Roy J. Snell

Scanning the shelves of the Rare Book collections you see lots of authors you know and revere along with noted titles in first editions. It all drips of fame and oozes cultural capital. But there are two full shelves that are more puzzling: they contain over seventy books by Roy J. Snell. If you are wondering who Snell is, you are not alone. He doesn't even have a Wikipedia entry, and we have devoted over six feet of shelf space to his books!

It turns out Snell churned out adventure books for boys and girls. His books competed with the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series among others, and he got great distribution and solid sales. According to our Rare Book guide, the Snell books were given to the College in 1955 by Snell and the Friends of the Dartmouth College Library to be included in our substantial "Juveniles" collection.

As far as we can tell, we are one of the few places in the world with a complete collection of his novels. If you are searching for an overlooked popular author to write about, we have you covered. To find his books, search the catalog for "Snell, Roy J."

Garden for the Rose

An amazing new book just came into our collections: Sensuite le jardin plaisance et fleur de rethorique (Paris: Jehan Trepperel and Jehan Jehannot, ca. 1515). This "Garden of Pleasure," is a collection of 15th century French poetry complied to serve as a kind of theatrical reading. Read or sung out, the verses would have carried its original readers on a journey through courtly love. It is the perfect companion to our Roman de la Rose manuscript.

The compilation is especially important for being the first to print many 15th century French poems. Included are Christine de Pisan, Charles d'Orléans, and François Villon among others.

Come in and enjoy the garden by asking for Rare PQ1307.J3 1502z.