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 341 - 350 of 354 items
Margarita Philosophica title page
  • Jennifer Rebekah Talley
Although it is not widely known today, the Margarita Philosophica helped shape the world view of Renaissance Europe's movers and shakers. Educated men learned that science and mathematics were inextricably tied to the world as a creation of God; philosophy in Reisch's text has as much to do with the Christian Bible as the works of Aristotle.
Illustration of a male and female passenger pigeon beak to beak on branches
  • Rashelle M Nagar
A singular bird’s last breath is not often met with sadness, nor does it necessarily signify the emphatic end of an era. However, on September 1, 1914, the last living passenger pigeon, Martha, passed away at the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens. In the course of a century, the passenger pigeon went from being the most abundant land bird in North America to an extinct species. As September 1st, 2014 marks the centennial of Martha’s passing, the University of Michigan’s Special Collections Library and Museum of Natural History remember this native bird.
View of a three crescents watermark in p.4 of Isl. Ms. 44
  • Evyn Kropf
This Wednesday's watermarks feature: three crescents motifs in papers of various manuscripts from the Islamic Manuscripts Collection.
  • Julie Herrada
The Ted Kaczynski Papers are part of the Special Collections Library’s Joseph A. Labadie Collection which documents the history of social protest movements and marginalized political communities from the 19th century to the present. The Ted Kaczynski papers were acquired in 1998 and the bulk of the collection includes correspondence written to and by Kaczynski since his arrest in 1996. Other materials in the archive include legal documents used during his trial, writings by Kaczynski, clippings and articles, some audiovisual material and FBI files.
Peter Tröschel (1615-1680). Hierinnen mann befind dass recht loss Haussgesind. [Nuremberg:] Paulus Fürst, [ca. 1650].
  • Pablo Alvarez
We have recently purchased an engraved broadside (259 x 339 mm.) depicting what at first sight looks like a regular scene of family life in the seventeenth century. However, a closer examination reveals a very different picture: a dysfunctional household or, to be more precise, a satire of domestic happiness...
Image of hand-colored illustration on rare map
  • Athena Jackson
In collaboration with the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, the Special Collections Library invites you to the 7th floor, Hatcher Graduate Library to view the current exhibition: Netherlandic Treasures.
Flyleaf rhyme: "Richard Briscoe is the owner's name. Dare not to steal this Book for fear of shame. Whoever thou be, as dare to steal this book from me, I'll spend twice the book but well rewarded thou shall be."
  • Anne Elias
Rhymes that identify book owners, warn or threaten book thieves, and extol the virtues of learning appear in interesting variations, particularly on the pages of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century school books.
Binding of The Sleeping Beauty
  • Ikumi Eileen Crocoll
The class, German 386 / Fairy Tales, is devoted primarily to the tales collected by the Brothers Grimm just over 200 years ago, while also exploring the structural elements of fairy tales and the stories’ ongoing influence in contemporary society. Mary Gell brought her class of 32 students to the Special Collections Library in June to give students a sense of the role illustrations have played in the reception and popularization of fairy tales.
Hand raising a rod
  • Ikumi Eileen Crocoll
The Midwest Victorian Studies Association (MVSA) held its annual conference in Ann Arbor this year in April, presenting a prime opportunity for us to showcase some of the University of Michigan Special Collections Library’s relevant materials. The Librarian for English Language and Literature, Sigrid Cordell, and student University Library Associate Ikumi Crocoll worked together to create an exhibit that related to this year’s conference theme, Victorian violence.
Crown-star-crescent watermark in p.326 of Isl. Ms. 564 (Special Collections Library, University of Michigan)
  • Evyn Kropf
This Wednesday's watermarks feature: crown-star-crescent motifs in papers of Isl. Ms. 564