Giants Lately Discovered...

The fascination with finding natural wonders in the New World lingered long after the initial rush of first encounters, and exotic "discoveries" continued to catch the public's attention. The cover of this 1768 Bickerstaff's Boston Almanack (London, 1768), depicts the "Giants lately discovered in South America."  The figure of the European sailor is said to be 5 foot 11 and 1/2 inches, and is offering the South American giants a biscuit.

The way this almanac came to our collections was something of a natural wonder in and of itself.  We are on a quest to get everything in our collections cataloged so people know what we have and can find it. Last week, we found this piece in a batch of material that had been in the library for 13 years, but never cataloged.  With it was a 1997 letter from a Boston book dealer that stated "33 years ago" then head of Special Collections, Betty Sherrard, had requested the book.  The dealer had just located a copy and offered it to us because of our past interest. We snapped it up, and now, 46 years later, we are pleased to report that Sherrard's wish has been fulfilled: the almanac is fully cataloged and ready for use.  A giant lately discovered...

Ask for Rare F73.3 B53 1767.  It was worth the wait!

French Signatures

You may have a signed photo from your favorite celebrity, but can you match a collection of autographs from notable French rulers and other "illustrious personages?" Starting with a Francis I document from 1529 and ending with a nineteenth-century letter from Napoleon III, this collection includes signatures from Catherine de Medici, Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin, the "sun king" Louis XIV, Marie Antionette, and Napoleon Bonaparte among others.

Though most of the documents themselves are fairly commonplace and written by a secretary, this collection does provide small snapshots of the events of the times and a glimpse into everyday affairs.  A letter signed by Colbert from October 1658 discusses the king's edict to create a sovereign council to administer justice.  A document signed by Comtesse du Barry (official mistress of Louis XV) is an order for payment to a M. Pectern.

Preceding each signed document  is an engraved portrait of the notable signatory, including a somewhat macabre illustration of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and the Dauphin juxtaposed against a view of a guillotine.

Ask for Codex 003094 to see this item.

Around the World in Search of the Antarctic Continent

When Charles Wilkes' U.S. Exploring Expedition returned from its search for the Antarctic continent in 1842, it inspired the creation of an 11,000 square foot panoramic mural that toured the country. This manuscript was the script for seaman Charles Erskine's lecture given while the panorama was scrolled in front of an audience at the Roxbury Mechanic's Institute in Roxbury, Massachusetts. It attests to the public appetite for exploration stories and the 19th-century love of panoramas as popular entertainment.

After its useful life on the touring circuit was over, the panorama was sold in 1892 to the Revere Beach Scenic Railway and installed in one of their tunnels.  It has since disappeared. The only surviving remnant is this manuscript description. Among the geographic subjects discussed are: Estroza Pass, Isle of Madeira, Rio de Janeiro, Andes, St. Lorenzo Island, Tongataboo, Antarctic Continent, Henry's Island, and Cooks Bay.  The manuscript also contains extracts from press notices of Erskine's appearance.

To see it, ask for Stef Manuscript 257.

The Glutton's Spoon

Dartmouth has its share of quirky traditions. One of the oddest involved a giant wooden spoon. Each fall, usually in October or November, the Junior Class would assemble and a series of "honors" would be bestowed on class members. Among the awards was a giant wooden spoon given annually to the "heaviest eater of the Junior Class." The tradition appears to have started sometime before 1871 and continued up to 1906.

We have two of the spoons in our collections. One has been painted and shows a student departing from the college with suitcases in hand, above reads, "Thru Dartmouth's Classic Hall I Strayed." The other was presented to Randolph McNutt, Class of 1871. McNutt appeared to have stayed fit despite his hearty appetite, but he did become a fat cat in the business world, amassing a fortune as a distributor of school furnishings and through real estate dealings. He bequeathed $500,000 to Dartmouth in 1927, and two years later, Tuck Hall was renovated and renamed McNutt Hall in his honor.

Ask for Realia 79 to make yourself feel a little lighter after your holiday feast.

Respect My Authoritah!

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain, ruler of half of Europe and a goodly portion of the New World, may not have respected Cartman's "authoritah" but he would have agreed with the sentiment. This grant of arms to Nicholas de Almacan of Arequipa, Peru, from May 14, 1552, features Charles V in the center of the illuminated border.  Facing the reader, he is flanked by an image of Caesar on the right and the conquistador Pizarro on the left, both ceding their authority to him though their gaze.  The highly decorated initial letter adds another lay of authority to the document: it contains the crest of the arms of the House of Habsburg.

The recipient of the coat of arms was a conquistador who fought with Pizarro and established himself in Peru. The image of Pizarro is a true rarity: perhaps his only known life portrait.  The coat of arms is displayed in the text, and the whole is framed with images of conquest and the New World's bounty.

To see this remarkable document, ask for Lansburgh 15.

Dancing with Vesalius

One of our favorite books here in Rauner Library is Andreas Vesalius's De Humani corporis fabrica libri septem (Basileae: Ex officina Ioannis Oporini, 1543). The web is full of great information about the book, so we won't wax poetical about it, but we are excited to announce that it has inspired the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble. They will be performing this Friday, November 19, at 3:30 inside the glass box, and we will have Vesalius out in one of our display cases.  Here is the Dance Ensemble's description of the event:

The Dartmouth Dance Theater Ensemble will be performing behind the glass on three of the levels of the protected environment housing the priceless collection of books.

The theme of the performance is based on Andreas Vesalius's De humani corporis fabrica (On the structure of the human body) anatomical illustrations of the dissected body circa 1543. This extraordinary book is in the Rauner Special Collections and was displayed in the atrium gallery area of Baker Library last year. The anatomical drawings have inspired the group choreography conceived by ensemble member Mayuka Kowaguchi '11.

This will mark the first dance performance event, which utilizes and features the unique architecture of Rauner Library.

We hope to see you there!

And, if you ever want to see the book, just ask for Rare QM25.V4

Printed at the Sign of "The Penguins"

We have plenty of contemporary artists' books in Rauner that make inventive use of ordinary objects, but it's much rarer to find an older book bound with materials as strange as packing crates and harness leather. Aurora Australis, an anthology of poems, essays, and illustrations about life in Antarctica, has an excellent reason for its odd binding -- it was printed by the members of Ernest Shackleton's 1907-1909 Nimrod Expedition in the middle of an Antarctic winter.

Pressed for space in its small ship, the expedition brought along an iron handpress, an etching press, paper, ink, and type, but planned to improvise a binding from the lightweight wood boards of the expedition's packing crates. The editor was Shackleton himself, and the printers were two sailors who had had only three weeks training in presswork and lithography. The end result is both charmingly quirky and astonishingly professional given the conditions in the hut where the press was set up. As one sailor described:

Dust from the stove fills the air and settles on the paper as it is being printed.... It is too cold to keep the printer's ink fluid; it gets sticky and freezes... the printers were called away while the candle was burning, and... when they returned they found that the plate had overheated and melted the inking roller of gelitinous substance. I believe it was the only one on the Continent and had to be re-cast somehow.

In all, about 90 copies of Aurora Australis were printed, bound, and distributed to the members of Shackleton's expedition. Rauner's is affectionately known as the "Oatmeal Copy" for the label which is partially visible on the inside board cover.

Ask for Stefansson G850 1907 .A8 to see Aurora Australis for yourself. Also, make sure to take a look at an historical introduction to the text in our facsimile copy: Stefansson G850 1907 .A8 1986.

Posted for Anne Peale '11