It’s hard to believe that my time at the Libraries has come to an end! Since there was a post about me here when I began my internship back in January, I thought I’d give a summary of what I’ve done since then.
Category: Special Collections
Check out the preview below of CSPAN’s American History TV featuring the U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842. Included in the program are the Libraries’ very own Cullman Library and items from its United States Exploring Expedition collection.
It’s the astronomical official start of summer — enjoy!
For National Adopt A Cat Month … Furry felines were the rage even in the 16th century, as can be witnessed in Konrad Gesner’s Historia animalium [History of animals], 1551-87, which includes this very imposing looking cat.
The most interesting thing about the text, at least to me, is its variety of bizarre illustrative woodcuts. The first half of the text, “De Herbis,” contains many woodcuts of various plants. Three more sections follow, including the next section, “Tractatus de Animalibus,” which focuses on animals both real and imagined. Prüss immediately catches the reader’s attention with a detailed, labeled woodcut of a human skeleton, then continues with hundreds of odd woodcuts, some of which depict animals that the artist had clearly never seen.
It is more than possible to repeat such experiences and this is one way to expand services in the Dibner Library. In addition to our resident scholars, visiting college and graduate classes, we are glad to have younger audiences to come and view rare books.
There’s still time to see some wonderful images relating to the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Italy’s unification.
The items are displayed in an exhibition in the Dibner Library reading room, open 2-4 pm through this Friday. If you are in the washington D.C. area, be sure to stop by and take a look!