On January 16 , the Archives and Rare Books Library will host its first 50 Minutes-One Book lunchtime talk of 2014. Elizabeth Frierson, Associate Professor in UC’s Department of History will present, “A Thousand Nights and a Night: The Arabian Nights and the Middle East.” Bring your lunch and join us at Noon in the Schott Seminar Room, 814 Blegen Library.
In the Archives and Rare Books Library, we receive all sorts of questions related to the university’s history. Some are simple to answer, but others can take hours of research and can require digging through many old files and records. In the Fall of 2013, Steven R. Howe, a professor in UC’s Psychology Department, contacted us regarding his research on the history of the Fellows of the Graduate School. His goal was to enhance the website for the Fellows of the Graduate School by creating a list of former fellows. Since no comprehensive list existed, ARB staff helped Howe locate Board of Trustees minutes, course catalogs, faculty directories, and biographical files on individual faculty members. His research resulted in a spreadsheet that lists all the Fellows of the Graduate School along with some biographical information on each of the fellows. This list, along with some other information resulting from his research, is now available on the Archives and Rare Books Library website: http://www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb/archives/collections/fellows_graduate_school.html Continue reading
The December presentation for 50 Minutes-1 Book features CCM Librarian Mark Palkovic talking about the new “World’s Smallest Book!” It is a 22-page micro-book measuring just 0.75 millimeters (or for the metric-impaired, 0.03 inches). Entitled Shiki no Kusabana, this book of flowers was published by Toppan Printing in Japan. Toppan printed the volume using its ultrafine printing technology, the same method used to avoid forgery of paper currency.
By: Kevin Grace
Well, ‘tis the season for that old Scottish prayer: “From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties, and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord deliver us!” Yes, we are in our Halloween days in this month of spectres and the quickness of the night, of harvests and the dying away of nature, and, of things resurrected. So it is appropriate to turn our attention to a subject such as Victor Frankenstein’s monster.
This month’s “50 Minutes-I Book” lunchtime series in the Archives & Rare Books Library will be about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. We’ll take a look at some special illustrated versions of her tale and consider what the book tells us about science and literature in the early 19th century. Please bring your lunch and conversation, along with a nightmare or two if you wish, and join us on the 31st.
By: Kevin Grace
In the October issue that just hit the newsstands, Cincinnati Magazine has an illustrated article called “The City’s History in 50 Objects.” The magazine’s editors, writers, and fact-checkers began this endeavor several months ago, calling upon libraries and archives, museums and individuals, to submit ideas for items that help tell the story of the city’s heritage.
Of the dozens of suggestions they received, the editors decided upon one of the items in the holdings of the Archives & Rare Books Library: our freshman beanie from the turn of the 20th century. The provenance of our beanie is unknown; it’s just one of those things that eventually end up in the University Archives, but brings an interesting bit of history (rather like our life-size cutout of former UC president Nancy Zimpher that now stands guard in our Rare Books Room!). Continue reading
By Angela Vanderbilt
The primary task of the Rapid Transit Commission and the 1917 Bauer Bill (Senate Bill 264, which authorized the formation of a commission for the design and construction of a rapid transit system) was not the construction of the subway alone, but the construction of Central Parkway, the “grand boulevard” that was to replace the Miami & Erie Canal. The Commission was also tasked with the secondary subway project to ensure that the Parkway was built, since the one could not commence before the other was underway, a means of ensuring the success of both.
When it was first proposed in a 1907 report, written by landscape architect George Kessler regarding the development of a city park system for Cincinnati, Central Parkway was meant to rival Boston’s Commonwealth Avenue and the grand boulevards of Europe, to be landscaped and lined by stately brownstones and mansions. Accented by decorative lampposts, fountains, trees and shrubbery, the new boulevard was to provide a park-like atmosphere for Cincinnatians, with sidewalks to stroll and benches on which to relax and enjoy the scenery of the Parkway as it wound its way north from Walnut Street in the downtown business district to Lundlow Avenue in the residential neighborhood of Clifton.
Ludlow Avenue Dam, May 4, 1920
Featured country: Belgium
Did you know the term “duffel bag” derives from the Belgian town of Duffel, where the thickly woven bags were first manufactured? Or that Belgian beer and chocolate are world-renowned? Approximately the size of the state of Maryland, the Kingdom of Belgium is located in western Europe, surrounded on three sides by The Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, and France to the south. Because of its strategic location, Belgium is one of the cultural centers of Europe, and the capital of Brussels is the seat of many European Union offices. Flemish, French, and German are the official languages of Belgium, however many people speak English, as well as Spanish, Arabic, and Dutch because historically the country has been a crossroads for immigrants. Belgium was devastated by the World Wars of the 20tch century, but most of its centuries-old castles and public buildings have survived, and today its vibrant culture make Belgium a nation of fashion, international commerce, and tourism in such beautiful cities as Bruges and Antwerp.
Source: CultureGrams.
Featured library resource: Foreign Information by Country.
On one of Antwerp’s city squares.
By Kevin Grace
No, this street sculpture in Antwerp isn’t a tribute to UC’s Greg Hand.
By: Tyler Morrison, ARB Student Assistant
Woodward (“Woodie”) Garber’s designs for Christ Church Episcopal Church in Glendale, Ohio are now available for viewing at Archives and Rare Books Library of the University of Cincinnati. There is a specification notebook of the addition to the church, as well as numerous blueprints that cover every aspect of the building from the temperature control wiring to chapel windows and even the layout of trees on the grounds.
Garber (1913-1994) assisted in the design of Christ Church Epsicopal Chapel in 1959. He added the All Saints Chapel which produced space for 100 people along with classrooms and offices. This new addition connected the main church and the parish house by a glass corridor with an entrance colloquially known as the “Whale’s Mouth.” Continue reading
By: Kevin Grace
The lunch-time discussion series of wonderful items in the Archives & Rare Books Library is ready to go for the 2013-2014 academic year. Our first presentation is a repeat of a popular talk on our anthropodermic binding. The book is one for which we always receive numerous questions because of its curious nature. So please bring your lunch and conversation on Thursday, September 26, at 12 noon.
Future 50 Minutes-1 Book presentations over the next several months include Frankenstein in October; miniature books, including some of the smallest books you’ll ever barely see; the Arabian Nights; George Moerlein’s A Trip Around the World; William Nicholson’s London Types; and Ireland’s Celtic Revival in the early 20th century.
By: Angela Vanderbilt
A prominent figure in early Cincinnati history, Henry Probasco was both businessman and philanthropist, committing his time to numerous Cincinnati organizations and societies, accumulating a large personal library of rare books and manuscripts, as well as an extensive collection of prints and paintings, both rivaling the finest in the country, and dedicating two elaborate fountains to the citizens of Cincinnati in the late 1800s.
Henry Probasco, along with his business partner and brother-in-law, Tyler Davidson, managed one of the most successful hardware companies in Cincinnati in the 1800’s – Tyler Davidson & Company. Probasco joined the business in 1835 as a clerk, and in 1840 was made a partner. The same year, he married Davidson’s half-sister, Julia. Together with Davidson, Probasco succeeded in expanding the business quickly, and by 1846, Tyler Davidson & Company was the largest hardware store in Cincinnati. In 1851, at Probasco’s suggestion, the partners built a new, multi-level structure on the site of the original store at 140-142 Main Street, between Second and Third Streets, and within three years, their sales quadrupled. Pearl Street, Water Street and Front Street were also located in this area, and ran parallel with Second Street to the north and the river to the south. The hardware store, Second, Front, Water, and Pearl Streets no longer exist; all have been replaced with I-71, Fort Washington Way, the Great American Ball Park and Paul Brown Stadium, among other attractions along the riverfront.
After Tyler Davidson passed away in 1865, Henry Probasco sold the hardware business to former partner, William Lowry, in 1866. The building would have been located on the east (right) side of Main Street between Second and Third Streets, in the vicinity of the images above (Left: March 2, 1927; Right: July 8, 1927.
In the early history of Cincinnati, several streets were platted running parallel with the Ohio River, but which no longer exist. These were Pearl Street, Water Street, Front Street and Second Street. These have been replaced with Fort Washington Way, I-71, as well as museums, major league sports arenas and other businesses and attractions along the riverfront. (Left: March 2, 1927; Right: October 10, 1941)