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Cincinnati and Shakespeare: The Bard Abides
By Kevin Grace. Enoch Carson was enthralled with William Shakespeare. While the 19th century Cincinnati entrepreneur and civil servant made his fortune in the lamp and gas business, he considered his real wealth to be the hundreds of Shakespeare volumes that he accumulated. For the most part Carson was a self-educated man, attributing his intellectual development to his years spent reading the plays. So, he devoted his life to building a library of as many editions of the bard as he could afford. At one point Carson took his volumes of the prominent Charles Knight 1839 London edition of the plays and disbound them so he could insert the huge…
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Discovering the Cohen Enrichment Collection
By Jenny Mackiewicz. On the fifth floor of the Walter C. Langsam Library, nestled away in a prominent alcove on the library’s north end, you will find an eclectic collection of fiction and nonfiction books to browse from in The A.B., Dolly, and Ralph Cohen Enrichment Collection. The red and black banner heralding its location makes this collection difficult to miss, but the space feels intimate; a library within a library. This comfortable nook is a favorite spot for serious scholars and pleasure readers alike. The contents of the Cohen Collection reinforce this welcoming appearance with works on a myriad of subjects ranging from astronomy to zoology. The bust of…
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Have You Seen Beethoven’s “Life Mask” in the CCM Library?
By Paul Cauthen. The Albino Gorno Memorial (CCM) Library is delighted that a woodcut, dating from December 18, 1920, of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Life Mask” by August Becker (1878–1942), German artist and Holzschneider (woodcutter), now hangs in the north end of the Reading Room. This work was presumably prepared in celebration of Beethoven’s 150th birthday celebrations, which had occurred two days before its creation. As professor emeritus Edward Nowacki observes: “The image is Beethoven’s life mask surrounded with laurel leaves painted in gold with the motto of the Fifth Symphony across the bottom and Becker’s monogram, AB, at the top. The story of the mask is well known in the…
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World War I Illustrated Sheet Music Highlights Depictions of Women
In commemoration of both Women’s History Month (March) and the centennial of the United States entry into World War I (April 6, 1917), two new library exhibits feature illustrated sheet music from the era. “Sheet music served as propaganda for the war effort, but also offered solace—and sometimes levity—to those on the home front. Between the war years of 1914 and 1918, music publishers produced over 13,500 individual compositions,” said exhibit curator Theresa Leininger-Miller, associate professor of art history in the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning. The Angel of No Man’s Land: Red Cross Nurses in World War I Illustrated Sheet Music, on display on the fourth floor…
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Libraries Receive Gift from the John Hauck Foundation
The University of Cincinnati Libraries is pleased to announce a gift from the John Hauck Foundation for the digitization of Dr. Albert B. Sabin’s lab notebooks. Dr. Sabin was a celebrated medical researcher and virologist who was best known for developing an oral polio vaccine that played a critical role in the eradication of the disease. He conducted his research for the vaccine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Research Foundation before and after WWII. He went on to have a storied career within the medical community as well as in academia. These extensive archives are held at the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions, along with…
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New Website Documents Jacobite Collection in the Archives and Rare Books Library
Want to go beyond the hit TV show Outlander and learn more about the Jacobite Movement from 1688-1788? A new website from the Archives and Rare Books Library highlights the recent donation of more than 500 books on the Jacobites from Cincinnatian Virginius C. Hall and provides a compelling and informative resource for scholars, researchers, or anyone hoping to learn more about this violent and important time in Scotland’s history. Hall became fascinated by the Jacobites and “Bonnie Prince Charlie” when he was 15 at boarding school and began his book collection. He continued to book hunt as an undergraduate at Princeton University and later as an Army private stationed…
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A New Look at Digital Collections
Imagine a place where through a computer, tablet or mobile device one could go to view such diverse collections as the House of Refuge Records, the creation of the Triceracopter sculpture, Albert B. Sabin’s archives about his quest to create the oral polio vaccine, as well as images of Great Houses of Cincinnati from environmental artist Alice Weston. This central, online place would also have exhibits about the 25th General Hospital: Courage and Skill in World War II, Promotion through Playing Cards, and Sublime and Beautiful Mountain Scenery among other captivating subjects. Such place does exist with the recently launched redesign of the Digital Collections & Repositories department website. Available…
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African-American History Month and the Archives and Rare Books Library
It is February again, a month notable for honoring presidents and for looking forward to spring. February is also a time when we reflect on the heritage of African Americans in the United States and take time to acknowledge that part of our nation’s history. Depending on the media, we also term February as Black History Month, and it had its beginnings in 1926 when “Negro History Week” was created by historian Carter G. Woodson. Woodson’s intent was to celebrate it in February because both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass had their birthdays in this month, and as he stated, “If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile…
