On View Now: What Lies Beneath (Visit if you dare…)

Curated by the Small Library’s Reference Team, What Lies Beneath: The Macabre and Spooktacular of Special Collections, takes a deeper dive into the catacombs of UVA’s archival netherworld. Leaving no page unturned nor manuscript box unopened, curators Anne Causey, Regina Rush, and Penny White have ferreted out the frightening and ghoulish side of Special Collections. The resulting exhibition is designed to whet the appetite of ghoul seekers young and old.

Ever want to see our stacks in person? Our exhibition poster might change your mind. Or you might want to pick one up to take back to your dorm–weirdo!

Would you believce that’s a real spider on the wall? Ok, ok, we admit, it’s a facsimile of a spider.

Located just a stone’s throw away from West Range #13—the purported room of the University of Virginia’s masterful matriculate of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe—lies a subterranean treasure trove of historical and literary scholarship.

Poe’s raven gets top billing, of course.

Yes, that’s a real raccoon coat and tail (More Cooning With Cooners, SK341 .C6 K83 2011-Marion DuPont Scott Sporting Collection); a leather book edged with shark teeth by fine binder Gabby Cooksby (Fantasy & Nonsense: Poems, PS2702 .T77 2001-Clifton Waller Barrett Library, James Whitcomb Riley Collection); and a miniature book bound in black calf suede and leather with colored leader onlays and shaped into the head of a hound by fine bookbinder Jarmila Sobata (The Hound of the Baskervilles: Conclusion & Retrospection, McGehee 05222 -McGehee Miniature Book Collection).

Did you know there are more than 3,000 species of spiders roaming around North America? We even have a few right here in the stacks, including The Spider written by Luide Woelflein and illustrated by Tomo Narashima (PZ92 .F6 D52 1992e) from the Brenda Forman Collection of Pop-up and Moveable Books.

No Halloween exhibition at this university would be complete without paying homage to the former Hoo and reigning Master of the Macabre, Edgar Allan Poe. Books, including miniatures (The Tell-Tale Heart, 2015, on loan from private collection and Poe, Master of Macabre, McGehee 01687 -McGehee Miniature Book Collection) and pop-ups (The Raven: A Spectacular Pop-Up Presentation of Poe’s Haunting Masterpiece, PS2609 .A1 2016b -Robert & Virginia Tunstall Trust Fund) are but a small sampling of Poe-influenced holdings. The broken windowpane on view in the exhibition—rumored to be from Poe’s Room 13 on the West Range—has the following verse etched into its glass: “O Thou timid one, let not thy/ Form rest in slumber within these/ Unhallowed walls,/ For herein lies/ The ghost of an awful crime.”

Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the short-lived Commonwealth of England following the defeat of King Charles, died of natural causes in 1658. Upon the restoration of the monarchy in 1661, Cromwell’s body was exhumed and subjected to a posthumous execution: he was hanged, beheaded, and his body thrown into a pit. His head was displayed on a pole outside Westminster Hall until 1685. This plaster cast is a copy from one of several death masks created(by pouring plaster or wax over the deceased’s face shortly after death)following Cromwell’s death in 1658, prior to his grim exhumation. (MSS 5368-a-Gift of Charles C. Abbott).

 

Come meet James Steele, the Revolutionary War soldier who lost his head and lived to tell about it. Have a Dance with Death…or, perhaps, you may want to sample an embalming recipe that’s simply to die for. As you explore this exhibition, we hope you will go, in the words of Edgar Allan Poe,“deep into that darkness peering…wondering, fearing, doubting,dreaming dreams no mortal dared to dream before.”Come and See…If You Dare!

What Lies Beneath is on view in the First Floor Gallery of Harrison/Small through December 21, 2019.

 

Tales from Under Grounds III: Biblical Art and The Architecture of Monticello

This is the second in a series of three posts, spotlighting the mini-exhibitions of students from USEM 1580: Researching History, Fall 2015.

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Carolyn Ours, Second-Year Student

Carolyn Ours. Photograph by Sanjay Suchak, November 17, 2015.

Carolyn Ours. Photograph by Sanjay Suchak, November 17, 2015.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time”: Biblical Art and Typography Through the Ages”

This collection of Bibles and Bible fragments spans the time frame from the 12th century to the 21st in an attempt to examine the evolution in graphical and typographical interpretations of the world’s bestselling book. While ample commercial copies are available for sale, this fact has not led to the complete disappearance of rare and artistic interpretations that are consistent with the painstaking early editions of the text. Certain elements persist throughout time, specifically colored rubric text and initial letters. Additionally, most Bibles remain printed in two columns to conserve space and make the layout more conducive to the printing of poetry.

Images can have a profound effect on one’s understanding of the Bible by enabling the reader to create concrete mental images and aiding in the conceptualization of abstract concepts. On the other hand, the absence of images allows the reader to formulate their own understanding in accordance with their worldview. Evolving technology has allowed artists to promote understanding of the text in an ever-changing media landscape.

The hieroglyphick Bible : or Select passages in the Old and New Testaments, represented with emblematical figures, for the amusement of youth: designed chiefly to familiarize tender age, in a pleasing and diverting manner with early ideas of the Holy Scriptures. To which are subjoined, a short account of the lives of the evangelists, and other pieces. 4th Ed. Hartford: Silas Andrus, 1825. (BS560 .A3 1825) Gift of Mrs. René Müller In his “Hieroglyphick Bible”, published in 1825, Silas Andrus introduces the nation’s youth to both reading and Scripture by replacing words with detailed images—a technique called rebus. The almost five hundred representations were carved by hand, and display a range of topics ranging from the abstract (God, prosperity, and death) to the concrete (men, children, and the Crucifix). Earlier copies originated in England before the popular style made its way to the United States. Andrus’ work contains selections from both Testaments, with decorative border work and footnote-style text indicating the meaning of each image in context.

“The Hieroglyphick Bible: or Select passages in the Old and New Testaments, represented with emblematical figures, for the amusement of youth: designed chiefly to familiarize tender age, in a pleasing and diverting manner with early ideas of the Holy Scriptures. To which are subjoined, a short account of the lives of the evangelists, and other pieces.” 4th Ed. Hartford: Silas Andrus, 1825. (BS560 .A3 1825). Gift of Mrs. René Müller
In his “Hieroglyphick Bible,” published in 1825, Silas Andrus introduces the nation’s youth to both reading and Scripture by replacing words with detailed images—a technique called rebus. The almost five hundred representations were carved by hand, and display a range of topics ranging from the abstract (God, prosperity, and death) to the concrete (men, children, and the Crucifix). Earlier copies originated in England before the popular style made its way to the United States. Andrus’ work contains selections from both Testaments, with decorative border work and footnote-style text indicating the meaning of each image in context. (Image by Penny White)

Image of Jesus and child from The Holy Bible: containing all the books of the Old and New Testaments. North Hatfield, Mass: Pennyroyal Caxton Press, 1999. (BS185 1999 .N67) The Pennyroyal Caxton Bible, published in 1999, is the first fully illustrated Bible in almost a century. Artist Barry Moser worked full time over the course of three-and-a-half years to hand carve the 233 incredibly lifelike and distinct images, working mostly from live models and creating an everyman visualization of the text, particularly unnerving in its realistic depiction of malicious figures, including Satan. His inspiration for Jesus, a chef at a local restaurant, is a significant variation from previous hyper-Anglicized depictions of Christ. The book maintains long-standing traditions in printing red rubrics of the words “God”, “Christ”, and “Amen” at the beginning and end of each Testament. The Bible maintains the two column tradition, fitting images and text into a consistent space throughout both volumes. (Image by Penny White)

“Jesus Rabboni” from “The Holy Bible: containing all the books of the Old and New Testaments.” North Hatfield, Mass: Pennyroyal Caxton Press, 1999. (BS185 1999 .N67)
The Pennyroyal Caxton Bible, published in 1999, is the first fully illustrated Bible in almost a century. Artist Barry Moser worked full time over the course of three-and-a-half years to hand carve the 233 incredibly lifelike and distinct images, working mostly from live models and creating an everyman visualization of the text, particularly unnerving in its realistic depiction of malicious figures, including Satan. His inspiration for Jesus, a chef at a local restaurant, is a significant variation from previous hyper-Anglicized depictions of Christ. The book maintains long-standing traditions in printing red rubrics of the words “God”, “Christ”, and “Amen” at the beginning and end of each Testament. The Bible maintains the two column tradition, fitting images and text into a consistent space throughout both volumes. (Image by Penny White)

Holy Bible. London: MACK: AMC, 2013. (N7433.4 .B77 H65 2013) Purchased from the Agelasto Family Library Fund, 2013/2014 While its outer appearance is no more remarkable than a Bible from a hotel nightstand, Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin’s Holy Bible pushes the envelope in graphical interpretations of the sacred text. Influenced by the Philosophy conveyed in Israeli scholar Adi Ophir’s “Divine Violence”, the pair selected images from the London Archive of Modern Conflict to impose over the standard printed text. They use red underlining to highlight specific phrases that correlate to the images, forgoing captions and instead permitting the reader to draw their own conclusions. Images of war, destruction, hatred, sexuality, nature, and death juxtapose the sanctity of the book with its frequently violent and destructive themes, emphasizing Ophir’s argument that God is manifested in the modern world through government and catastrophe. (Photograph by Sanjay Suchak)

“Holy Bible.” London: MACK: AMC, 2013. (N7433.4 .B77 H65 2013)
Purchased from the Agelasto Family Library Fund, 2013/2014
While its outer appearance is no more remarkable than a Bible from a hotel nightstand, Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin’s Holy Bible pushes the envelope in graphical interpretations of the sacred text. Influenced by the Philosophy conveyed in Israeli scholar Adi Ophir’s “Divine Violence”, the pair selected images from the London Archive of Modern Conflict to impose over the standard printed text. They use red underlining to highlight specific phrases that correlate to the images, forgoing captions and instead permitting the reader to draw their own conclusions. Images of war, destruction, hatred, sexuality, nature, and death juxtapose the sanctity of the book with its frequently violent and destructive themes, emphasizing Ophir’s argument that God is manifested in the modern world through government and catastrophe. (Photograph by Sanjay Suchak)

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Tallulah Tepper, First-Year Student

Tallulah Tepper. Photograph by Sanjay Suchak, November 17, 2015.

Tallulah Tepper. Photograph by Sanjay Suchak, November 17, 2015.

The Architecture of Monticello

Thomas Jefferson’s estate, Monticello, is a historical site with much architectural significance. Known widely as one of Jefferson’s greatest accomplishments, Monticello, completed in the early 1800s takes inspiration from European buildings. Additionally, Jefferson’s architecture inspired other buildings across the nation, and similar architecture can be found at the University of Virginia.

Monticello and Jefferson go hand in hand. As Thomas Jefferson once said, “architecture is my delight!” The estate allows one to truly understand Jefferson, his attention to excellence and detail, and his love of culture and worldliness.

Overall, this exhibit allows insight into how Jefferson thought, planned, and designed, and proves where ideas from Monticello came from and how and why Monticello is still so significant today.

Gibbs, James. A Book of Architecture: Containing Designs of Buildings and Ornaments. London: S.n., 1728. (NA2620.G5 1728) Acquired from Architecture laboratory fee fund. Thomas Jefferson had inspiration from multiple European influences, James Gibbs being one of them. In this house-plan, one can draw clear correlations between the architecture of Monticello and Gibbs’ drawing. Perhaps the lesser known inspiration of Jefferson, Gibbs drew plans for houses and churches alike. Pictured here is a house upon an estate. Jefferson was a great fan of European architecture, traveling throughout Europe, especially France and London, finding ideas for his Monticello. (Image by Penny White)

Gibbs, James. “A Book of Architecture: Containing Designs of Buildings and Ornaments.” London: S.n., 1728. (NA2620.G5 1728).  Acquired from Architecture laboratory fee fund.
Thomas Jefferson had inspiration from multiple European influences, James Gibbs being one of them. In this house-plan, one can draw clear correlations between the architecture of Monticello and Gibbs’ drawing. Perhaps the lesser known inspiration of Jefferson, Gibbs drew plans for houses and churches alike. Pictured here is a house upon an estate. Jefferson was a great fan of European architecture, traveling throughout Europe, especially France and London, finding ideas for his Monticello. (Image by Penny White)

Jefferson, Thomas. Early Sketch Of Monticello. 1769. MSS 5385-ae). Thomas Jefferson Foundation This sketch of Monticello was drawn by Thomas Jefferson himself circa 1769, before the actual creation of the Estate. This was Jefferson’s first sketch, and while it does clearly resemble Monticello today, the building was designed and redesigned multiple times before its completion in the early 1800s. Mr. Jefferson’s attention to detail even in an early sketch and clear vision with European influences provides insight into what Jefferson was aspiring toward as Monticello was constructed.

Jefferson, Thomas. Early Sketch Of Monticello. 1769. MSS 5385-ae). Thomas Jefferson Foundation
This sketch of Monticello was drawn by Thomas Jefferson himself circa 1769, before the actual creation of the Estate. This was Jefferson’s first sketch, and while it does clearly resemble Monticello today, the building was designed and redesigned multiple times before its completion in the early 1800s. Mr. Jefferson’s attention to detail even in an early sketch and clear vision with European influences provides insight into what Jefferson was aspiring toward as Monticello was constructed. (Photograph by Sanjay Suchak)

Radevsky, Anton, and Pavel Popov. Architecture Pop-up Book. New York, NY: Universe, 2004. (NA202 .R24 2004) Minor Fund, 2004/2005. This pop up book contains many three dimensional replicas of famous architectural sites. On the page shown, a pop up Palladio and a pop up Monticello are included. Setting the three dimensional models next to each other, although small in scale, one can see the similarities between the two. It is clear that Jefferson’s Monticello took inspiration from Palladio, and the model also provides insight into the differences between the two. Overall, this small but accurate 3-D model allows one to experience Monticello as more than just a picture. That which does not appear simply on the page quite literally jumps off of it to show a more detailed artistic description of the building, dimensions, and shape of Monticello. (Photograph by Sanjay Suchak)

Radevsky, Anton, and Pavel Popov. “Architecture Pop-up Book.” New York, NY: Universe, 2004. (NA202 .R24 2004). Minor Fund, 2004/2005.
This pop up book contains many three dimensional replicas of famous architectural sites. On the page shown, a pop up Palladio and a pop up Monticello are included. Setting the three dimensional models next to each other, although small in scale, one can see the similarities between the two. It is clear that Jefferson’s Monticello took inspiration from Palladio, and the model also provides insight into the differences between the two. Overall, this small but accurate 3-D model allows one to experience Monticello as more than just a picture. That which does not appear simply on the page quite literally jumps off of it to show a more detailed artistic description of the building, dimensions, and shape of Monticello. (Photograph by Sanjay Suchak)

 

ABCs of Special Collections: P is for

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

(Image by Petrina Jackson)

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

(Photograph by Molly Schwartzburg)

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

(Image by Petrina Jackson)

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)

(Image by Petrina Jackson)

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

(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

(Photograph by Donna Stapley)

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)

(Photograph by Donna Stapley)

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

(Photograph by Donna Stapley)

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

(Image by Anne Causey)

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)

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!”