See a few of our favorite things
December 8, 2025
This month's Third Thursday event (December 18) features favorite items chosen by the series curators. Join us for a close-up look, conversations, light refreshments, and holiday cheer. Read on to find out what the curators chose, and why it's among their favorites.
Humphry Repton’s "Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening" (1794)
Selected by Juli McLoone, Curator, Special Collections
Repton was a celebrated landscape architect for the English nobility and gentry in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In addition to his artistic skill, he was an innovative businessman. His published works feature movable flaps that reveal “before ” and “after” views of his landscape designs — an early, interactive format that illustrated his principles. These volumes beautifully reflect the shift around 1800 from Neoclassical linearity to Romantic and picturesque aesthetics.
Repton is one of the few historical figures named in a Jane Austen novel. As a lifelong Austen fan, I was delighted to discover that U-M holds all three of Repton’s published books, including "Sketches and Hints." In "Mansfield Park," Maria’s suitor Mr. Rushton considers hiring Repton, sparking concern that his redesign might include cutting down an ancient avenue of trees — much to the distress of the novel’s heroine, Fanny Price. We never learn whether Repton transforms the fictional estate, but we know his real clients saw their landscapes reshaped with softened lines, clusters of trees, and expanded waterways.
Raiders of the Lost Ark draft script
Finding aid available in early 2026
Selected by Melanie Lowrie, Collection Services Support Specialist, Special Collections
Many archaeologists who grew up after the release of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" cite it as inspiration for their careers — I’m definitely one of them. I vividly remember my parents telling me, “You’ll like this — it’s cheesy ’80s fun, but it’s a good movie,” and they were right. That moment started me on the path to archaeology.
Of course, every budding archaeologist eventually realizes that real fieldwork is nothing like Indiana Jones’s adventures. For me, archaeology has always been about the objects themselves — the stories they carry and what they reveal about our shared human history. Books, archives, scripts, and photographs are just artifacts of another kind. While this may look like a simple draft script to most people, to me it represents the spark that shaped my entire life. And I know I’m far from the only one!
Immigrant Photograph Album (c. 1890–1893)
Selected by Julie Herrada, Curator, Joseph A. Labadie Collection
This is a remarkable assortment of photographs of immigrants who passed through the New York immigration office in 1880. The portraits are labeled with each person’s country of origin, and many individuals wear the traditional dress of their culture.
The album was rediscovered during a recent inventory; it had been tucked away for decades, never formally accessioned, and there was no documentation attached. I began researching its origins and eventually determined that it was likely a gift from Thomas Marshall Spaulding, an important donor. His father, Oliver L. Spaulding, served as a U-M Regent and as Assistant U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and worked closely with John B. Weber, Commissioner of Immigration at the port of New York, who compiled the album.
This collection is one of the most compelling photographic artifacts I’ve encountered. It captures the faces of people arriving in the United States at vulnerable and profoundly hopeful moments. They came carrying only what they could, stepping into a land whose language, customs, and culture were unfamiliar. We can only wonder what paths their lives took after these photographs were made.
The Atlanta Rap Map, Joseph Veazey (2021)
Selected by Anna Rohl, Map Curator, Clark Library
Joseph Veazey’s Atlanta Rap Map shook the mapping world when it debuted in 2021. He spent hundreds of hours listening to iconic hip hop and rap albums, noting every Atlanta location mentioned and documenting them on the map. The map traces how hip hop has flourished across the city and how Atlanta has transformed from the 1980s to the 2020s — some referenced places have since changed dramatically.
This map captures types of spatial information rarely preserved in traditional cartography — sound, music, and pop culture. It features legendary Black artists such as Outkast, Childish Gambino, and Ludacris, whose portraits frame the map. I also appreciate that Veazey created an expanded interactive version that identifies the song associated with each point. Even better, proceeds from map sales support HOPE Atlanta, a nonprofit addressing housing insecurity. A map that’s visually striking, musically inspired, and supports a good cause is an easy favorite.
Metropol (Метрополь), Ardis Press Records, 1979
Selected by Sarah Conrad, Processing Archivist, Special Collections
This copy of "Metropol," an anthology of poetry and prose compiled by Vasily Aksyonov and twenty-two other authors, was produced by Ardis Press in Ann Arbor in 1979. Ardis, founded in 1971 by Carl and Ellendea Proffer, was one of the only publishers outside the USSR producing works by contemporary Russian authors — especially those censored by Soviet authorities. The Proffers smuggled manuscripts out of the USSR, published them, and smuggled them back in.
When the Soviets discovered Ardis had printed "Metropol," the Proffers’ visas were revoked and they were banned from publishing in the USSR.
For me, this book symbolizes courage in the face of censorship. Ardis preserved Russian literature that might otherwise have been lost and supported authors like Lev Kopelev, Vladimir Nabokov, Anna Akhmatova, and Joseph Brodsky, who risked everything to publish with Ardis. Many were exiled, had their citizenship revoked, or in the case of Brodsky, sent to a hard labor camp before emigrating to the United States.
The Proffers worked alongside these authors to ensure their works were published without censorship. It was especially risky, and not without consequences. But nevertheless they persisted. Their work is a testimony to the importance of free speech and is especially important to remember as censorship once again tries to stifle authors.
La commedia di Dante Aliguieri con la nova espositione di Alessandro Vellutello, Francesco Marcolini (1544)
Selected by Pablo Alvarez, Curator, Special Collections
Richly illustrated with 87 woodcuts of remarkable artistry and precision, Alessandro Vellutello’s 1544 commented edition of Dante’s La Divina Commedia offers an innovative visual approach to the poem’s three canticles — Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Whereas earlier illustrations served merely as guides to the poem’s major episodes, the exceptional craftsmanship and meticulous detail of this edition strive to mirror Dante’s elaborate descriptions, engaging directly with Vellutello’s erudite commentary. In other words, the volume achieves a striking synergy between text and image.
I see the woodcut illustrations as miniature black-and-white sketches for future murals or oil paintings. In many ways, they embody the artistic techniques associated with Renaissance art, from precise perspective to classical representations of the human form and the dynamic use of movement to heighten narrative or dramatic effect. As a result, they offer a wonderful opportunity to introduce students to art history—simply by inviting them to hold a book in their hands.
Santa Claus is Coming to Town! Scanimation
Selected by Jo Angela Oehrli, Librarian and Special Collections Liaison Curator for Children’s Literature
Billed as the book proving that “Santa Claus is going to town!”, this Scanimation title has something for everyone — rhyming text, animated images, backflips, unicycles, and even juggling.
<callout Scanimation, or barrier-grid animation, creates "movement" by placing a striped transparent overlay on an interlaced image. The technique dates back to the 1890s.>
The library holds at least eight Scanimation titles, including dynamic versions of Peanuts, Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, and an alphabet book where each letter features an animal that moves. Scanimation books are just one of the many inventive formats represented in the library's special collection of children’s literature.
“The Baby” movie prop, Robert Altman Papers
See the archival findings aids for the Robert Altman Papers; props can only be seen at special events.
Selected by Katie Jones, Processing Archivist
“The Baby” is a life-like newborn baby movie prop created for the Robert Altman film, "Dr. T and the Women" (2000). The film contains a live birth scene. This latex baby prop was created as a stand-in for the newborn infant (named Eric), in case there were complications.
I love this prop because it’s creepy — but yet, so realistic! You often don’t think about how much work and expertise goes into making something look so realistic on screen.
People often think that special collections are all books and archival materials, but we also have so many weird and interesting movie props, artist books, costumes, and other artifacts.
Atlanta hip-hop map by Joseph Veazey, 2021.