From the Stacks: Gone Fishin’
"The whole purpose of summer fishing, the Old Man said, is not to worry about catching fish, but just to get out of the house and set and think a little." --Robert C. Ruark, The Old Man and the Boy Fishing, a popular American pastime, is well-represented in the collections of the Clements Library. Once exclusively a subsistence activity, fishing became a leisure sport for the upper and middle classes in 19th century America. In the post-Civil War era, publishers began to...
The Latest Quarto: Researching the Civil War
The latest issue of the Quarto is now available. The Quarto is a semi-annual newsletter published by the William L. Clements Library and sent to members of the Clements Library Associates. In addition to news and announcements about the Clements Library, this issue features several essays about the Civil War collections of the Library, including manuscripts, sheet music, culinary history, and maps. The next issue of the Quarto will focus on the Civil War as well. Contents of the Spring-Summer...
Current Exhibit: “Fine-Tuning a Great Collection: The How and Why of Recent Acquisitions,” June 14 – October 8, 2010
A new exhibit at the Clements Library showcases some of the best of its recent acquisitions and uses these rare books, manuscripts, maps, and graphic materials to explain the Library’s policies for adding to its outstanding holdings. "Fine Tuning a Great Collection: The How and Why of Recent Acquisitions" opened to the public on June 14 and will be on display through October 8.The Clements Library opened its doors in 1923 as the first rare books and special collections library at an American...
$150,000 Challenge Grant Announced
Help us to purchase important documents of the early history of the United States by doubling the value of your donation.A generous anonymous donor presented a remarkable opportunity that will benefit the Clements Library in many ways for years to come. One of the nation's greatest private collections of Americana is being auctioned off over the next year and we have an anonymous benefactor who has offered $150,000 as a one-to-one challenge match to purchase rare items for our library.We need...
Highlights from the Culinary Archive on Display in the Audubon Room
From the University of Michigan Record Update for Wednesday, June 9, 2010: Jan Longone and Provost Theresa Sullivan at a reception to honor the Longones' donation of their culinary collection to the William L. Clements Library. Materials donated by Daniel and Janice Longone form the core of the Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive, a collection of primary sources devoted to the subject of food history in America. At the reception sponsored by the Provost at the Hatcher Graduate Library on...
Staff Favorite: 1743 Book on Longitude by Woman Scientist
A proposal to determine our longitude, by Jane Squire. London, 1743. Rare Book Cataloger Oksana Linda, who came to the Library in 1998, is particularly fond of this little-known book on longitude by Jane Squire. Bound in calf leather, this volume is beautifully embellished with a centerpiece onlay of black leather, tooled with figures relating to formulae printed in the text. Such elaborate decoration is unusual for such an obscure work, self-published by a female scientist in the 18th...
In the News: Longones to be Honored for Culinary Archive
The University of Michigan Record Update features an article by Frank Provenzano, "Donors of American Culinary History Collection to be Honored." Janice and Daniel Longone, donors of the Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive at the William L. Clements Library, will be honored on June 8 in a ceremony at the Hatcher Graduate Library. Select items from the culinary collection will be on display in the Audubon Room at the Hatcher Graduate Library, June 1-28, include the first cookbook...
32nd Annual Ann Arbor Antiquarian Book Fair, Sunday, May 16, 2010
Thirty Second Annual Ann Arbor Antiquarian Book FairSunday, May 16, 11:00-5:00Admission: $5.00Location: Michigan UnionBallroom, 2nd Floor530 S. State St.List of booksellers planning to attend the fair. For more information call: West Side Book Shop (734) 995-1891annarborbookfair.comSponsored by the Ann Arbor Antiquarian Booksellers AssociationA benefit for the William L. Clements Library
Staff Favorite: Tapa Cloth from Captain Cook’s Voyages
Alexander Shaw, A catalogue of the different specimens of cloth collected in the three voyages of Captain Cook, to the southern hemisphere (London, 1787).Clements Library conservator Julie Fremuth has worked at the Library for 21 years. One of her favorite items from the collection is this book of Polynesian tapa cloth samples, gathered during the voyages of the 18th century English explorer Captain James Cook. As an artist, Julie finds inspiration in the vivid colors, patterns, and textures...
From the Stacks: Japanese Books and Manuscripts at the Clements Library
Regular contributor Emiko Hastings, Assistant Curator of Books, will be on vacation in Japan for the next two weeks. While American history (broadly defined) is the main focus of the Clements Library collections, researchers may be surprised to discover materials representing other cultures here as well. Such items might come to the Library as part of larger collections or because of connections to American history that may not be readily apparent. One example of this is the small but...