the holidays, the 50 Minute Talk series in the Archives & Rare Books Library will kick off 2015 with a presentation by Eira Tansey on Lois Lowry’s classic dystopian novel, The Giver on Thursday January 8. Later in the month, UC professor Bob Miller will talk about the World War II years at the University of Cincinnati.  Please join us for these informal noon get-togethers.  Bring your lunch, invite a friend, and enjoy some good conversation and opinions.

50 Minutes Talk - January 2015

 

The Universality of Sherlock Holmes

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By:  Iman Said, ARB Intern 2014-2015

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle statue

This week, we’ll take a quick break from historical photos and talk about the impact that literature can have on society.

Last March, I had the opportunity to travel to Edinburgh, Scotland as part of a seminar here at UC. Edinburgh is the very first city to be established as an UNESCO City of Literature. Incredible authors began their careers in Edinburgh, from Sir Walter Scott to J.K. Rowling. Simply walking the streets of Newtown was enough to see the impact that literature has had on the culture of the city.

For me, the most significant author to start in Edinburgh is the incredible Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whose legendary consulting detective is a household name all over the world. Sherlock Holmes and his faithful compatriot, Dr. John Watson, got their start in two novels, A Study in Scarlet and Sign of the Four. Neither of the novels had very much success, so Doyle decided to change tactics and began to write a series of short stories that ran every month in The Strand Magazine. The first story, “A Scandal in Bohemia” was published in July 1891 and was an instant success, guaranteeing the success of Doyle and the success of the magazine. Today, the stories have been translated into numerous languages and adapted into tens of television programs, radio shows, and movies. Statues of the great detective can be found in Edinburgh, the birthplace of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as in Japan and Switzerland. Continue reading →

St. Mark and the Lion

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On the Archives & Rare Books website, we try to keep it fresh by putting up new images from time to time, especially our banner pictures.  All of them are taken from our various holdings and we often get queries about what they are exactly, what collections they’re from, what era they represent, and the like.  Lately, we’ve received several about our banner image of St. Mark.  The painting of the gospel writer is from our book of hours, what we call the Limoges Book of Hours, but is listed in UCLID as Ms. No. 37.

St. MarkCreated ca. 1475 in a monastic workshop in Limoges, France, this book of hours is written on vellum and bound in velvet.  There are exquisite illuminated pages throughout the volume illustrating events like the Conception and the Resurrection.  As with all books of hours from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, the volume contains the prayers read at the designated times of day, along with a list of saints and feast days important to the region in which the book was made.  Additionally, most books of hours contain the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  And this is where St. Mark comes in.  Continue reading →

ARB’s " 50 Minute Talk" in October Features Edgar Allan Poe

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By:  Kevin Grace

Last year around Halloween, the Archives & Rare Books Library’s “50 Minutes” program featured Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, looking at the book’s heritage through illustrated editions as well as viewing the novel in terms of the history of science.  It was all part of a rare books tribute to Halloween and iconic fright.

So this year, we’ll continue the tradition of classic scary stuff by discussing Edgar Allan Poe’s dark poem, “The Raven.”  How Poe and his poem have been portrayed in pop culture and American literature will be presented, along with some Poe titles from the Rare Books Collection.  And since it is all in good fun, what would a Poe program be without plenty of Halloween candy and a few door prizes?

Please join us on Friday, October 17, at noon in 814 Blegen Library.  Bring your friends, bring your lunch, bring an appetite for the awful.  Throughout October, we’ll also be posting several blogs on this master of the macabre.

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary…”

50 Minutes October 2014

RESCHEDULED – ARB’s "50 Minutes" Lunchtime Series Returns for the 2014-2015 Academic Year

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By:  Kevin Grace

This presentation has been rescheduled for TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25.  The series of monthly talks in the Archives & Rare Books Library will return this fall  for its fifth year.  Each month at noon, ARB holds a casual presentation in 814 Blegen Library with a focus on its collections, local heritage, or book history.  In the past, we’ve hosted talks ranging from the Depression-era Cincinnati WPA guide to the smallest book in the world, from Frankenstein to a book bound in human skin, from William Blake to John Milton; and from Don Quixote to the Arabian Nights.  Our presentation originally scheduled for Wednesday, August 27 has been rescheduled for Tuesday November 25.  This presentation will be about rare books and coffee, looking at how coffee production, trade, heritage, and lore have been portrayed by ethnographers, historians, and explorers.

Please join us for this 50 Minutes-One Book talk.  Bring your lunch and your conversation, and of course, coffee will be served!  Other upcoming presentations include the first female graduate of UC back in 1878; Irish poetry during the Great War, the Easter Rising, and the Irish Civil War; UC during World War II; the Hellfire clubs of the 18th century; and fairy tale and fantasy illustrators.  We are also open to any ideas or presenters for these talks.

50 Minutes November

 

“Bitter Bierce”?

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By:  Michael Tipton, Archives & Rare Books Library intern

 Ambrose Bierce headshot     Shortly after the conclusion of World War II in 1945, a Mr. Myles Walsh of Oradell, New Jersey traveled to Cincinnati for the purpose of visiting his daughter, who at the time worked in the city.  While on an extended stay, Mr. Walsh decided to take some coursework in the Classics Department at the University of Cincinnati.  So impressed was Mr. Walsh with the courses and the campus of the university that he decided to donate to UC some very rare and unique letters personally written and addressed to him from noted American author and journalist Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?).

Though they were consulted once or twice by scholars over the past half-century, the fifty-nine donated letters have never been generally accessible for research and teaching.  In 2011, the letters were digitized and now, with the development of a Bierce presence on ARB’s website, they have assumed their rightful place on the internet for all to study and enjoy. Continue reading →

Poetry Month and ARB-Dublin's Easter Rising

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By: Kevin Grace

A Voice of Insurgency     Ninety-eight years ago in 1916, the Irish Republican Brotherhood staged an uprising during Easter Week, the intent being to reclaim Ireland from the British and establish a republic.  Though the rebellion failed, as so many others had in the previous two centuries, the rising galvanized the Irish people in a way that would ultimately lead to the country’s independence following a bloody civil war.  The Easter Rising and the years following it are complicated ones in sorting out the loyalties and issues, though there has been no shortage of histories and autobiographies and polemics.

In the Rare Books Collection, there is another view of the rising: a poetry chapbook by Maeve Cavanagh.  Entitled A Voice of Insurgency, Cavanugh’s collection of verse documents the six days of the rebellion from Monday, April 24 through Saturday,April 29 and the men and women who were in the forefront of it as gunshots and cannon fire reverberated around Dublin.  Cavanagh was a dedicated supporter of the republican movement, and friends with many of the leaders of the insurgency.  Her poems capture the fear and exhilaration of that Easter week. Continue reading →

Poetry Month and ARB-Phillis Wheatley's Poetry

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By:  Kevin Grace

anthropodermic binding     Last week we had the pleasure of hosting an English Department lecture by visiting University of Texas professor John Rumrich on John Milton’s poetry, who spoke on the sometimes very literal connection between a physical book and an author.  In the case of Milton, Professor Rumrich related the poet’s work to the curious custom that developed in the 18th century of binding books in human skin.  And, in preparation for his remarks, Rumrich examined the Archives & Rare Books Library’s anthropodermic binding.

An odd volume in our holdings for over half a century, this binding encloses the poetry of Phillis Wheatley, an 18th century African American poet.  Though there is no indication at all that the binding has a connection to the poet in any way, and really is an altogether other topic for discussion, it did call our attention to the Wheatley body of work, appropriate enough for a month devoted to poetry. Continue reading →

On John Milton and "Reading Blood"

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By:  Kevin Grace

On the south parapet of Blegen Library are carved these words from John Milton’s Areopagitica written in 1644:

For books are not absolutely dead things

But do contain a potencie of life in them

To be as active as those whose progeny they are.

John MiltonMilton (1608-1674) is one of the greatest poets and essayists in the English language.  The quote, which is part of his work condemning censorship and pleading for free speech, is part of the architectural design in the library, which opened as the University of Cincinnati’s Main Library in 1930.  Intended to inspire students and scholars, they are words meant both to establish the primacy of books and the written word in human culture and to draw the reader within the building to explore, to learn, to consider, and to share knowledge.

The Department of English and Comparative Literature sends this information for a lecture this Friday at 1:00 pm in 814 Blegen, the Schott Seminar Room in the Archives & Rare Books Library: Continue reading →