Clements Library Acquires Previously Unknown Plan of 1790 Detroit

It seems as if the Director and curators of the Clements Library are always searching—searching for new documentation to make accessible to scholars; searching for collections or parts of collections that they know or hope are still “out there” in the hands of...

Recent Acquisition: Rare Early Work by Native American Author

Post by Emiko Hastings, Curator of BooksThe Book Division is pleased to announce a significant new acquisition, Diego de Valadés’ Rhetorica Christiana (1579).  This purchase, courtesy of Liber Antiquus, Early Books & Manuscripts, fills an important gap...

Palm Trees, Sugar, Slavery, and More

Post by Brian L. Dunnigan, Associate Director and Curator of MapsThe Clements Library is known to historians and scholars of other disciplines as a primary source repository of “Americana” dating between 1492 and 1900. For all too many members of the history and the...

Recent Acquisition: Rare 151st plate from Audubon’s Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America

Rare 151st plate from Audubon’s Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. Detail of Plate CXXIX.Post by Aprille Phule, Curator of Cryptozoological Collections and BibliochicaneryThe University of Michigan Library marks its formal beginning with the purchase in 1839 of...

Recent Acquisition: Fantastical Militias

Post by Clayton Lewis, Curator of Graphic MaterialsDavid Claypoole Johnston. Col. Pluck. [Boston?] : Pendleton, lithographer/publisher, circa 1825.A pair of recently acquired prints point to a little known episode in American military history and pose questions about...

Today in History: David B. Douglass Papers Addition and the Battle of Lundy’s Lane

Post by Jayne Ptolemy, Manuscripts Division Curatorial Assistant In the late evening hours of July 25, 1814, one of the bloodiest battles of the War of 1812 commenced, continuing until after midnight. Unplanned and fought in the dark of night, the Battle of...

Recent Acquisition: 19th Century Children’s School Books

The Book Division recently received a gift from James E. Laramy of twelve late 19th century children’s books. The collection previously belonged to his grandmother’s family of Grand Rapids, Michigan. These books, which include readers, arithmetic books,...

Recent Acquisition: Rare 17th Century Account of New France

In 2012, the Clements Library received a generous gift from Charles and Julia Eisendrath, with an appraised total value of $150,000. The gift includes a page from the Gutenberg Bible and a first edition set of Premier Établissement de la Foy dans la Nouvelle-France,...

Recent Acquisition: Rare Detroit Plan of 1836-37

The Clements Library has just acquired a very rare and possibly unique plan of Detroit from the last years of the Michigan Territory.  All that is known about Part of the City of Detroit, Michigan is that it was lithographed and published in New York at 22 Nassau...