The Meals are Fierce and I Need Sleep

Postmarked February 1926, this card was a fun and quick way for the busy student to stay in touch with friends and family. Although it appears that Gus was pretty busy, we hope that everyone from the Class of 2014 will stop by the Library's First-Year Open House today from 4:30-6:00 p.m. in Baker Main Hall. Among the many activities designed to help you get to know the nine individual libraries that make up the Dartmouth College Library, you can use a letterpress to print a modern version of this card to let everyone know how you're doing. Staff in the Library's Book Arts Program will show you how.

For a look at this card and many more vintage views of Dartmouth and Hanover, ask for Iconography 1523, the Dartmouth College and Vicinity Postcard Collection.

The Legend of Doc Benton

Illustration by Clinton Arrowood, '89

There are numerous evolving traditions that surround the first-year trips that are taking place this month at Dartmouth, many of them documented in the records of the Outing Club, housed here in Rauner. One is the storytelling tradition, specifically the story of  "Doc Benton." The Benton tale was told during the late-night gatherings of the first-years at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge. This oral tradition had been taking place since "freshman trips" were first offered back in the 1930s and the Benton story is still told at the Lodge, although no longer at every first-year gathering.

The story goes that Thomas Benton was born in the mid-1700s in Benton, New Hampshire, a small hamlet located near the base of Mount Moosilauke. After receiving his medical education at the University of Heidelburg, Benton practiced for some years in London and Boston, but returned to Benton to set up his own medical practice. It was following his return to Benton that the terrifying legend begins. Each telling of the story brings variations, modifications and interpretations, provided by the individual narrator. In deference to the tradition of storytelling, further details will not be revealed here. However, suffice it to say that the legend of Doc Benton is seared forever into the minds of generations of Dartmouth first-years, especially those who have spent time on and in proximity to Mount Moosilauke. 

To learn more of the evil legend, come to Rauner and ask to see the vertical file labeled "Benton, Doc," and Clinton Arrowood's thesis entitled "The Legend of Doc Benton." You will never forget it...

Our Oldest Item

One of the questions we get asked most is "what's the oldest item in the library?"  The answer is a cuneiform cone from ca. 1930 B.C.  This type of cone was typically embedded in the foundation of a temple and gave the name of the king responsible for erecting the structure and the deity to whom the structure was dedicated. This terra-cotta cone is from the reign of Lipit-Ishtar, King of Isin, and was purchased from Edgar Banks in 1934 by Harold Rugg, the assistant librarian at the time.

A partial transcription of the cuneiform inscription can be found in one of the letters housed with the cone.  The transcription was made by an unnamed Harvard professor and according to the letter reads:

The divine Libit-Ishtar, the humble shpherd of Nippur,
the faithful husbandman of Ur, who does not change the face of
Edridu, a lord who befits Erech, the king of Isin,
the king of Sumer and Akkad, (Col. 2)
who captivated the heart of Inninni, am I.
When justice in Sumer and Akkad he had established,
.....[unknown]....
The temple of justice he built.

Ask for Codex 001558 to see the cone and associated letters.

New Boston

If "the media is the message," then what is this colonial-era survey map of New Boston, New Hampshire, trying to tell us? The plat appears to be on buckskin, suggesting the surveyor used the media that was closest at hand to plot out the township. It notes a stand of beech trees, a birch tree, and a "heap of stones" as key markers. The raw earthiness of the document, combined with the rigid lines imposed on the irregularly shaped animal skin, shows an overlaying of one culture upon another. The area being mapped was a border between controlled, legislated space, and what the new settlers saw as chaotic wilderness.

In 1736. the General Court of Massachusetts Bay granted New Boston to John Simpson and fifty-two others veterans (or their descendants) of a 1690 expedition to Canada. This map, executed early in the town's history, shows numbered house lots, the mill, and lots dedicated to a school and a minister.

Ask for Manuscript 740940.

"Cool at Rauner": The Virtual Becomes Real

On September 11, 2009, we posted our first entry on the "Cool at Rauner" blog. “A Beat Classic at 50” delved into the complicated printing history of the two "first" editions of William Burrough's Naked Lunch. Since then, we have posted 93 entries (this makes 94) highlighting new acquisitions, fresh discoveries and old favorites.

Usually, online exhibits follow physical exhibitions, but in this case we thought we would reverse the trend and create a physical exhibit based on some of our favorite blog entries. Visit Rauner Library's Class of 1965 Galleries to take a look. The exhibit will run from September 1 through October 31--we like to think it was "curated" by the Rauner blog.

And remember, you can see anything on this blog in the Rauner Library reading room, just come in and ask.

...On this one work alone.

When the third edition of Jane Eyre by "Currer Bell" appeared in 1848, its author, Charlotte Bronte, added a note stating, "my claim to the title of novelist rests on this one work alone." Why she felt compelled to state the obvious has to do with her publisher's confusion over the identity of Currer, Acton, and Ellis Bell, that would be Charlotte, Anne, and Emily Bronte.

For a brief period in the late 1840s, T. C. Newby believed he was dealing with one writer acting under three pen names. In fact, he was so sure, he used Jane Eyre to market Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Directly opposite the title page is an excerpt from a positive review of Jane Eyre under the heading "On Mr. Bell's First Novel," rather strongly suggesting that Currer and Acton were one in the same.

Come sort out the confusion yourself with the first edition of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Rare PR4162.T4), and the third edition of Jane Eyre (Val 826 B78S114).  And while you are looking, it would be a shame to miss the first edition of Jane Eyre (Val 826 B78S112).

The Waddling Frog

Actually, the full title is The Gaping, Wide-mouthed, Waddling Frog: A New and Entertaining Game of Questions and Commands: With Proper Directions for Playing the Game, and Crying Forfeits: Embellished with Sixteen Colored Engravings (London: Printed for A.K. Newman and Co. Leadenhall-street, [between 1814 and 1822]; London: Dean and Munday, printers, Threadneedle-street).

A long-winded title for what is a fairly simple counting and recitation game for children.  The rules state that the Treasurer (appointed by the group) begins the game.  "He holds a penknife, pocket-book, thimble, or some other trifling article in his hand, and addressing the person who sets next to him, gives the command - Take this; - the person spoken to asks the question - What's this? - the Treasurer answers, A gaping, wide-mouthed, waddling Frog."  This question and answer continues round the circle until it reaches the Treasurer who adds a second verse to the recital.

The game "manual" reveals fourteen of these verses, each with an appropriate illustration.  Shown here is the illustration for the verse "Six beetles against the wall, Close to an old woman's apple-stall."

Once the game is finished the Treasurer appoints a Dictator "whose office it is to to direct what is to be done by each person in order to redeem their forfeits."  Forfeits are incurred when any player fails to remember a verse or recites it incorrectly.  Suggestions for possible penalties include submitting to be tickled by all players and to "Heat a cinder."  The latter is apparently cause for great hilarity since "this sounding like eat, causes some mirth before it is discovered it only means to throw it into the fire."

Ask for Rare Book GV 150 .W8 G36 to read all fourteen verses and discover additional ideas for forfeit penalties.