News and more from ZSR’s Special Collections & Archives
T. S. Eliot’s bleak “anti-epic” The Waste Land is considered by many to be the most influential poetic work of the twentieth century. It was first published in book form by the New York firm Boni and Liveright in 1922, but Eliot offered the first British edition to Leonard and Virginia Woolf. The Woolfs had... Continue reading “The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot, published at the Hogarth Press” ›
William Morris (1834-1896) is a towering figure in the artistic and cultural history of Victorian Britain. The multi-talented Morris was a poet, artist, and craftsman whose design influence persists to this day. Much of his work was in the decorative arts– textiles, furniture, stained glass, wallpapers, and book design. Morris is credited with founding the... Continue reading “The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, printed by William Morris at the Kelmscott Press” ›
This webinar was presented by Michele Brown, Book Conservator at Cornell thought ALCTS as part of ALA Preservation Week. Mold is a fungi which reproduces by spores and is found everywhere. They also contain carbon. Mildew is just a form of mold. All substrates can support mold, both inside and outside our bodies. Molds can... Continue reading “Mold Remediation and Prevention- ALCTS Webinar” ›
Fiona Brennan, doctoral candidate from University College Cork, Ireland, was the inaugural recipient of the Provost’s Grant for Library Research. She was in residence for a week in March to conduct research in the Dolmen Press Archives. She also gave a public lecture on William Fitzmaurice, Abbey Theatre playwright. She contextualized Fitzmaurice’s work in terms... Continue reading “ZSR Hosts Irish Scholar” ›
“What is the first law for all art? What answer would a great sculptor or a great painter make? I think simply this: ‘Look at Nature, study Nature, understand Nature– and then try to express Nature.’ … The dance is an art like these others, and it also must find its beginning in this great... Continue reading “Isadora Duncan: Vingt-Cinq Planches, by Jules Grandjouan” ›
I spent a delightful weekend in Asheville making books at a workshop in west Asheville called Bookworks. The books I made were made with no glue, hence the title “Non-adhesive Bookbinding.” The instructor was Steve Pittelkow, a native of Minneapolis and an internationally know paper-marbler and teacher. Bookworks is a world class facility with a... Continue reading “Bookbinding in Asheville” ›
As a librarian, my job is to preserve library materials: books, paper items such as posters or hand printed broadsides, and any other paper materials the library has acquired. It’s rewarding. I take a very old and brittle book, carefully mend the broken joints and torn pages, and restore it to usability. This is good... Continue reading “Our Digital Life” ›
Curious about what sort of interesting items lurk in the Rare Books stacks? A new blog, accessible from the Special Collections page, will highlight a different book from our collection each month. This month’s selection is the 1669 first edition of Milton’s Paradise Lost. Check the blog archives for last month’s Julius Casear quarto. And... Continue reading “Rare Book of the Month” ›
The first issue of John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost appeared in 1667. The anti-royalist Milton, blind and near sixty years old, had fallen on hard times in Restoration England, but Paradise Lost fit the apocalyptic mood of a nation that had recently suffered an outbreak of plague, the great fire of London, and defeat... Continue reading “Paradise Lost, 1669” ›
We all use things to mark pages in our books: receipts, slips of paper, brochures, tickets, paper clips, and Post-it Notes. Post-it Notes have an adhesive on them which transfers to the surface it is applied to. This adhesive residue, in turn picks up dirt or other foreign particles and cause them to stick to... Continue reading “This really annoys me!” ›