Gifts in Kind – Betty Bishop
Betty Bishop’s history with the Clements Library actually started before she was born. My grandfather was recruited to Michigan by Mr. Clements, who was on the Board of Regents at the time. Clements arranged to go down to the Library of Congress where my grandfather was a librarian of the reading room, and asked for a private tour with him being a fellow University of Michigan alum. It turned out, not that my grandfather knew it at the time, but he was being looked over as a possible candidate...
William L. Clements and “The Death of General Wolfe”
The Death of General Wolfe was reinstalled for permanent public display at the William L. Clements Library last month. Over 240 years old and 8 1/2 feet in width, the epic Benjamin West painting once again graces its longtime home after nearly seven years offsite. In this essay, Graphics Curator Clayton Lewis describes how William Clements acquired the painting in 1928. All collectors know the feeling of being haunted by the one that got away. “Buyer’s remorse” from an expensive impulse...
Latest Quarto: Our Favorites
The Summer-Fall 2019 Quarto is now available. The Quarto is a semi-annual magazine published by the William L. Clements Library and sent to the Clements Library Associates. Terese Austin, Head of Reader Services, has taken the helm as editor with support from outgoing editor Brian Dunnigan. Dunnigan, who retired from the Clements Library this summer, has been named curator emeritus of maps by the Regents of the University of Michigan. This issue of The Quarto is titled "Our Favorites."...
The Clements Library Travels to Philadelphia & Delaware in September!
Mr. Clements began his Americana collection focused on exploration and he enjoyed the camaraderie and knowledge of other collectors and libraries around the country. Clements Library staff continue to forge such alliances and to offer opportunities for continued learning. Curator of Graphics Clayton Lewis is a member of the American Historical Print Collectors Society (AHPCS) and is currently serving as the Regional Activities Chair. Out of this collaboration, we developed “A Day at...
New Graphics Finding Aids: March – June 2019
The Clements Library is pleased to announce that the following graphics collections are now described online and may be requested for use in the reading room. Andrews' Raid scrapbook and telegraph ledger, 1885-1888 - Processed by Louiegrf Miller The Andrews' Raid scrapbook and telegraph ledger contains newspaper clippings dating from 1887 that recount the story of Andrews' Raid written by William Pittenger. Other clippings, almost all of which focus on the United States Army, are also included...
An Empire of Free Ports
Guest post by Grant Kleiser, Clements Library 2019 Marsh Fellow Almost immediately after English men and women began to inhabit pockets of the Americas in the early seventeenth century, Parliament debated how best to control the trade that would flow from England to these newly-established colonies. Beginning with the stipulations of the first “Navigation Act” of 1651, English overseas commerce was to be tightly-regulated to benefit the “metropole’s” (England) interests over colonial concerns....
Recent Acquisition: The Wilson Globes, ca. 1811
That look of surprise and joy on a map curator’s face can only mean one thing: something fine has just landed in his division. And what better acquisition for the Clements Library than a pair–and not just any pair–of Wilson globes. And what, we hear you ask, are Wilson globes? These two globes–terrestrial and celestial–were produced by Vermont farmer and blacksmith turned globemaker, James Wilson (1763-1855) in the first half of the nineteenth century, giving him the (exaggerated) moniker of...
Clements Library receives $10M gift to name directorship, rare book room
For nearly 100 years, the University of Michigan William L. Clements Library has housed one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of early American History in the world. Its rise to international prominence is largely due to the guidance and vision put forth by the library's founding director, Randolph G. Adams, who transformed the personal archive of William Clements into a leading research library specializing in the collection and preservation of primary source materials from the...
New Manuscripts Finding Aids: February – May 2019
The Clements Library is pleased to announce that the following manuscript collections are now described online and may be requested for use in the reading room. American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Prudential Committee minutes, 1848-1892 - Processed by Cari Griffin This collection contains handwritten minutes, many with revisions and excisions, for 49 meetings of the Prudential Committee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions between 1848 and 1892. Written...
Contemporary Issues Discussion Debut: “New Motherhood”
Earlier this year, I was spitballing some ideas with my colleague Louie Miller in the Reference Division office, and we chatted about how interesting it would be to bring together a historical item from our collection with the modern-day perspectives of people currently working on related topics. With the help of our supportive Development team, we were able to bring this idea to fruition, and we hosted our first Contemporary Issues Discussion event on May 9, 2019, in collaboration with the...