News and more from ZSR’s Special Collections & Archives
Ethiopia, the oldest independent nation in Africa, has a unique Christian tradition dating back to the 4th century. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church developed largely in isolation after the Islamic conquest of Egypt in the 640’s. But Christianity remained the official state religion for many centuries, and the Ethiopian imperial family claimed to be descended directly... Continue reading “Ethiopian Psalter, 18th or 19th Century” ›
I recently began work on repairing an important book in our special collections, and thought I’d share the process of preservation. The book is loaded down with a long French title, but is known as Diderot’s “Tree of Knowledge.” The “Tree of Knowledge” was an attempt to represent the structure of knowledge graphically and was... Continue reading “Preserving Diderot’s “Tree of Knowledge”” ›
Special Collections is happy to announce a new exhibit in the small case in the atrium. The exhibit highlights the Samuel and Sally Wait Collection and shows examples of their letters from Wait. It also includes Samuel’s walking stick and reading glasses. Take a look when you get a chance! Continue reading “New Samuel and Sally Wait Exhibit in the Atrium” ›
From the title page verso of the 1502 first edition The Renaissance scholar Aldus Manutius (ca. 1451-1515) began his career in typical fashion, as a tutor to an aristocratic Roman family. We don’t know what prompted him in 1490 to move to Venice and try his hand at a business venture involving the exciting new... Continue reading “Divina Commedia, by Dante Alighieri (Aldine Press, 1502)” ›
Although the Charles Lee Smith papers have had a finding aid online, it has not been complete. Well, it is now! We have added 3 additional boxes and an over-sized folder to the former collection. Many of you may know of Charles Lee Smith from the Charles Lee Smith Library (the books that are housed... Continue reading “Charles Lee Smith Finding Aid Complete (Again)!” ›
You may remember another post about Henlee Barnette’s Correspondence series being complete. Well, we have now updated the finding aid to include his second wife, Helen Barnette’s (née Poarch), papers. Henlee Barnette’s first wife died, leaving him with two young sons. He later married Helen and they added a girl and boy to the family.... Continue reading “The Helen Barnette series is complete!” ›
Special Collections and Archives is excited to announce the completion of the inventory and finding aid for RG11.1, Audio Recordings: Reel to Reels. This collection consists of over 500 recordings that sometimes take up to five reels per title. This is a massive collection. Now that we have a comprehensive list and description of what... Continue reading “RG11.1, Audio Recordings: Reel to Reels Processing is Complete!” ›
This post was written by Sarah Appleby, Graduate Student in English and student employee in Special Collections and Archives. Thanks, Sarah! Stein in Richmond, VA 1934 The material in this collection comes from collaboration between influential writer, Gertrude Stein, and the professional endeavors of three young men at a fledgling press. Conference Press was founded... Continue reading “Featured Collection: Gertrude Stein and Conference Press” ›
Archives Week 2012 is October 22-28 and Special Collections student, Brittany Newberry has designed an exhibit to celebrate this event. Archives Week is an annual, week-long observance of the agencies and people responsible for maintaining and making available the archival and historical records of our nation, state, communities and people. The events are a celebration... Continue reading “Archives Week Exhibit and Documenting Diversity Event” ›
This is one of our amazing student assistants, Charles. This is Charles’ second year working in Special Collections and we are lucky to have him on our team. Charles is working on a very large project to process the reel to reel collection and publish an Archivists’ Toolkit finding aid. RG11.1 Audio Recordings, Tapes [Reel... Continue reading “What Are You Working On? With Charles” ›