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 91 - 100 of 354 items
Segment showing a large colored initial, tau, in the shape of an imaginary winged creature with blessing hands and numerous eyes. Fol. 111v  from Mich. Ms. 28. Gospel Lectionary. <Epiros>, s. xiii–xiv, with underlying text of the Old Testament: fragments from Genesis, Proverbs, and Isaiah. s. xi
  • Pablo Alvarez
I am very excited to announce the publication of the first volume of a two-volume catalog describing the extensive collection of Greek manuscripts at the University of Michigan Library. Authored by Dr. Nadezhda Kavrus-Hoffmann, this fully illustrated catalog describes the largest collection of Greek manuscripts in America, which consists of 110 codices (bound manuscripts) and fragments ranging from the fourth to the nineteenth century.
Poster listing the After Hours events for the winter semester of 2021
  • Pablo Alvarez
We are very excited to re-launch online our open houses in the Special Collections Research Center! As part of the After Hours series, we have arranged an extraordinary line-up of events for the Winter Semester. Before the pandemic, on the second Tuesday of each month during the academic year, we organized physical displays of themed selections from our collections. Now we are committed to continue this tradition of open houses in the virtual world. All are welcome to join us from the comfort of your home or office to chat with a curator and learn about our collections.
Mich. Ms. 22, detail of fol. 83v. The Evangelist Mark, from a Book of Gospels Greece, end of tenth-beginning of eleventh century; miniatures: beginning of twelfth century
  • Pablo Alvarez
We are pleased to announce the launching of a new online exhibit: "Sacred Hands." This virtual display highlights an extraordinary selection of manuscripts containing the sacred texts of the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It includes manuscripts that are highly treasured for their textual and artistic value, such as a tenth-century Torah, the earliest known papyrus of St. Paul's Epistles, early illuminated Byzantine manuscripts of the Four Gospels, and a wide selection of manuscripts containing the Qur'an.
Screenshot of recording of the Webinar on Book History in the Philippines, 1850-1950, (October 30, 2020) hosted by the University of Michigan Library and Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  • Pablo Alvarez
We are very pleased to announce that the video of the Webinar on book history in the Philippines (1850-1950) that we hosted last October is now widely available.
España Bridge across the River Pásig : Manila, P. I. ( Puente de España sobre el río Pásig, Manila) 1896-1900, University of Michigan Library
  • Pablo Alvarez
We are very pleased to invite you all to the second session of a series of virtual encounters on various aspects of book history. On this occasion, our online meeting is devoted to several issues regarding book production, the press, and readership in the Philippines under different administrations between 1850 and 1950.
Screenshot of recording of Bookbinding Webinar (July 6, 2020) hosted by the University of Michigan Library and Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  • Pablo Alvarez
We are very pleased to announce that the video of the Bookbinding webinar that took place on July 6 is now available. It was the first session of a series of virtual encounters on book history organized by the University of Michigan Library and Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
Mich. Ms. 152, lower edge, before treatment. 2/27/2019
  • Brooke Murphy
There are many beautiful and fascinating medieval and Renaissance manuscripts that can be viewed in the reading room of the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC). Out of the hundreds of manuscripts found at U-M, copied in many languages and representing various cultural traditions, including those of western Europe, Byzantium, and Islam, I will be focusing on Mich. Ms. 152, an extraordinary medieval manuscript containing St. Augustine's De doctrina christiana.
Detail from copperplate describing the bookbinding workshop, from Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, par une société de gens de lettres. 17 vols. 11 vols of plates. (Paris: Briasson [etc.] Genève, C. J. Panckoucke, G. Cramer et S. de Tournes, 1762-1776)
  • Pablo Alvarez
We are very pleased to invite you all to the first session of a series of virtual encounters on various aspects of book history. Our first online meeting is devoted to bookbinding and is scheduled for July 6, 11:00 am (EDT). This session, and the series, are organized by Pablo Alvarez (UM) and Benito Rial Costas (UCM), and will be hosted by the University of Michigan Library and the Facultad de Ciencias de la Documentación of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid on Zoom. The session is free of charge and open to all, but registration is required.
A section from Mich. Ms. 158.5 Book of Jeremiah. Sahidic Dialect. Verso. Parchment. White Monastery, Sohag (Egypt). ca. 10th century. Parchment; 36.5 x 27.8 cm.
  • Pablo Alvarez
We are pleased to announce the opening of a new online exhibit: Written Culture of Christian Egypt: Coptic Manuscripts from the University of Michigan Collection. This online display is a virtual record of an actual physical exhibit that took place at the Audubon Room of the University of Michigan Library between November 12, 2018 and February 17, 2019. Curated by Alin Suciu and Frank Feder (Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Germany), and with the collaboration of Pablo Alvarez (Special Collections Research Center), the display includes highlights from our collections of Coptic fragments and codices held at the Papyrology Collection and the Special Collections Research Center.
Book Cover: Somewhat abstract drawing of a woman with wings holding an oil lamp on a pale blue background
  • Juli McLoone
The Special Collections Research Center holds a large collection of works by Cuban book artist Rolando Estévez, including many books that he designed during his time with Ediciones Vigía and examples of those published under his own imprint, El Fortín, established in 2014. A new book from the University of Florida Press explores Estévez' impact as artistic director of Ediciones Vigía from 1985-2014.