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Library in the News
Exhibits
![Illustration from Cassell's Household Guide, Being a Complete Encyclopaedia of Domestic and Social Economy... London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, [187-] Vol. 2. Rare Book Collection. The University of Chicago Library](http://news.lib.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/5.cassells_household_guide-52x80.jpg)
Tag Archives: SCRC Kiosk Feature
Butler-Gunsaulus Collection now available online
The autograph letters, documents, and engravings of the Butler-Gunsaulus Collection have been digitized and are available online via the collection’s finding aid. Presented to the University of Chicago Library in 1910 by Frank Wakeley Gunsaulus, a preeminent collector of rare books and manuscripts, the source material concerning historic persons and events was amassed primarily by Chicago businessman Edward Burgess Butler. Though a number of the papers are of European origin and date from the sixteenth century forward, most were produced in America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Among the collection’s Civil War documents is, “Special Requisition of drugs and medicines for the use of the sick of the 2nd Regiment, Missouri Volunteers and of those of the other regiments remaining at the hospital, Boonville Fair Grounds, July 2, 1861,” shown here. Morphiae sulfatis and Aethiops antimonialis are but two of the drugs herein requested by Union Army surgeon Ernst Schmidt, medications needed to treat casualties of the First Battle of Boonville. During that engagement, which occurred two weeks earlier, seven of the Union forces were injured, and five were killed outright or mortally wounded. Confederate troops, moreover, sustained similar losses.
The requisition carries the signature of Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon, whose victory in Boonville, at first glance, seemed insignificant. The aftermath, however, proved otherwise as Federal troops secured and retained control of the Missouri River, and supporters of secession were driven from the region.
Changes to the Children’s Book Collections In SCRC
For decades the University of Chicago Library’s historical children’s books were located in the Encyclopaedia Britannica Collection of Books for Children ( better known as “EB”). The nearly 5,000 books that formed the core of the Encyclopaedia Britannica Collection of Books for Children were collected by Chicagoan Henry C. Friedman. His collection was purchased by Encyclopaedia Britannica (whose then- president, William Benton, was a member of the University’s Board of Trustees) and donated to the University of Chicago in 1946 to provide resources for research and teaching of children’s literature in the Graduate School of Library Service. Over the years, many individuals have made gifts to the Encyclopaedia Britannica Collection of Books for Children, which has grown to over 12,000 titles.
The Special Collections Research Center has established a new collection with the name Historical Children’s Books (HCB), in order to distinguish the original EB/Friedman gift from the subsequent additions. A Special Collections project is under way to separate the books collected by Harry Friedman using the original inventory of his collection. These books will remain in the Encyclopaedia Britannica Collection of Books for Children and all others will be moved to the new HCB collection. This process will take several months and Special Collections Research Center staff will be happy to help users locate materials during this transition period.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Alice Schreyer, Assistant University Librarian for Humanities, Social Sciences, and Special Collections (schreyer@uchicago.edu), Catherine Uecker, Rare Books Librarian (cuecker@uchicago.edu), or Julia Gardner, Head of Reader Services (juliag@uchicago.edu).
New search feature added to archival finding aids
The Special Collections Research Center has recently added to the ways in which users can locate and access archival collections. In addition to standard keyword and title searches, users can now browse archival collections by subject.
We have coded hundreds of finding aids with a specific subject tag that allows users to browse a list of collections under a specific topic. The subjects are now listed on this page of the SCRC website. Topics are wide-ranging and include everything from anthropology and ethnology, to jazz, visual arts, Mathematics, and the Manhattan Project. This process was an invaluable exercise to gain a better understanding of the collection strengths of the Library’s rare and archival material. We were surprised when we finished coding the finding aids to learn that the topic with the most collections is medicine. Next to each subject a number in parenthesis indicates the number of collections categorized under a specific topic.
The links take users to a page that lists collection names and provides a brief abstract on the scope and content of the materials.
Special Collections created an online tutorial demonstrating how to use the new feature, which can be viewed on the Library’s YouTube channel: How to search archival collections by topic
Go directly to the list of topics: http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/topics.php
Calling all students and alumni! We Are Chicago is back!
The Special Collections Research Center is pleased to announce a web exhibition version of We Are Chicago: Student Life in the Collections of the University of Chicago Archives.
The We Are Chicago exhibition originally opened in the Special Collections Research Center Gallery in the winter 2012. The show highlighted student experiences over a span of 120 years and drew on the historical collections of the University Archives and featured recent donations as well as rarely seen materials from the University’s past. Costumes, photographs, T-shirts, letters, posters, publications, and memorabilia combined to make this the largest and most inclusive exhibition in the ongoing Special Collections archival series, Discover Hidden Archives Treasures.
The web exhibition includes images of the original exhibition design as well as images of specific pieces that had been on display. The web exhibition also includes reproductions of cards from the interactive comment board that allowed students, alumni and visitors to post a memory about their time here on campus.
Tracking student life on campus is an archival challenge. More than 300 Registered Student Organizations exist at the University. Understanding the history of student life is equally complex. Since the university’s founding in 1892, students have organized an amazing array of social, academic, cultural, residential, athletic, literary, and political groups.
The University Archives welcomes donations from alumni, students, and community neighbors who have historical materials on student life that can be preserved and made available to the students and researchers of the future.
View the online exhibition here: http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/webexhibits/wearechicago/
Swiss Treasures: From Biblical Papyrus and Parchment to Erasmus, Zwingli, Calvin, and Barth
Exhibition Dates: September 21 – December 14, 2012
Situated in the heart of Europe, Switzerland has long been a center for Biblical studies and transformative contributions to Judeo-Christian culture. This exhibition explores the importance of Swiss religious influences across a range of traditions and historical personalities, among them Erasmus, Zwingli, John Calvin, and Karl Barth. Papyri, parchments, first editions, early printings, and modern manuscripts represent treasures in Swiss institutions that link these and other religious thinkers to the philosophical, theological, and political movements that have shaped the modern world.
The rare historical treasures displayed in this exhibition have been gathered from seven distinguished Swiss archives and libraries: Basel University Library (Basel), State and University Library (Fribourg), Abbey Library of St. Gall (St. Gall), Central Library (Zurich), the Martin Bodmer Foundation (Cologny), Karl Barth Archive (Basel), and Library of Geneva (Geneva). The exhibition also displays a rare volume from the Special Collections Research Center of the University of Chicago Library.
This unique display of rare historical treasures from Swiss institutions has been brought together to mark the joint annual meetings in Chicago of the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion in November 2012.
At the Special Collections Research Center Exhibition Gallery
1100 East 57th Street, Chicago
Hours: Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-4:45 p.m.; Saturdays: 9:00 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
when classes are in session
Curator: Dr. Gabriella Gelardini, University of Basel, Switzerland
Use of Images
These images from the exhibition are available for members of the media, and are reserved for editorial use in connection with the University of Chicago Library exhibitions, programs, or related news. Email Rachel Rosenberg (phone: 773-834-1519) or Joseph Scott (phone: 773-702-6655) to request high-resolution images.
Liber Psalmorum, Medieval Bible in Latin and German, ca. 1200. Courtesy of Martin Bodmer Foundation in Cologny (Geneva)
Novum Instrumentum Omne, first printed Greek New Testament edited by Erasmus, 1516. Courtesy of Basel University Library – Öffentliche Bibliothek der Universität Basel
Papyrus fragments of Psalms 33 and 34, Greek Old Testament, 3rd to 4th century. Courtesy of Martin Bodmer Foundation in Cologny (Geneva)