Tag Archives: Rare Books

50 Minutes-1 Book

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By Kevin Grace

Anton ChekhovThe next 50 Minutes – 1 Book lunchtime talk in the Archives & Rare Books Library will be Thursday, March 24, in the Schott Seminar Room, 814 Blegen Library at 12:00 noon.

Our first two talks have been on anthropodermic bindings and on Barry Moser’s King James Bible.  This month we take a look at the smallest book in the world, a printing of Anton Chekhov’s short story, “The Chameleon.”  This book measures only 0.9 mm and is 30 pages, but is so small that a strong magnifying glass is necessary to really see it.  Mark Palkovic, the head librarian of the Albino Gorno Memorial Music Library (CCM) will discuss this work.  Mark is an international expert on miniature books, and has been instrumental in building the miniature book collection in the Archives & Rare Books Library. Continue reading →

Update on William Morris Project

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By Lilia Walsh

A wood-engraved portrait of Morris by John Depol, from the book William Morris Master-Printer by Frank Colebrook

A wood-engraved portrait of Morris by John Depol, from the book William Morris Master-Printer by Frank Colebrook.

William Morris was a designer of stained glass, tapestries, wallpaper, chintzes, furniture, books, and typefaces. He was also a preservationist, socialist, poet, novelist, lecturer, calligrapher, translator of classic Icelandic and early English sagas, and founder of the Kelmscott press. He was born in 1834, and died at 62 in 1896, due to (according to his physician); “simply being William Morris, and having done more work than most ten men.” Morris became involved with socialist causes in the late 1870s. He found it impossible to separate esthetic issues from social and political ones, to him social reform was simply an extension of his arts and crafts production. Continue reading →

50 Minutes-1 Book

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By Kevin Grace

Cover of the Moser BibleThe next 50 Minutes-1 Book lunchtime talk in the Archives & Rare Books Library will be Thursday, February 24, in the Schott Seminar Room, 814 Blegen Library at 12:00 noon.

January’s gathering to talk about anthropodermic bindings was well-attended and a lot of fun.  This month the topic is the Pennyroyal Caxton Bible, a masterpiece of book design and illustration by Barry Moser.  Moser is recognized as one of the foremost bookwrights in the world and his Bible, completed in 1999, is arguably one of the most beautiful books ever printed.  Here in ARB, Moser’s edition is often used by classes in book history, graphic design, art history, English literature, and religion. Continue reading →

The Archives & Rare Books Library makes the student bucket list!

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Written by Kevin Grace

See  http://www.newsrecord.org/living/college-living/pre-grad-bucket-list-race-begins-1.2444785.

Beyond the unusual however (and that includes a ghost and the jawbone of an ass), we’re the go-to place for UC history and everything associated with it,  along with primary source material in urban studies, local history, rare books, German-Americana, local government records and a wealth of other collections.  Come to us for help in doing your course-assigned research or ideas on how to make that paper really stand out for the best grade.  With our resources we can help students become critical thinkers.  For more information, go to http://www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb/index.html.

50 Minutes-One Book

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The Archives & Rare Books Library announces a new monthly lunch-time series that will focus on one item from the collections to talk about its history and importance.  Relaxed and informal, these presentations are set for one Thursday each month through the academic year, and will be held in the Schott Seminar Room, 814 Blegen Library at 12:00 noon.

The first talk is on Thursday, January 27, and will feature ARB’s anthropodermic binding (that is, human skin!).  Find out how these bindings became curiosities of the book world, particularly in the 18th century; why most major research libraries have at least one example of the morbid things and how UC obtained its copy; and, the process involved in determining its authenticity. Continue reading →

Rare Editions of Mark Twain's Works in ARB

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Volume one of Mark Twain’s authorized and uncensored autobiography is now widely available.  For those interested in this literary great, the Archives and Rare Books Library holds some rare volumes of Twain’s work including a first edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Learn more about the Archives and Rare Books Library holdings and Twain’s autobiography in this article by Dawn Fuller:  http://www.uc.edu/news/NR.aspx?id=12564

ARB Intern Project Near Completion

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The Archives & Rare Books Library’s 2009-2010 intern is headed toward the completion of her special project.  Lilia Walsh, a University of Cincinnati Honors student, has been working for the past nine months on compiling an annotated bibliography and web exhibit of ARB’s rare books on William Morris and the Arts & Crafts Movement.

Morris (1834-1896) was an artist, designer, writer, and socialist in England, and a giant presence in the Pre-Raphaelite and Arts & Crafts art worlds, particularly with his emphasis on a resurgence in craftsmanship.  Continue reading →

Poor Pearl, Poor Girl! The Awful Story of the Murder of Pearl Bryan

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hangingOne hundred thirteen years ago, two UC dental students were executed by hanging.  Yes, it’s true: the University of Cincinnati once had a dental school.  It was the Ohio College of Dental Surgery and from 1888 to 1906, and then again from 1923 to its closing in 1926, the dental college was part of the university.  Cincinnati had a distinct shortage of dentists in the early years of the 19th century – there were only two in 1830.  The Ohio College of Dental Surgery was founded in 1845, and just a few short years after that, the Queen City boasted a directory of over forty dentists.  The school attracted students from around the Midwest and was the first dental college to graduate a woman, one Lucy Hobbs of McGregor, Iowa.  It was the custom of the college’s faculty in those days to send each student out into the world equipped with both a diploma and a Bible.  There are, after all, many kinds of cavities to fill in day-to-day existence.  The college’s later affiliation with the University of Cincinnati was a reflection of the number of medicine-oriented schools in 19th century Cincinnati that strived to combine classroom instruction with practical experience. Continue reading →

Celebrating Women's History in the Archives & Rare Books Library

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The Cover of Woman Triumphant by Rudolph Cronau, published in 1919.

The Cover of Woman Triumphant by Rudolph Cronau, published in 1919.

Since 1980 the National Women’s History Project (NWHP) has designated the month of March as a time to celebrate women’s history. The celebration began in 1980 when President Carter issued a Presidential Proclamation declaring the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week. In 1987 Congress extended it to the entire month thanks to successful lobbying efforts by the NWHP.

The 2010 Women’s History Month theme is “Writing Women Back into History.” According to the NWHP, “It often seems that the history of women is written in invisible ink. Even when recognized in their own times, women are frequently left out of the history books.” Continue reading →

Sam the Scaramouch - Cincinnati's 19th Century Satirical Tabloid

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sam1a_webFor thirteen months between February 1885 and February 1886, a tabloid publication in Cincinnati published a wide range of articles, cartoons, editorials, and stories that lampooned American life.  No topic or person escaped the sharp wit of Sam the Scaramouch, and for the short time this weekly newspaper was in existence, its editors took on national tariffs, elections from Cincinnati to Washington, the temperance issue, urban sophisticates and country bumpkins, race and ethnicity, and, a growing national obsession with sports.  Grover Cleveland was president.  European colonization of Africa was in full force.  The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York, and Ulysses S. Grant died.  And, in many ways, Sam was like other newspapers around the country in covering these events, carrying local advertisements and notices, and publishing occasional doggerel and short fiction, and reflecting the “new” journalistic Realism. Continue reading →