Beyond the Reading Room

Anecdotes and other notes from the U-M Special Collections Research Center.
Detailed illustration from Audubon's Birds of North America of a nest in a tree with birds sitting around it.

Posts in Beyond the Reading Room

Showing 11 - 20 of 354 items
three writers standing holding Ardis printed copy of a text
  • Evyn Kropf
Join us next week for another Third Thursdays at the Library open house, exploring material from the Ardis Press Records!
array of square and rectangular images of collection material with handwritten text, photographs, and illustrations of various kinds
  • Martha O'Hara Conway
The current application cycle is now open for fellowships available to researchers whose work would benefit from onsite access to our special collections!
pages of lines of calligraphic text in two forms of Arabic script
  • Amy Crist
Another post on conservation work completed by our summer 2023 Baker Fellow, Katarina Stiller, this time for two calligraphy albums from the Islamic Manuscripts Collection.
drawing of workers in coats and hats holding signs saying on strike and other messages
  • Evyn Kropf
Join us next week for our first Third Thursdays at the Library open house, exploring material from the Labadie Collection!
Image from The Birds of America with announcement of The Clements Bookworm lecture taking place on October 20 at 10am.
  • Marieka Kaye
The Clements Bookworm: A Library Looks at Audubon, Both His Birds and His Background, Gregory Nobles, October 20, 2023, 10-11am

Moderated by Marieka Kaye and Caitlin Pollock of the U-M Library, Gregory Nobles will discuss the legacy of John James Audubon (1785-1851) as both a brilliant artist/naturalist and unrepentant slaveholder, inviting us to explore the connection between the personal background of this flawed figure and the continuing impact of his remarkable art.
interior scene with row of beds, girl rising up from one of them, and dwarves peeking in through the window
  • Amy Crist
Another installment in our series of posts on conservation work for pop-up and moveable books, this time from Katarina Stiller, summer 2023 Baker Fellow at the U-M Library's conservation lab
Shanah Tovah pop-up card depicting an image of the stages of Jewish life (birth, Bar Mitzvah, marriage, children, old age)
  • Gabriel Mordoch
Shanah tovah pop-up cards from the Jewish Heritage Collection are now digitized and available at the Jewish Heritage Collection Digital Archive. 
Historiated initial letter from Valerius Maximus' Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX. Italy. 15th c. Parchment, 126 fols. Fol. 5r
  • Pablo Alvarez
You are all cordially invited to the upcoming exhibit of a selection of manuscripts and early printed books from the 15th to the 17th centuries that were illustrated with illuminations and woodcuts. The display will open in the Hatcher Gallery Exhibit Room (Hatcher Library North) on September 6, 2023.
  • Martha O'Hara Conway
We are extending the current pause on duplication services until January 2, 2024. We recognize the inconvenience this may cause for those who rely on the option to request scans of collection material for their research and scholarship, and for publication. There are several alternative options for accessing our materials during this time.
Lead type in a California job case, ampersands, Us and miscellaneous sorts. The University of Michigan Library's Book Arts Studio
  • Pablo Alvarez
  • Kyle Clark
Welcome to the University of Michigan Library’s Book Arts Studio, a place for students, faculty, and the community to learn and practice the craft of letterpress printing, offering the opportunity to engage in other related activities, such as bookbinding and the book arts.