ABCs of Special Collections: P is for

Posted on November 18, 2013 by

For your alphabetical pleasure, we present the letter:

P is for Poster Block #2 from (Not yet cataloged. Image by Petrina Jackson)

P is for Poster Block #2 which is one of 75 alphabets represented in Frank H. Atkinson’s Atkinson Sign Painting up to Now: A Complete Manual of Sign Painting. Chicago: Frederick J. Drake & Co., 1915 (not yet cataloged. Gift of Nicholas Curtis. Image by Petrina Jackson)

P is for Ron Padgett

As a high school student in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Ron Pagett co-founded the low budget journal, The White Dove Review, boldly soliciting poems from many of the avant-garde poets of his day. The first issue came out in 1959, featuring Jack Kerouac’s poem, “The Thrashing Doves.” Other contributors included LeRoi Jones, Allen Ginsberg, Ted Berrigan, and e.e. cummings. After graduating high school, Padgett went to New York where he became an influential member of the New York School of poets. An author search of our online catalog shows 27 hits related to Ron Padgett.

Contributed by George Riser, Collections and Instruction Assistant

Shown here is the first issue of The White Dove Review. (PS501 .W47 no.1 1959. Marvin Tatum Collection of Contemporary Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

P is for Peede’s Poe Postage

We can’t cover the letter P without mentioning U.Va.’s favorite dropout, Edgar Allan Poe. Along with significant early editions, manuscripts, and other Poe rarities, we sometimes receive wonderful, unexpected gifts that extend our strengths in new directions. John Peede, publisher of the Virginia Quarterly Review, recently donated this group of postal ephemera marking the first day of issue for a 42-cent Edgar Allan Poe postage stamp on the poet’s 200th birthday, January 16, 2009.

Contributed by Molly Schwartzburg, Curator

Edgar Allan Poe postal ephemera (Gift of John Peede. Photograph by Molly Schwartzburg)

P is for Pen-and-Ink Drawings

Ellen Graham Anderson (1885-1970), a native of Lexington, Virginia, studied art in Richmond, New York, and Paris. She was known as a painter, caricaturist, and illustrator. Her “modern” pen-and-ink drawings illustrated many early twentieth-century periodicals including the Post Magazine, The International, The New York Tribune, and The New York Times Book Review and Magazine. Her drawings treat the viewer’s eye to a sense of fluidity and motion in her subjects. Ms. Anderson gave her papers, primarily pen-and-ink drawings, to the University of Virginia Library in 1963.

Contributed by Margaret Hrabe, Reference Coordinator

Pen-and-Ink drawing of Tallulah Bankhead in “Dark Victor,” n.d. (MSS 38-96-f. Gift of Ellen Graham Anderson. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Pen-and-Ink drawing of Ira and Edward Millette, Circus. New York, n.d. (Image by Petrina Jackson)

Three Pen-and-Ink Scenes, n.d. (MSS 38-96-g. Gift of Ellen Graham Anderson. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Newspaper clipping, New York Tribune, July 15, 1917, “An impression of Irene Bordoni, in ‘Hitchy-Koo.” (MSS 38-96-g. Gift of Ellen Graham Anderson. Image by Petrina Jackson)

P is for Picture Album

This is no ordinary scrapbook album; this is an album of vibrant illustrations, hues as if they were applied yesterday! It is The Fairy Book Picture Album, page after page of chromolithographs (a picture printed in a wide range of colors from a series of lithographic stones or plates). These were stories so loved and well-known the author didn’t add the written word. All that was required from even the littlest child was their imagination.
Contributed by Donna Stapley, Assistant to the Director

Page from the Fairy Picture Album, published by T. Nelson and Sons, ca. 1850s. (Not yet cataloged. Gift of Martha Orr Davenport. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

P is for Pop-Up Books

The art of folding paper to create a book with “movable,” “springing,” and “mechanical” pages has been popular with adults and little ones for over 700 years. Harold Lentz was the first publisher in the United States who coined the term “pop-up.” Leading the resurgence of interest in pop-up books today are paper engineers Robert Sabuda and Michael Reinhart. Many Pop-up books have evolved into intricate, complicated designs and have become favorite advertising tools of architects, engineers, and artists.

Contributed by Donna Stapley, Assistant to the Director

Botticelli’s Bed and Breakfast by Jan Pienkowski, 1996. (PZ92. F6S65 1996. Brenda Forman Collection of Pop-up and Movable Books. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

Mickey Mouse in King Arthur’s Court with “Pop-Up” Illustrations. (PZ92. F6 M526 1933. Brenda Forman Collection of Pop-up and Movable Books. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

P is for Psalter or Psalterium

A psalter (Psalterium in Latin) is the biblical Book of Psalms and was created especially for liturgical use. Psalters developed in the early 8th century and became widespread in the 11th century. Psalms were recited by the clergy in the liturgy, so Psalters were important in the church.

Various schemes existed for the arrangement of the Psalms. Besides the 150 Psalms, medieval psalters often included a calendar, a litany of saints, canticles from the Old and New Testaments, and other devotional texts. The selection of saints in the calendar and litany varied and can provide clues about original ownership.

There are several Psalters in Special Collections – some handwritten from the Medieval Manuscripts era and other later printed texts.

Contributed by Anne Causey, Public Services Assistant

Psalterium. Written in England, 15th Century. Psalters were popular books in the Medieval Ages, primarily written in Latin, often lavishly decorated. (MSS 382 [M.Ms. I]. Gift of Edward L. Stone. Image by Anne Causey)

Psalterium, Hebreum, Grecum, Arabicum, & Chaldeum: cum tribus Latinus
The text of this Psalter is in five languages – Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Aramaic. (Image by Anne Causey)

Examples of initials from the Vespasian Psalter (Image by Anne Causey)

This is a selection of initials from a facsimile of the Vespasian Psalter which is housed in the British Museum. The Vespasian Psalter was produced in England in the 8th century and is the oldest surviving book in the world with historiated initials. Written in Latin, an English gloss was added to it in the 9th Century. (Z115 .E5 E2 1967 v. 14. Image by Anne Causey)

P is for Punishment

The American system of slavery relied heavily on instilling fear in an attempt to cow the enslaved and render them docile. Slave owners disciplined their slaves for reasons such as theft and attempts at flight. The varieties of punishment meted out short of death included whipping, branding, and dismemberment, as shown in a letter dated October 10, 1727, from Robert “King” Carter to his overseer, Mr. Robert Jones:

Ballazore is an incorrigeable rogue nothing less than dismembring will reclaim him. I would have you outlaw him and get an order of the court for taking off his toes I have cured many a negro of running away by this means ….

On occasion, corporal punishment had horrific and unexpected consequences. Thomas Mann Randolph, writing from Monticello on November 22, 1818, describes such an event at a nearby Albemarle County plantation when a trusted slave

… received a few lashes on his bare back for some trifling misdemeanour; leaving his tools in the field, it is said. He hung himself, 30 feet from the ground, in a tree near his Masters door, the same night ….

Contributed by Edward Gaynor, Head of Description and Specialist for Virginiana and University Archives

Detail from Robert "King" Carter's Letterbook, regarding the escaped slave Ballazore. (Image by Petrina Jackson)

Detail from Robert “King” Carter’s Letterbook, regarding the escaped slave Ballazore, 1727. (MSS 3807. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Detail of letter from Randolph to , regarding the beating and consequent suicide of an enslaved man. (Image by Petrina Jackson)

Detail of a Thomas Mann Randolph letter, regarding the beating and consequent suicide of an enslaved man, 1818. (MSS 10487. Jefferson Trust 1982/1983. Image by Petrina Jackson)

See you in a couple of weeks, when we feature the “Q’s!”

ABCs of Special Collections: O is for…

Posted on November 4, 2013 by

With more letters behind us than left to go, we now come down to the surprisingly subversive letter…

The letter “O” from T.C. Williams Co., Virginia, USA Tobacco Manufacturers (Broadside 1900z .W6. Image by Petrina Jackson)

O is for Octoroon

During the European colonial period and throughout chattel slavery in the Americas, a new terminology sprung up to define race. “Octoroon” was the term for a person with one-eighth African ancestry. This and similar terms, such as “mulatto” and “quadroon,” flourished in the American literary–and commercial–imagination alike. Today, similar racial signifiers are still used in marketing: “Uncle Ben” to sell rice and “Aunt Jemima” to sell pancakes.

Contributed by Petrina Jackson, Head of Instruction and Outreach

Title page of Adela, the Octoroon by Hezekiah Lord Hosmer, 1860. (PS646 .F53 .H682 A4 1860. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

The title page of Adela, the Octoroon by Hezekiah Lord Hosmer, 1860. (PS646 .F53 .H682 A4 1860. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Maxwell's Broadway Theatre!...this evening will be presented the great drama of the Octoroom! or Way Down South (Broadside 65. Image by Petrina Jackson)

A broadside advertisement for Maxwell’s Broadway Theatre, undated (Broadside 65. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Tobacco Advertisement. Octoroon, manufactured by T. C. Williams Co., Virginia, 1900. ()

Advertisement for Octoroon tobacco manufactured by T. C. Williams Co., Virginia, 1900. (Broadside 1900z .W6. Image by Petrina Jackson)

O is for Charles Olson

American poet Charles Olson considered himself an “archeologist of morning.” His poems and essays bridged the gap between modernist poets like Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and poets of the sixties and seventies, including Robert Duncan, Robert Creeley, and Denise Levertov. He was associated with several major poetry communities, including the New York School, the Black Mountain poets, the Beats, and the San Francisco Renaissance. A search of our online catalog shows 77 entries related to Charles Olson.

Contributed by George Riser, Collections and Instruction Assistant

The front cover of the first printing of Olson’s celebrated The Maximus Poems/1-10,’ published by Jonathan Williams in 1953. (PS3529 .L655M32 1953. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

O is for Opium

Opium was introduced to western society from Asia during the Middle Ages. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw the development of tinctures and derivative drugs such as laudanum, morphine, and codeine. Medicinal use of the drug was widespread in both England and the United States as a cure-all for everything from coughs to psychosis. With the influx of Chinese immigrant labor to the United States and other countries in the mid-nineteenth century, recreational use of opium began to be more widespread, especially in major cities where “opium dens” became prolific. Although global regulation and prohibition of the drug began in the early twentieth century, control of the opium trade still remains an issue today.

Contributed by Margaret Hrabe, Reference Coordinator

The first edition of Confessions of an English opium-eater by Thomas De Quincey. London: Printed for Taylor and Hessey, 1822. In an 1824 letter, John Randolph of Roanoke wrote, “Have you ever read ‘The Confessions of an English Opium Eater’? I can vouch for the correctness of the picture there drawn of the pleasures & pain of opium.” (E 1822 .D46. Tracy W. McGregor Library of American History. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Sylvanus Cobb, Jr. writes to a friend in great detail about his opium addiction, 1867 October 30. (MSS 7507. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

“Opium-Smoking in New York” in Harper’s Weekly 25.1292 (September 24, 1881) 645. (AP 2 .H32. Image by Petrina Jackson)

An advertisement for “Compound Syrup of Opium, or, Henkel’s Diarrhoea Cordial.” [New Market, Va. :Drs. S.P.C. & C.C. Henkel, ca. 1864-1882]. (RM671 .H45 no. 32. Image by Petrina Jackson)

O is for Osawatomie

Osawatomie, Kansas was the site of bloody conflict between abolitionist forces and pro-slavery “Border Ruffians” from neighboring Missouri on August 30, 1856. Although the anti-slavery forces were defeated, the battle brought national attention to their leader, John Brown. This notoriety enabled Brown to raise funds for his plan to incite an uprising and arm slaves across the South. Brown and his forces attacked and seized the Federal armory at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia on October 16, 1859. The raid was ultimately a failure and Brown was captured, tried, and finally hanged on December 2, 1859. The raid sent waves of panic throughout the South, where Brown was reviled as a treasonous lunatic,
and electrified anti-slavery forces in the North where Brown was proclaimed a martyr. Brown’s legacy in the 150 years since his death is still debated and the name “Osawatomie” has been used by groups espousing both peaceful and violent social action.

Contributed by Edward Gaynor, Head of Description and Specialist for Virginiana and University Archives

“Record of the trial of John Brown and his associates,” undated. For November 2, Virginia Circuit Court Judge Richard Parker notes “Verdict guilty of treason as charged in 1st count of indict. – also of advising & conspiring with slaves & others to rebel as charged in 2d count of the indict. & of murder in 1st degree as charged in 3rd and 4th counts–John Brown, led in & it being demanded of him…if any thing for himself he has or knows to say why the court should not proceed to judgment, & execution –but had nothing but what he had before said. Therefore it is considered that he be hanged by the neck until he is dead.” (MSS 11634. Paul Mellon Bequest. Image by Petrina Jackson)

The Mock Auction: Ossawatomie Sold, a Mock Heroic Poem by Mann Satterwhite Valentine, 1860. (PS586 .Z93 .V355 M6 1860. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Osawatomie, a quarterly magazine published by the Weather Underground Organization, 1975. (HX 1 .O8. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Table of Contents of The Weather Underground Organization's magazine Osawatomie, no. 1, 1975.

Table of Contents of The Weather Underground’s magazine Osawatomie, no. 1, 1975. (HX 1 .O8. Image by Petrina Jackson)

That concludes our edition of the letter “O.” Don’t miss our next installation, featuring “P!”

ABCs of Special Collections: N is for…

Posted on October 21, 2013 by

We are back again, and this time with the letter:

The letter “N,” taken from the signature of Anais Nin. ((PS3527 .I865W5 1942. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Anne Causey))

N is for Nature

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s influential essay “Nature,” published in 1836, is the foundational document for the Transcendentalist Movement. In “Nature,” Emerson set forth his belief that God can be found in all aspects of nature, and that only by studying nature can man understand his relationship to the universe. The essay greatly influenced Henry David Thoreau, Branson Alcott, Margaret Fuller, Walt Whitman and many others.

Contributed by George Riser, Collections and Instruction Assistant.

Autographed engraving of Ralph Waldo Emerson (MSS 6248. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Emerson's book Nature, 1836. (PS1613 .A1 1836. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Emerson’s Nature, 1836. (PS1613 .A1 1836. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Detail of the inscription from Emerson to his mother on the endpapers of Nature. (Image by Petrina Jackson)

The inscription from Emerson to his mother on the endpapers of Nature. (PS1613 .A1 1836. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

N is for Natural Bridge

In 1774, a 31-year-old Thomas Jefferson purchased 157 acres of property in Rockbridge County, Virginia from King George III for 20 shillings (approximately $40 today). The natural rock formation became as popular as Niagara Falls to visitors from around the world as they stood marveling at the “bridge” twenty stories above them and peering into the caves, thirty-four stories below them. Jefferson built a log cabin on the property, declaring Natural Bridge to be “the most Sublime of nature’s works.”

Contributed by Donna Stapley, Assistant to the Director

Table of contents of Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, 1785. This copy belonged to the Marquis de Lafayette. (F230 .J4 1785. Photograph by Donna Stapley).

Table of contents of Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, 1785. Natural Bridge falls under the topic, “Mountains.” This copy belonged to the Marquis de Lafayette. (F230 .J4 1785. Photograph by Donna Stapley).

The description of the Natural Bridge in Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia starts on page ()

The first two pages of the description of Natural Bridge in Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia. (F230 .J4 1785. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

Page , of Notes on the State of Virginia, which ends the description of the Natural Bridge.

Page 40 of Notes on the State of Virginia, which ends the description of Natural Bridge. (F230 .J4 1785. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

Fanny Lecky Paxton's painting of the Natural Bridge, Virginia, 1893. (MSS 8251. Photograph by Donna Stapley).

Fanny Lecky Paxton’s painting of Natural Bridge, Virginia, 1893. (MSS 8251. Photograph by Donna Stapley).

N is for Nick of the Woods

Although educated as a physician, Robert Montgomery Bird pursued a literary career. In the 1830s, Bird wrote for the theatre, creating many of his plays expressly as vehicles for the actor Edwin Forrest. After a dispute with Forrest, Bird turned from playwriting to fiction; ironically, this move ensure his work a lasting place in the American theatrical tradition. In the novel Nick of the Woods; or, The Jibbenainosay, Bird conceived of an eighteenth-century Kentucky frontiersman who avenges the death of his family at the hands of the Indians. It was successfully adapted as a melodrama for the stage by Louisa H. Medina in 1838, and was produced widely for many decades. Other adaptations of this novel appeared on stage, such as one by George Washington Harley that survives in our collection in manuscript form.
Contributed by Margaret Hrabe, Reference Coordinator

(Taylor 1837 .B57 N5 v.1. Lillian G. Taylor American Bestsellers Image by Petrina Jackson)

Nick of the Woods, or, The Jibbenainosay: a tale of Kentucky by the author of “Calavar,” “The infidel,” 1837. (Taylor 1837 .B57 N5 v.1. Lillian G. Taylor Collection of American Bestsellers. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Title page of the corrected manuscript of George Washington Harley’s adaptation of Nick of the Woods; or, Kentucky in ’82., ca. 1838. (MSS 7459-a. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

First page of Act 1, Scene 1 of George Washington Harley’s adaptation of Nick of the Woods; or, Kentucky in ’82., ca. 1838. (MSS 7459-a. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Nick of the Woods, a Drama in Three Acts by Miss . H. Medina. New York: Samuel French, 1856. (PS 1099 .B5 N5 1856. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

N is for Anais Nin (1903-1977)

Anais Nin is best known for her extensive life-long diaries and her erotica (Delta of Venus, Little Birds). The daughter of two musicians, she lived a quintessentially Bohemian life in Paris and San Francisco. Married to two men at one time, she did not divorce the first husband until the IRS discovered her two identities.Nin materials appear in our extensive Henry Miller collections; the two had a well-known affair. In a 1958 letter held here, she asks famous Beat photographer Harry Redl to retake her picture because he’s not captured her “luminosity.” When publishers refused her book Winter of Artifice, she bought her own press and printed 500 copies in 1942.

Contribution by Anne Causey, Public Services Assistant

Photograph of Anais Nin on the cover of Realism and Reality (PS3527 .I865R3 1946. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Anne Causey)

Photograph of Anais Nin on the cover of Realism and Reality, 1946. (PS3527 .I865R3 1946. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Anne Causey)

Cover of the Diary of Anais Nin, vol. 6, 1966 (PS3527 .I865 Z5 1966. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Anne Causey)

Anais Nin's incription to Edward in her book The House of Incest. (PS3527 .I865H6 1936. Image by Anne Causey)

Anais Nin’s incription to novelist Edward Dahlberg in her book The House of Incest, 1936. (PS3527 .I865H6 1936. Image by Anne Causey)

Nin's self-published Winter of Artifice (PS3527 .I865W5 1942. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Anne Causey)

Nin’s self-published volume, Winter of Artifice (PS3527 .I865W5 1942. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Anne Causey)

We look forward to seeing you again in couple weeks when we feature the letter “O.” Bye for now!

ABCs of Special Collections: M is for…

Posted on October 7, 2013 by

And now for your reading and viewing pleasure, the letter

M is for the first letter in Masonry as it appears on Meriwhether Lewis's Mason certificate.(Photograph by Molly Schwartzburg)

M is for the word “Mason” in the final entry in this blog post (MSS 3837. Photograph by Molly Schwartzburg)

M is for Robert McAlmon

An accomplished writer in his own right, Robert McAlmon’s greatest contribution to literary culture may have been his publishing enterprises. First printing avant-garde prose and poetry in the Contact Review in New York, he moved to Paris in 1921 to immerse himself in the burgeoning artist scene there. He started Contact Publishing Company, and published many of the writers and poets who came to define their generation, including Ernest Hemingway’s first book, Three Stories & Ten Poems in 1923. He also typed and edited James Joyce’s manuscript of Ulysses before it was sent to the typesetter. A search of our online catalog shows 29 entries related to Robert McAlmon.

Contributed by George Riser, Collections and Instruction Assistant

A sketch by Emil Becat of Robert McAlmon and James Joyce on the back cover of McAlmon and the Lost Generation (PS3525 .A1143 Z53 1962. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

A sketch by Emil Becat of Robert McAlmon and James Joyce, which appears on the back cover of the book McAlmon and the Lost Generation (PS3525 .A1143 Z53 1962. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

A Hasty Bunch (PS3525 .A1143H3 1922. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

A Hasty Bunch by Robert McAlmon, 1922. (PS3525 .A1143H3 1922. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

M is for Medieval Manuscript

The medieval manuscripts in our collections date as far back as the ninth century and well into the fifteenth. Holdings include Bibles, prayer books, and secular works, such as poems, philosophy, and law texts, as well as a variety of documents; many are fragments. Some are highly decorated with pigments made from natural substances, including parsley, vermillion, saffron, lapis lazuli and gold, and are written on vellum or parchment (animal skin).

Contributed by Anne Causey, Public Services Assistant

Page of the Roman de la Rose, 14th-Century (MSS 6765. Jeffress Collection. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Psalter from England, 15th-Century. (Medieval MSS I. Edward L. Stone Collection. Image by Petrina Jackson)

French Book of Hours, featuring the hour of the crucifixion (Medieval MSS P. Tracy W. McGregor Library of American History. Image by Petrina Jackson)

M is for Meriwether Lewis, Superexcellent Mason

Special Collections holds a number of rare and unique materials relating to the life and career of Meriwether Lewis, but none quite like this document of his Masonic membership. A native of Albemarle County, Lewis (1774-1909) joined the Door to Virtue Lodge 44 in 1797. The document shown here documents his attaining the elevated status of Royal Arch Superexcellent Mason two years later in nearby Staunton. Lewis remained involved in the Masons throughout his life, and led the successful effort to establish a Masonic Lodge in St. Louis, Missouri in 1808.

More about Lewis’s involvement in Freemasonry, and wonderful images of one of his Masonic aprons, may be seen at the “Discovering Lewis & Clark” website, under the heading “Meriwether Lewis, Master Mason.”

Contributed by Molly Schwartzburg, Curator

Meriwether Lewis’s certificate for attaining the status of Royal Arch Superexcellent Mason, Staunton [Virginia] Lodge 13, October 31, 1799. The certificate shows Lewis’s signature on the left. A deep red ribbon is woven through the paper, and the entire document is backed with cloth.(MSS 3837. Photograph by Molly Schwartzburg)

See you next time with an installment of the letter “N.” For now, bye-bye!

ABCs of Special Collections: L is for…

Posted on September 23, 2013 by

And we are back with the letter:

Jack London's signature, highlighting the letter "L" in his last name. Letter to Max Feckler from Jack London, October 26, 1914

Jack London’s signature, highlighting the letter “L” in his last name. The signature is from his letter to Max Feckler, October 26, 1914 (MSS 6240. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Caroline Newcomb)

L is for James Laughlin
While studying poetry with Ezra Pound in Italy, the poet told him, “You’re never going to be any good as a poet. Why don’t you take up something useful?” Laughlin returned to Harvard in 1936, and founded New Directions, a publishing enterprise he started in his dorm room with help from his family’s fortune. New Directions evolved into a highly prestigious avant-garde press, publishing works by Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Elizabeth Bishop, and many others. Laughlin did manage to publish a number of books of his own poetry, as well. An author search of our online catalog shows 35 hits related to Mr. Laughlin, and over 500 for New Directions publications. The press is still in operation today.

Contributed by George Riser, Collections and Instruction Assistant

James Laughlin Selected Poems, 1935–1985.’ City Light Books, 1986. (PS3523. A8245A6 1986. Marvin Tatum Collection of Contemporary Literature. Image by Caroline Newcomb)

Henry Miller’s The Cosmological Eye. New Directions, 1939. The eye in the cloud is James Laughlin’s left eye. (PS3525 I5454 C6. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Caroline Newcomb)

L is for Little Red Riding Hood
In 2007, Special Collections received as a gift from Martha Orr Davenport her marvelous collection of books and artifacts related to the tale of Little Red Riding Hood. There are approximately 480 books, 100 pieces of print ephemera, 50 works of art, ten magic lantern slides, and more than a hundred objects, including tableware, figurines, vases, pottery, tiles, crystal, glass, cloth, dolls, puppets, tinware, prints, and recordings.

Contributed by Molly Schwartzburg, Curator

Clockwise from top left, these Reds Riding Hoods appear in the following books, which are not yet cataloged: “Little Red Riding Hood, (London: Tuck, [1890]); “Les Contes de Perrault” (Paris: Librairie de Theodore Lefevre, n.d.); “Walter Crane’s Toy Books: Little Red Riding Hood” ([London]: George Routledge, n.d.); “Rotkappchen” (n.p: n.p., n.d.). [xx(6134166.1). Photograph collage by Molly Schwartzburg]

Clockwise from top left, these wolves appear in the following books, which are not yet cataloged: “Rotkappchen” (n.p: n.p., n.d.); “Tales of Passed Times Written for Children by Mr. Perrault and Newly Decorated by John Austen” (London: Selwyn and Bount, 1922); “Little Red Riding Hood, (London: Tuck, [1890]); “Walter Crane’s Toy Books: Little Red Riding Hood” ([London]: George Routledge, n.d.). [xx(6134166.1). Photograph collage by Molly Schwartzburg]

L is for Jack London
In our collections are some notable items of the American author Jack London (1876-1916), who is best known for his book, The Call of the Wild and the short story, “To Build A Fire.” Among our materials are the typescript of his novel, The Sea Wolf, with his handwritten corrections, and two boxes of lively letters, illustrating the nature of his life as an adventurer and writer. This letter to a young man who has sent London a copy of his story is harsh but humorous, but in the end, offers good advice for a burgeoning writer. He ends with an invitation to visit him in California, “on the ranch.”

Contributed by Anne Causey, Public Services Assistant

Signed photograph of Jack London, ca.1907-1908, , box 2, folder 39 Photo taken on board the Snark, the sailboat upon which he cruised the South Pacific for 27 months with his wife Charmian. (MSS 6240. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Caroline Newcomb)

Signed photograph of Jack London, ca.1907-1908. Photo taken on board the Snark, the sailboat upon which he cruised the South Pacific for 27 months with his wife Charmian. (MSS 6240. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Caroline Newcomb)

Typescript of Jack London’s The Sea Wolf with autograph corrections, page 136. (MSS 6240. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Caroline Newcomb)

Letter to Max Feckler, October 26, 1914, MSS 6240, box 2, folder23 This letter shows the lively tone of many of London's letters, although this one is much longer, more detailed and more impassioned. Here, he is advising a young writer to improve his skill and learn the market before he sends out a story.

Letter to Max Feckler from Jack London, October 26, 1914. This letter shows the lively tone of many of London’s letters, although this one is much longer, more detailed and more impassioned. Here, he is advising a young writer to improve his skill and learn the market before he sends out a story. (MSS 6240. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Caroline Newcomb)

(MSS 6240. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Caroline Newcomb)

Page 2 of letter to Max Feckler from Jack London, October 26, 1914. (MSS 6240. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Caroline Newcomb)

From “L” to “M,” see what our next letter selections will be in a couple of weeks when the ABCs of Special Collections continues.

ABCs of Special Collections: K is for…

Posted on September 9, 2013 by

We are almost at the half-way mark with today’s letter:

K is for “1908” Classic “Plug,” which is one of 75 alphabets represented in Frank H. Atkinson’s Atkinson Sign Painting up to Now: A Complete Manual of Sign Painting. Chicago: Frederick J. Drake & Co., 1915 (not yet catalogued. Gift of Nicholas Curtis. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

K is for Franz Kafka (1883-1924)

Best known for The Metamorphosis (1915), Franz Kafka is arguably one of the most influential writers of the 20th-century. In 1908, his first eight stories were published in Hyperion, a bi-monthly magazine. During his lifetime, his works Meditation (1913), The Country Doctor (1916), and Letters to His Father (1919) were published. However, many of Kafka’s novels were published posthumously and include A Hunger Artist (1924), The Trial (1925); The Castle (1926), and Amerika (1927).

We have Paul E. Rieger, U.Va. Class of 1955, to thank for our Kafka collection. In 1980, the Ohio native donated his collection of 300 books by and about Franz Kafka to the Library. The gift includes German, British, and American first editions, first appearances in periodicals, opera scores, and criticisms.

Contributed by Anne Causey, Public Services Assistant

Cover of Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis) by Franz Kafka, 1948. (PT2621 .A26 V4 1948. Gift of Paul E. Rieger. Photograph by Anne Causey)

Cover of The Castle by Franz Kafka, translated from German into English by Edwin and Willa Muir, 1930. (PT2621 .A26 S313 1930b. Gift of Paul E. Rieger. Photograph by Anne Causey.)

Paul E. Rieger's bookplate from Kafka's Castle by Ronald Gray (PT2621 .A26 S42. Gift of Paul E. Rieger. Photograph by Anne Causey)

Paul E. Rieger’s (U.Va. Class of ’55) bookplate from Kafka’s Castle by Ronald Gray (PT2621 .A26 S42. Gift of Paul E. Rieger. Photograph by Anne Causey)

K is for Kanawha

On October 24, 1861, citizens of 39 western Virginia counties approved a resolution to form a new pro-Union state, to be called Kanawha. A convention met in Wheeling late in 1861 to draft a constitution for the new state. Many of the delegates did not like the name “Kanawha” and after lengthy debate, the name “West Virginia” was selected for the assemblage of 50 former Virginia counties. Once the contentious issue of the new state’s name was decided, slavery was the remaining controversial issue. West Virginia was not conceived as a free state. Instead of an outright ban, the new constitution stated: “No slave shall be brought, or free person of color be permitted to come into this State for permanent residence.”

Contributed by Edward Gaynor, Head of Description and Specialist for Virginiana and University Archives

Journal of the Constitutional Convention of West Virginia Assembled at Wheeling on Tuesday, November Twenty-Sixth, Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One (A 1861 .W478. Tracy W. McGregor Library of American History. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

W. T. Willey [Washington, DC] letter to J. W. Paxton [Wheeling, W. Va.], announcing the “agony is over” and President Lincoln has signed the bill admitting West Virginia, January 1863. Willey was the first United States Senator from West Virginia; delegate to the Virginia Convention, 1861, voting against secession; and author of the Willey Amendment, a compromise on the question of freedom for West Virginia slaves that assured West Virginia’s acceptance into the Union. (MSS 15234. Purchased by Associates Endowment Fund 2011/2012. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Map of West Virginia, 1863. The base map is J.H. Colton’s “Virginia” map (version of the map including McDowell, but not Webster counties), with 1855 copyright date and the identification of “Richmond” as State Capital blacked out with printer’s ink. Virginia is still included on the sheet, but is not colored. There are two insets: Section of West Virginia Oil Region and West Virginia Geological Sections. (G3890 1863 .C6. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

K is for Bob Kaufman

Bob Kaufman was a leading figure in the San Francisco poetry scene during the Beat and Psychedelic eras. Kaufman, a poet in the oral tradition, was often seen reciting his poems on the street, in coffee houses, and at musical events. Only at the insistence of his wife did he put some of his verse to paper. A Buddhist and a jazz aficionado, Kaufman was one of the founders of the influential poetry magazine, Beatitude.

Contributed by George Riser, Collections and Instruction Assistant

Bob Kaufman on the cover of his book of poetry, Golden Sardine from the Pocket Poets Series, 1967. (PS3521 .A7265G6 1967. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Bob Kaufman on the cover of his book of poetry, Golden Sardine from the Pocket Poets Series, 1967. (PS3521 .A7265G6 1967. Marvin Tatum Collection of Contemporary Literature. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

(Abomunist Manifesto by Bob Kaufman. Marvin Tatum Collection of Contemporary Literature. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

First printing of Kaufman’s first published work, Abomunist Manifesto, 1959. (PS3521 .A7265A2 1959. Marvin Tatum Collection of Contemporary Literature. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Issue of Beatitude, no. 15, 17 June 1960. (PS580 .B36. Marvin Tatum Collection of Contemporary Literature. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

K is for Kennedy

1958 was a memorable year for the University. John, Jackie, Edward and Robert Kennedy visited U.Va. to attend a celebration, the first Law Day. The highlight of the day was a speech by then Senator John F. Kennedy to a large crowd gathered at Alumni Hall. At this time Ted was a second-year law student, following in the footsteps of his brother Robert, who graduated from U.Va.’s Law school in 1951.

Contributed by Donna Stapley, Assistant to the Director

Robert Kennedy and Ralph Bunche at Student Legal Forum, held at U.Va. on 26 March 1951. (Prints File. Photograph of print by Donna Stapley)

Robert Kennedy and Ralph Bunche at Student Legal Forum, held at U.Va. on 26 March 1951. (Prints File. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

Edward, Jackie, John and Robert Kennedy at U.Va (from left to right). When Edward Kennedy was a second-year law student, the Law School held its first Law Day. John F. Kennedy (then senator of Massachusetts) spoke on “The Unknown Challenge,” discussing foreign and domestic policy. His brother Robert attended as an alumnus. (Prints File: U.Va. News Service Photo. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

Photograph of John Kennedy and Mrs. Colgate Darden (seated) by U.Va. photographer Ralph Thompson (Prints File. Photograph of print by Donna Stapley)

Photograph of John Kennedy and Mrs. Colgate Darden (seated) by U.Va. photographer Ralph Thompson (Prints File. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

K is for Frances Parkinson Keyes

Best-selling novelist Frances Parkinson Keyes (pronounced “Kize”) was born in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1885, to UVA professor and chairman of the Greek Department, John Henry Wheeler, and his wife Louise Fuller Johnson Wheeler. Keyes went on to become the wife of a US senator and a prolific author. Her over fifty novels, many set in the South, sold millions of copies during the mid-twentieth century. The Papers of Frances Parkinson Keyes, MSS 3923, etc., in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library were a gift from the author to the Library in the 1960s.

Contributed by Margaret Hrabe, Reference Coordinator

Letter from Frances Parkinson Keyes to University Librarian John Cook Wyllie, regarding her birth at U.Va., 10 January 1959. (MSS 5983. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Letter from Frances Parkinson Keyes to University Librarian John Cook Wyllie, regarding her birth at U.Va., 10 January 1959. (MSS 5983. Gift of John Cook Wyllie. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Photograph of Frances Parkinson Keyes inscribed to U.Va. Library. (MSS 3923. Gift of Frances Parkinson Keyes. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Cover of dinner program given by Keyes, related to the writing of Steamboat Gothic. (MSS 3932. Gift of Frances Parkinson Keyes. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Musical program and dinner menu given by Keyes, related to the writing of Steamboat Gothic. (MSS 3932. Gift of Frances Parkinson Keyes. Photograph by Petrina Jackson).

That concludes the “Ks” of Special Collections. Catch us in two weeks when we explore “Ls.”

ABCs of Special Collections: J is for…

Posted on August 26, 2013 by

Of course, we had to begin the letter “J” with the most famous “J” of all at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library!

J is for the handwritten first letter of Thomas Jefferson's signature. This detail of his signature is from his famous "firebell in the night" letter to John Holmes, senator from Maine, 22 April 1820. (MSS 11619. Paul Mellon Bequest. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

J is for the handwritten first letter of Thomas Jefferson’s last name. This detail of his signature is from his famous “firebell in the night” letter to John Holmes, senator from Maine, 22 April 1820. (MSS 11619. Paul Mellon Bequest. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

J is for Jamestown

The Virginia Company of London received a charter from James I for land in Virginia in April 1606. Three ships departed London on December 20, 1606 and on May 13, 1607 the settlers selected an island on the James River as the site of James Fort, soon to be Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World. Two of the most dramatic American firsts to which Jamestown can lay claim both occurred in August 1619: the first representative assembly, and the arrival of the first enslaved Africans.

Contributed by Edward Gaynor, Head of Description and Specialist for Virginiana and University Archives

“A Pattent Graunted by His Majesty [James I, King of England] for the Plantation of Two Colonies in Virginia.” 10 April 1606. (MSS 11625. Paul Mellon Bequest. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Title page of The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles by John Smith, 1624. (A 1624 .S55. Tracy W. McGregor Library of American History. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Creation of the Virginia General Assembly and the importation of enslaved Africans are featured here on page 126 in this last paragraph of a Generall Historie of Virginia..., 1624 (A 1624. S55. Tracy W. McGregor Library of American History. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

The creation of the Virginia General Assembly and the importation of enslaved Africans are featured here on page 126 in this last paragraph of a Generall Historie of Virginia…, 1624 (A 1624. S55. Tracy W. McGregor Library of American History. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

J is for Jefferson––Joseph Jefferson

Washington Irving’s beloved character Rip Van Winkle was translated to the stage by the 19th-century actor Joseph Jefferson (1829-1905). The son of an established American theatrical family, Jefferson, who had debuted on the stage at the early age of four, sought to create his own adaptation of Irving’s story but found his 1859 rendition wanting. Five years later, Jefferson contracted with playwright Dion Boucicault to write a version of Rip Van Winkle specifically for Jefferson to perform on the London stage. His performance proved a success both in London and later in New York, and the role of Rip became synonymous with Joseph Jefferson. For nearly forty years, until his retirement in 1904, Jefferson portrayed Rip Van Winkle in his repertoire of theatrical roles.

Contributed by Margaret Hrabe, Reference Coordinator

Cover of Rip Van Winkle as Played by Joseph Jefferson. This edition contains proof impressions of all the illustrations, and portrait signed by Mr. Jefferson. One hundred copies were printed. (PS2068 .A33 1895a. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Photograph by Petrina Jacksobn)

Cover of Rip Van Winkle as Played by Joseph Jefferson. One hundred copies were printed. This copy contains proof impressions of all the illustrations, and portrait signed by Mr. Jefferson.(PS2068 .A33 1895a. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Front cover endpaper of Rip Van Winkle as Played by Joseph Jefferson. (PS2068 .A33 1895a. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Signed frontispiece of Rip Van Winkle as Played by Joseph Jefferson. (PS2068 .A33 1895a. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Autographed carte de visite of Joseph Jefferson as “old” Rip Van Winkle. (Barrett Print Files. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

J is for Curtiss “Jenny”

The JN-4 “Jenny” was one of a series of biplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, N.Y. Although the “Jenny” never saw combat duty, it was used chiefly as a training airplane in World War I and as many as 95% of all U.S. pilots learned to fly in a “Jenny.” At the conclusion of the war hundreds of well-trained pilots familiar with the “Jenny” returned to the U.S. The “Jenny” was the airplane of choice for many and became the workhorse of American post-war civil and commercial aviation.

Contributed by Edward Gaynor, Head of Description and Specialist for Virginiana and University Archives

Blueprint of the front elevation for the model J-N-4-D airplane, built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, N.Y., later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, 1917-1918. (MSS 10875-bv. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Blueprint of the side elevation for the model J-N-4-D airplane, built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, N.Y., later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, 1917-1918. (MSS 10875-bv. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

J is for Jerusalem by William Blake

The visionary English Romantic poet William Blake (1757-1827) is perhaps as famous for his work as an artist as for his poetry. Considered eccentric, he was not well respected as a creative figure until later in life. While Blake was an established engraver, he also received commissions for watercolors, and painted scenes from the works of Milton, Dante, Shakespeare and the Bible.
Jerusalem, the last of Blake’s great epic poems, was begun about 1804 and not completed before 1818. This first published facsimile of the book is made from the only known illuminated original. Blake printed his etchings in orange ink and illuminated them in watercolors and gold. These facsimiles are hand colored, and required 44 applications on average.

Contributed by Anne Causey, Public Services Assistant

Title page of Jerusalem: A Facsimile of the Illuminated Book by William Blake, 1951. (PR4144 .J4 1951. Gift of Sandra Elizabeth Olivier and Raymond Danowski. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Illustration from Jerusalem by William Blake (PR4144 .J4 1951. Gift of Sandra Elizabeth Olivier and Raymond Danowski. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

“End of the Song of Jerusalem” illustration (PR4144 .J4 1951. Gift of Sandra Elizabeth Olivier and Raymond Danowski. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

J is for Junkie

Published under the pseudonym William Lee, Junkie, Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict was William Burroughs’s first published work. Encouraged by Allen Ginsberg to write about his experiences as a heroin addict, Junkie is a semi-autobiographical account of Burroughs’s life on the streets in the early 50’s. Junkie was roundly rejected by mainstream publishers, but eventually found a home with Ace Books, purveyors of cheap paperbacks. Junkie came out in 1953 as an ‘Ace Double,’ published along with Narcotic Agent by Maurice Helbrant.

Contribution by George Riser, Collections and Instruction Assistant

Cover of Junkie, published by ACE Double Books, 1953. (PS3552 .U75 J8 1953. Marvin Tatum Collection of Contemporary Literature. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Narcotic Agent by Maurice Helbrant, which is the other book (on the reverse), published by ACE Double Books with Junkie, 1953. (PS3552 .U75 J8 1953. Marvin Tatum Collection of Contemporary Literature. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

We look forward to seeing you again when we feature the letter “K.” Until then, bye bye!

ABCs of Special Collections: I is for

Posted on August 12, 2013 by

Welcome to our most recent installment of the ABCs of Special Collections, where the featured letter is

I is for Italian Palatino (1566). Lewis F. Day. Alphabets Old and New: Containing Over One Hundred and Fifty Complete Alphabets….London: B. T. Batsford, 94 High Holborn, 1898. (Typ 1898. D39. Stone Typography Collection. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

I is for Robert Ingersoll

Robert Ingersoll, the great American 19th-Century orator, was popularly known as “The Great Agnostic.” An attorney by trade, Ingersoll, by virtue of his oratory skills, kept paying audiences enthralled for hours as he weighed in on controversial subjects, political, social, and moral. Walt Whitman considered Ingersoll the greatest orator of his time. Whitman wrote, “It should not be surprising that I am drawn to Ingersoll, for he is Leaves of Grass. He lives, embodies, the individuality, I preach.” Ingersoll delivered the eulogy at Whitman’s funeral in 1892.

Contributed by George Riser, Collections and Instruction Assistant

Shown is the cover of an 1892 edition of Walt Whitman. An Address by Robert G. Ingersoll. (PS 3232 .I5 1892. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Shown is the cover of an 1892 edition of Walt Whitman. An Address by Robert G. Ingersoll. “Liberty in Literature.” (PS 3232 .I5 1892. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

I is for Ingles

Mary Draper Ingles was an early frontier settler in southwest Virginia. In 1755 during the French and Indian War, the settlement of Draper’s Meadow was raided by a group of Shawnee warriors. Several settlers were killed and five hostages were taken, including Mary and her two young sons, Thomas and George. The Indians forcefully led the hostages through the wilderness to an area near Big Stone Lick, Kentucky. Mary was separated from her sons and became enslaved to the Shawnee, but later escaped. She made her way on foot over hundreds of miles back to Virginia. One of her sons died in captivity and the other remained with the Shawnee for many years. Ingles relayed her ordeal to another son, John Ingles, whose hand-written manuscript of her narrative is held in Special Collections. Over the years the story of Mary Draper Ingles has been adapted to theatre, film, and historical fiction.

Contributed by Margaret Hrabe, Reference Coordinator

Page 3 of John Ingles’ handwritten manuscript, which was later published as a Escape From Indian Captivity: The Story of Mary Draper Ingles and son Thomas Ingles, ca. 1825. (MSS 38-246. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Cover of the first edition of Escape from Indian Captivity: The Story of Mary Draper Ingles and son Thomas Ingles, 1969. (E87 .I53 1969. Gift of Mrs. R. I. Steele. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Cover of The Long Way Home by Earl Hobson Smith (1976). The Long Way Home was an outdoor historical drama adaptation of the story of Mary Draper Ingles’ capture by and escape from the Shawnee Indians. (PS 3537 .M346 L56 1976. Robert and Virginia Tunstall Trust Fund 2006/2007. Image by Petrina Jackson)

I is for Insurrection

On August 21, 1831, Nat Turner raised the largest slave rebellion in U.S. history in Virginia’s Southampton County. The slave force massacred over 60 white men, women, and children. The rebellion was brutally suppressed and an orgy of violence followed, in which over 200 African Americans were executed by the state and murdered by vigilante groups. The Southampton Insurrection spread fear and hysteria across the South and as a result, Virginia and other Southern states passed harsh new laws that further restricted the activities of both slaves and free blacks.

Contributed by Edward Gaynor, Head of Description and Specialist for Virginiana and University Archives

Horrid Massacre of Virginia: Just Published, an Authentic and Interesting Narrative of the Tragical Scene which was Witnessed in Southampton County (Virginia), on Mondy the 22d of August Last, when Fifty Five of its Inhabitants (Mostly Women and Children) were Inhumanly Massacred by the Blacks! (Broadside 1831. W377. Tracy W. McGregor Library of American History. Image by Digitization Services)

Photographs of Nat Turner’s Bible and Cross Keys (showing old store house in which some of the insurgents were imprisoned), ca. 1900. (MSS 10673. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Letter from William Campbell to Col. Baldwin detailing the effects of the Southampton insurrection. The letter mentions Richard Drummond’s eleven arrested slaves and the Corps of Mounted Citizen Volunteers, 4 September 1831. (MSS 1441. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

I is for Iron

The Weaver-Brady family papers document what is to many, one of the more surprising aspects of slavery in Virginia: the use of slaves in heavy industry. William Weaver built a network of iron producing operations in the Shenandoah Valley that included two forges, two blast furnaces and nearly 20,000 acres of land from which his 170 slaves harvested iron ore and timber. Nearly every job at the forges–from the most skilled to the least–was held by slaves. Operations such as Weaver’s led the way in establishing industrial slavery as a viable future direction as agricultural needs declined.

Contributed by Edward Gaynor, Head of Description and Specialist for Virginiana and University Archives

A page, featuring "Negro hires" from volume 2 of Buffalo and Bath Forge and Furnace account books. (MSS 38-98-d. Coles Special Collections Fund. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

A page, featuring debits for “Negro hires” from volume 2 of Buffalo and Bath Forge and Furnace account books. (MSS 38-98-d. Coles Special Collections Fund. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

A page, featuring the time records for “hands” from volume 3 of the Buffalo and Bath Forge and Furnace account books. (MSS 38-98-d. Coles Special Collections Fund. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

Cover of Bond of Iron: Master and Slave at Buffalo Forge by Charles B. Drew, 1994. (F234 .B89 D48 1994. Coles Fund 1998/1999. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Cover of Bond of Iron: Master and Slave at Buffalo Forge by Charles B. Dew, 1994. (F234 .B89 D48 1994. Coles Fund 1998/1999. Image by Petrina Jackson)

That is all for “I.” Come back in a couple weeks for the letter “J.” I bet you have a “J” in mind already!

ABCs of Special Collections: H is for

Posted on July 29, 2013 by

Hello again, and welcome to another installation of the ABCs of Special Collections! Today, we give you the letter:

H is for Heavy Sign Script, which is one of 75 alphabets represented in Frank H. Atkinson’s Atkinson Sign Painting up to Now: A Complete Manual of Sign Painting. Chicago: Frederick J. Drake & Co., 1915 (not yet catalogued. Gift of Nicholas Curtis. (Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

H is for Hollinger Box

n. ~ A container that holds folders containing paper documents vertically and that measures roughly 10 inches high, 12 or 15 inches wide, and 6 or 3 inches deep, and that usually has an integral top hinged at the upper back.

Notes: Sometimes called a Hollinger Box. Document boxes are typically made from cardboard. They are often neutral gray and lined on the inside with white, acid-neutral paper. They may have a string, handle, or hole on one end to facilitate removal from a shelf. [Hollinger] boxes made from high-quality materials suitable for long-term storage of archival materials are often called archives boxes. From A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology.

Citations: †(Personal communication, Bill Hollinger, 1 October 2003) The term Hollinger box is just a generic name archivists have given to this particular style of box. From A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology

Contributed by Petrina Jackson, Head of Instruction and Outreach

Hollinger, or document, boxes. (Photograph by Molly Schwartzburg)

Hollinger, document, or archival boxes. (Photograph by Molly Schwartzburg)

H is for John Clellon Holmes

More a chronicler of the Beat movement, than a participant, John Clellon Holmes was there at its inception. He was friends with Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassidy, and especially Jack Kerouac who famously once told him, “You know, this is really a beat generation.” Holmes 1952 novel, Go is generally considered the first Beat novel, and he would also gain recognition for his 1958 jazz novel, The Horn. A search of our online catalog details 13 records relating to Holmes.

Contributed by George Riser, Collections and Instruction Assistant

First edition of Go: A Modern Novel of the Search and Experience for Love by (John) Clellon Holmes. (PS3558 .03594 G6 .1952. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Photograph of John Clellon Holmes on the back cover of the first edition of Go.

Photograph of John Clellon Holmes by Lida Moser on the back cover of the first edition of Go. (PS3558 .03594 G6 .1952. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Image by Petrina Jackson)

H is for Horse

Shakespeare’s Richard III: “A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!” Long before bicycles and automobiles was the horse. They are equally at home on the range rustling cattle or policing city streets or as a circus performer, war horse, therapeutic companion, Olympic athlete, and movie star. The subject of horses is found throughout Special Collections’ holdings in literature, popular culture, history, equine history, and sports. Much of these holdings can be attributed to Marion duPont Scott (1894-1983), dedicated Virginia horse breeder and owner of Montpelier, James Madison’s home. Her stunning collection of approximately 1,200 titles, featuring the history and practice of equestrian and related sports, was donated to the Small Special Collections Library in 1985, along with an endowment that would provide funds that would enable future curators to build on her legacy.

Contributed by Donna Stapley, Assistant to the Director

Marion duPont Scott: Her Collection of Works on Equestrian and Kindred Sporting Subjects in the University of Virginia Library: on exhibition 22 January-10 August 1990, Department of Special Collections. Background photograph by Raymond Woolfe. (Poster 1990. M27. Marion duPont Scott Sporting Collection. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

This is the first edition of The Anatomy of the Horse: Including a Particular Description of the Bones, Cartilages, Muscles, Fascias, Ligaments, Nerves, Arteries, Veins and Glands (1766) by George Stubbs, painter. (SF 765 .S8 1766. Marion duPont Scott Sporting Collection. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

The Anatomy of the Horse: Including a Particular Description of the Bones, Cartilages, Muscles, Fascias, Ligaments, Nerves, Arteries, Veins and Glands (1766) by George Stubbs, painter. (SF 765 .S8 1766. Marion duPont Scott Sporting Collection. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

A hand colored aquatint from Count Sandor’s Hunting Exploits in Leicestershire By John Ferneley, 1833. (SK 285 .C68 1833. Marion duPont Scott Sporting Collection. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

Those are our contributions for the letter “H.” I bet you are wondering what great materials we will feature for the next letter: I. Check us out in a couple weeks, and you will see!

The ABCs of Special Collections: G is for

Posted on July 15, 2013 by

Our alphabetical series continues! We present the letter:

G is for Gothic. (Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

G is for Gothic. Lewis F. Day. Alphabets Old and New: Containing Over One Hundred and Fifty Complete Alphabets….London: B. T. Batsford, 94 High Holborn, 1898. (Typ 1898. D39. Stone Typography Collection. Photograph by Petrina Jackson)

G is for Giant, the movie

The 1956 Warner Brothers film adaptation of Edna Ferber’s best-selling novel Giant was partially filmed in Albemarle County, Virginia. The film was directed by George Stevens and starred Elizabeth Taylor as Leslie Lynnton Benedict, Rock Hudson as Jordan “Bick” Benedict Jr., and James Dean as Jett Rink. The early sequences of the film on location in the Keswick area of the county included both Taylor and Hudson and a host of local residents as extras.

Contributed by Margaret Hrabe, Reference Coordinator

The movie set of Giant, located in Albemarle County. The photograph was taken by U.Va. photographer Ralph R. Thompson, ca. 1956. (Prints Files. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Rock Hudson, who co-stars with Elizabeth Taylor in the Warner Bros. picture, Giant, is seen her rehearsing a scene. To the right of him with his back to the camera is George Stevens, who directs and produces. In the doorway is Carolyn Craig who plays one of the ingenue leads. The photo was taken in Albemarle County, ca. 1956. Photographer unknown. (Prints File. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Elizabeth Taylor signs autographs during a break in the filming of the movie Giant. The photo was taken by U.Va. photographer Ralph R. Thompson, on set in Albemarle County, ca. 1956. (Prints File. Image by Petrina Jackson)

On Location–Charlottesville, Virginia, shooting George Stevens’ production Giant. (L. to R.) Bob Hinkle, stand-in for Rock Hudson, and also stunt rider, Judith Evelyn, Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, George Stevens, and Carolyn Craig. Taking time out for picnic style lunch on lawn of “Belmont” plantation during early scene of Giant, ca. 1956. Photographer unknown. (Prints File. Image by Petrina Jackson)

G is for The Great Gatsby

THE GREAT GATSBY starring Leonardo DiCaprio …now showing at a movie theater near you! The book, turned movie, is a story of youth, love, decadence, and tragedy, written in 1925 by 29 year-old F. Scott Fitzgerald. Letters written to his sister, Ruth, reveal his tormented love for the young Zelda. The love affair ended in tragedy as well, bringing to mind the phrase “life imitates art.”

To date, The Great Gatsby has sold 25 million copies worldwide, and just this year alone 185,000 e-books of the novel were sold.

Contributed by Donna Stapley, Assistant to the Director

The original dust jacket of the first edition of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. (give date and significance)

The original dust jacket of the first edition, first issue of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. An an upper case “J” was printed over a lower case “j” in Jay Gatsby’s name on the back panel(PS3511 .I9 G7 1925. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Photograph by Jeff Hill)

Various paperback editions of The Great Gatsby (clockwise, English language, Italian printing: PS 3511 .I9G7 1977; with martini glass: PS3511 .I9G7 .1945; with girl in purple dress: PS3511 .I967. )

Various paperback editions of The Great Gatsby (clockwise, English language, Italian printing: PS 3511 .I9G7 1977. Bruccoli Great War Collection; with martini glass: PS3511 .I9G7 .1945.; with girl in purple dress: PS3511 .I9G7. Bruccoli Great War Collection. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

Letter from Fitzgerald to Ruth Sturtevant (his sister), December 4, 1918. He states, “...my mind if finally made up that I will not, shall not, can not, should not, must not marry – Still she is remarkable – I’m trying to desperately expire armis." (MSS 6177. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

Letter from Fitzgerald to Ruth Sturtevant (his sister), December 4, 1918. He states, “…my mind is finally made up that I will not, shall not, can not, should not, must not marry – Still she is remarkable – I’m trying to desperately exire armis.” (MSS 6177. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

Letter from Fitzgerald to Ruth Sturtevant, June 24, 1919. He writes, “Unless someday she will marry me, I will never marry.” (MSS 6177. Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Photograph by Donna Stapley)

G is for Brion Gysin

A frequent collaborator of William Burroughs, Brion Gysin is remembered as a pioneer of the ‘cut-up technique,’ a process in which a text is cut into individual words and then randomly rearranged to create a new text. Burroughs used this technique for his Nova Trilogy and for various sound projects, often in collaboration with Gysin. Gysin was also a noted painter, poet, and performance artist.

Contributed by George Riser, Collections and Instruction Assistant

Original pictorial paper cover of The Process by Brion Gysin, 1973. (P3552 .U75 A6 1973c. William S. Burroughs: The Shoaf Collection. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Photograph of Brion Gysin and Ian Sommerville sitting on either side of a dream machine. Date and photographer unknown. (MSS 11975. Tunstall Fund, 2000/2001. Image by Petrina Jackson)

Photograph of Brion Gysin and Ian Sommerville experiencing their sound and light invention, The Dreamachine, “the first art object to be seen with the eyes closed.” Date and photographer unknown. (MSS 11975. Tunstall Fund, 2000/2001. Image by Petrina Jackson)

That is all for now! See you in two weeks when we feature the letter “H.”

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

Notes from Under Grounds

Category Archives: ABC of Special Collections

ABCs of Special Collections: P is for

ABCs of Special Collections: O is for…

ABCs of Special Collections: N is for…

ABCs of Special Collections: M is for…

ABCs of Special Collections: L is for…

ABCs of Special Collections: K is for…

ABCs of Special Collections: J is for…

ABCs of Special Collections: I is for

ABCs of Special Collections: H is for

The ABCs of Special Collections: G is for