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.

Interval... Intervale...

As Robert Frost was completing his third book, Mountain Interval, his friend George H. Browne dared question his spelling of interval. In an August 1916 letter Frost commented, "Browne rageth," then went on to rage himself. He was furious over Browne's insistence that the correct spelling should be intervale. Frost thought the criticism absurd, pointing out that Browne lived near two areas known as the Upper Interval and Lower Interval near Plymouth and that he was ignoring Emerson as precedent.

The letter was to another friend and early admirer of Frost's poetry, Cornelius Weygandt. Weygandt appears anonymously in Frost's long poem New Hampshire as a man "Who comes from Philadelphia every year / With a great flock of chickens of rare breeds."

This letter, acquired with funds donated in memory of Corrine Davidson, and another to Weygandt are the latest additions to our Frost manuscript collections.

Bathing Bans and Birds' Eggs

This broadside was posted about 100 years ago by the town of Hanover to prohibit skinny dipping near the Ledyard Bridge. Different public safety issues exist currently, with the College prohibiting swimming, clad or otherwise, in the Connecticut River this summer.

A broadside is a single sheet, usually printed only on one side, and used to convey information, publish poetry, or make public announcements, protests and proclamations. While some broadsides contain a graphic element, the text usually predominates. Rauner's broadside collection is typical in the wide range of topics it documents: railroad schedules, the offerings of a dealer in birds' eggs, an announcement of a public appearance by Siamese twins, a warning to fugitive slaves... pretty much anything from the advantages of Dr. Richardson's pectoral balsam to a protest against the outrageous spending of the New Hampshire legislature on "a palace for prostitutes and criminals."

Unfortunately, not all items in the collection are cited in the online catalog, so please feel free to come in and ask if you need to know more about indelible golden friction for coating matches.