ABCs of Special Collections: K is for…

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 “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 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.)

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)

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)

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 W.Va. copy

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)

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. (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)

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)

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).

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.”

This Just In: Translations by Jorge Luis Borges

Virginia Woolf, Orlando. Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana, 1945. (PQ7797 .B635 O73 1945, Robert and Virginia Tunstall Trust Fund, image by U.Va. Library Digitization Services)

The celebrated Argentinian author (and sometime librarian) Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) was famous for his fictional account of the universal library which, because it contains all information, is useless.  Since 1977 the U.Va. Library has built one of the world’s great collections on Borges, encompassing significant manuscripts as well as writings by and about Borges in multiple editions and languages.  Our modest aim has been to form the universal library of Borges, a collection we have found to be far from useless!  Housed under Grounds in Special Collections, the Borges collection was initially described in 1993 by its first curator, C. Jared Lowenstein, in A descriptive catalogue of the Jorge Luis Borges collection at the University of Virginia Library.  Then numbering 979 entries, the collection has since grown to nearly 1,200 entries.  (To see them, search Virgo for “Jorge Luis Borges” and limit to Special Collections.)

Franz Kafka, La metamorphosis. Buenos Aires: Editorial Losada, 1943. (PQ7797 .B635 V4718 1943, Robert and Virginia Tunstall Trust Fund, image by U.Va. Library Digitization Services)

Through the good offices of a Buenos Aires bookseller, Special Collections recently added thirty more titles to the collection.  Of particular note are several works Borges translated into Spanish, a lesser-known aspect of his literary career. Indeed, Borges’s earliest publication, at the age of 11, was a Spanish translation of Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince, published in a Buenos Aires newspaper. Translation also figures prominently in several of Borges’s most celebrated stories.

Proficient in English, French, German, Italian, and later Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse, Borges read widely in world literature.  By publishing Spanish translations of numerous works in his newspaper columns and in book form, Borges was instrumental in introducing many contemporary writers to a Latin American audience.  Special Collections already owned Borges’s translations of such authors as William Faulkner, André Gide, and Walt Whitman.  Newly added translations, some with illuminating prefaces by Borges, include Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis (a copy signed by Borges); Virginia Woolf’s Orlando; Herman Melville’s Bartleby, the scrivener (“Preferiría no hacerlo”); Henri Michaux’s A Barbarian in Asia; and the first part of Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda.  For the last Borges teamed with his wife, Maria Kodama.  During the 1930s and 1940s, as he went blind, Borges was often assisted by his mother, who published several Spanish translations of her own, including a collection of short stories by D.H. Lawrence.

Herman Melville, Bartleby. Buenos Aires: EDICOM, 1969. (PQ7797 .B635 B38 1969, Robert and Virginia Tunstall Trust Fund, image by U.Va. Library Digitization Services)

Borges’s translations provide valuable insights into his literary art.  Many of the works Borges selected for translation directly influenced specific elements of his own writing.  Of special interest is Borges’s theory of translation for, as one critic has wryly noted, Borges held that “an original can be unfaithful to a translation.”  Rather than offer readers a literal translation, Borges did not hesitate to “improve” the original as he saw fit, believing that the work was ultimately more important than its creator.  And because Borges frequently revised his own works—including the translations—from edition to edition, it is critical for scholarship that all lifetime editions of Borges’ writings be collected in one place and made available for textual comparison.  That place—the Aleph, if you will—is under Grounds, in Special Collections.

Henri Michaux, Un bárbaro en Asia. Buenos Aires: Sur, 1941. (PQ7797 .B635 B3718 1941, Robert and Virginia Tunstall Trust Fund, image by U.Va. Library Digitization Services)

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Postscript:  Acquisitions are the lifeblood of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library.  Our holdings of books, manuscripts, archives, ephemera, maps, photographs, digital media, and other formats grow constantly by design and serendipity, singly and in bulk, through gift, purchase, and transfer from individuals, publishers, book and manuscript dealers, auction houses, other libraries, and U.Va. departments.  Hardly a day passes without at least one significant acquisition arriving under Grounds.  Curious about what relevant materials this acquisitions flood is bringing your way?  Finding out is easy: simply do a Virgo search for “2012/2013” and limit it to Special Collections in order to see what we’ve added since the fiscal year began on July 1.  New acquisitions will also appear, as appropriate, in any Virgo search you make.

“This Just In” will sample the acquisitions stream, periodically showcasing one or more new and noteworthy items.  Our goal is not only to inform you of interesting acquisitions but to demystify the process through which we build our collections: how we select new acquisitions, where we find them, how these broaden and strengthen our existing holdings, and how these enhance research and instruction on, and under, Grounds.  Please come visit!

D. H. Lawrence, La mujer que se fué a caballo. Buenos Aires: Editorial Losada, 1946. (PQ7797 .B635 Z999 .A25 M8 1946, Robert and Virginia Tunstall Trust Fund, image by U.Va. Library Digitization Services)