Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library has launched "Choosing Sides: Right-Wing Icons in the Group Research Records," an online exhibition now available on the Libraries’ website. The exhibition was curated by Nicholas Osborne, a PhD candidate in the Department of History at Columbia. Nick also wrote this blog post. (Above: The Church League of […]
It All Starts When You Open a Box
It All Starts When You Open a Box A story begins when a box is opened. From family photos to dirty socks, from political struggles to breakthrough ideas, from humorous oddments to poignant pieces, archivists and reference librarians have the unique opportunity to see them all. The professional staff at the Rare Book & Manuscript […]
Problem: How to construct a vehicle with which one can transport oneself where one likes, without a horse
As part of an ongoing scholarly discussion, a colleague sent me the following image: Now, the image, which depicts a vintage Frejus, does not at first appear to have a rare book or manuscript connection; however, RBML’s collections have great diversity and can provide scholarly content across many disciplines–here’s how. If we consider Jacques Ozanam’s […]
George R. Van Namee Scrapbooks (and Alfred E. Smith Material) Donated to Columbia
Fifteen scrapbooks covering the career and political interests of George Rivet Van Namee have been donated to Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno, California. Containing news clippings, memorabilia, and printed ephemera, the scrapbooks provide an important window into Democratic politics (particularly the career of Governor Alfred E. […]
Bertykin’s Books
Libraries care about library catalogues, or, more broadly, lists of books, compiled for all sorts of reasons. On the back flyleaf of a manuscript of a well-known grammatical text is a list of medical books: it's in the same hand as that of the grammar, and it ends with a curious statement: The sum of Bertykin, […]