William L. Clements Library Research Fellowships for 2019
After visiting the Clements Library, one of our fellows had this to say about the experience: “The Clements Library not only has an amazing variety of rich collections but also an incredibly helpful, professional staff. During the approximately two and a half months I spent as a Fellow at the William L. Clements Library, I was able to make significant progress on my book manuscript. I made extensive use of the library's rich collections of manuscripts, rare books, maps, and graphic materials....
What’s in Your Attic? Treasures Big and Small
The William L. Clements Library invited members of the public to join us on Sunday, September 30, 2018, for an event we called "What's in Your Attic?" We encouraged attendees to bring their own paper treasures, such as letters, journals, photographs, prints, books, and maps, for discussion with Clements Curators and guest Americana collectors. Our intentions were to garner enthusiasm for the Clements Library, gain some knowledge of exciting materials currently stewarded by private owners,...
Announcing the Illustrated Manuscripts Project
One of the great joys about working at the William L. Clements Library is that while we preserve historical records and make them accessible for research, we also get to explore and discover the human experience across time. Stories of heartbreak and joy, historical drama and mundane family headaches fill our collections. Sometimes, if we're lucky, the writer will include a drawing to illustrate a point, making that moment all the more vivid to us centuries later. Writing home from Shiloh,...
In Celebration of Bad Poetry Day
No commemoration of Bad Poetry Day would be complete without a nod to the (in)famous poet (and native Michigander) Julia A. Moore. The Clements Library is the proud owner of several editions of her collected poems. Born in Plainfield, Michigan, in 1847, Julia Moore found her poetic voice in recounting mostly local—and usually tragic—events. Known as the Sweet Singer of Michigan (after the title of her first published volume), Moore received much praise initially, but later became an object of...
Copycats: A Closer Look at Vues d’Optique
People often say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. At first glance, the rationale behind this expression would seem to have played a critical role in the creative process of many European and American artists, etchers, engravers and lithographers of the 18th and 19th centuries. Printmakers would more often than not base their designs on contemporaneous original paintings or sketches, and sometimes they would include carbon copies of selective features from preexisting prints...
Interrupted Mothers’ Letters
Frequent use hones mothers' multitasking skills into an art. Holding a child on her hip while cooking, chatting up a toddler while trying to finish some paperwork, or folding the laundry while persuading an independent-minded youngster to put on their shoes, a mother navigates simultaneously through her own world as well as her children's. This does not always go smoothly. Letters written by mothers of young children help uncover the mingled joy and frustration that childcare yields. In 1854,...
John Louis Ligonier Letter Books, 1757-1761
Post by Meghan Brody, Clements Library Volunteer University of Michigan History Major, Class of 2019 I received my first introduction to the Clements Library during a class visit in the winter semester 2017. I immediately knew that I wanted to become a volunteer. After contacting the Library, I began working in the Manuscripts Division, where the Curator assigned me the task of updating a finding aid and creating a supplementary recipient index for the letter books of John Louis Ligonier, the...
Keep Your Powder Dry — And Your Map Too
The Clements Library map collection comprises some 30,000 examples of cartography with American subject matter drawn or printed between the years 1492 and 1900. This body of material represents a variety of plans and maps ranging from the most detailed small-scale plan (of a formal garden or a town, for example) to dramatic large-scale wall maps representing the entire Western Hemisphere. These maps have all been drawn, carved, or printed on some form of surface—paper, vellum, glass, wood,...
Edward Walsh Watercolor Sketches Now Digitized
The watercolor sketches of Edward Walsh, M.D. are some of the most frequently reproduced materials from the Clements Library. These sketches, done between 1803 and 1806 while Walsh served as a surgeon for the 49th Regiment of Foot at Fort George, Ontario, are vital visual resources for any scholar interested in the history of the Old Northwest. His depictions of Detroit and York (Toronto) are among the best and earliest known views of those settlements. His detailed renderings of Fort George...
Civil War-Era Valentine’s Day Print in the Peter H. Musty Papers
While serving as a drummer with the 61st Ohio Infantry Regiment during the Civil War, Ohio-native Peter Henry "Hank" Musty wrote many a letter to his friends and family back home. Hank was most often in communication with his parents and his brother Francis. He would occasionally send letters and illustrations depicting scenes of camp life. In one such letter to Francis, written sometime between April and May of 1863, Hank confided that he received "a valentine in a letter from 719y...