Realia?

Even though a library tends to be about books and the written word, there are always things that help to enhance or supplement a collection but just aren't books themselves. These oddballs are lovingly referred to as "realia" and range from closely-linked-to-books items to ones that leave you scratching your head and trying to figure out the connection.

An exemplar of the "this fits nicely" object is a collection of printing plates for Stefansson's Adventures in Error. A more tenuously connected set of items is Daniel Webster's top hat and a pair of his silk stockings. Webster is an incredibly important Dartmouth figure and Rauner has a large number of Webster related items, though the hat and socks do push the connectivity limit. Finally, we have the New York fireman's helmet that belonged to Nelson A. Rockefeller, Dartmouth class of 1930.

To see the printing plates ask for Realia 81.  Daniel Webster's top hat is Realia 37, the socks Realia 38, and Rockefeller's helmet is Realia 162.

The Devil is in the Details

Whether it's the rubber for the stamps used to create the text, the copper wire for the binding, or the number of copies (30) in the edition, everything in Angela Lorenz's book The Binding Ties has a double, or even triple, meaning. This cleverly crafted artist's book is a poem that does poetic justice to the impact of international trade and colonization throughout history. The poem is "hidden," where it can be discovered by the reader (just like the natural resources that attracted traders and colonizers to various parts of the world), in a set of die cut British regimental ties. Each tie stands for a regiment sent to colonial territories where one of the natural resources represented in the book - rubber, silk, cotton and copper - were found.

This book is typical of the complexity of ideas represented in artists' books, but particularly of the depth and intellectual detail that Lorenz brings to all of her projects.

For more information on The Binding Ties, see the artist's website. To see the book ask for: Rauner Presses L876lobi No. 2 of 30. Or come in and look at this book alongside other examples of Lorenz's work.

Tender is the Author

In 1934 Charles Scribner's Sons published F. Scott Fitzgerald's  Tender is the Night. It was hoped the novel would return Fitzgerald to the spotlight nine years after the publication of The Great Gatsby.

But you get the feeling Scribner's knew that their fragile author would need some help generating sales: to stimulate interest,  they chose to serialize the novel. It came out in four consecutive issues of Scribner's Magazine between January and April 1934, with the first book edition appearing in April. In the depths of the Great Depression, the voice of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties was not the first place people turned for relevancy. But by putting Fitzgerald alongside Gilbert Seldes, Thomas Wolfe, John Strachey, Lincoln Steffens, Stuart Chase and William Lyon Phelps, the magazine sought to make him new again.

The novel was not well received. Sales were disappointing and the flashback narrative must have been particularly difficult when spread over four monthly installments. The magazine tried to push the book. The blurb in the March issue proclaimed:

Both popular and critical verdicts are that Scott Fitzgerald's novel becomes more exciting as it goes along. How Richard Diver extricates himself from the extraordinary situation in which he finds himself is revealed in these last chapters of one of the big novels of the year.

To see the serialized copy, ask for Rare PS3511.I9 T4 1934b.

A Transit from Tahiti

The Green is set up for Commencement--covered with chairs, the stage and bleachers--but on Tuesday a crowd gathered on the grass to watch the last transit of Venus to occur this century. Venus won’t pass directly between the earth and the sun again until the year 2117. Surely Dartmouth students will be here to watch that one as well.

The 1769 transit of Venus provided the impetus for Captain James Cook's first voyage around the world. Cook was instructed to observe the transit from Tahiti; a precise measurement of the time it took for Venus to pass across the face of the sun would allow astronomers to calculate the distance between the sun and the earth.

Cook’s observations of the transit of Venus were less accurate than the Royal Society had hoped, but his exploration of Australia and successful circumnavigation of New Zealand made him a national hero. The journals of his first voyage were published in 1773 under the title: An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for Making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere (London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1773).

This large, three-volume account of Cook’s voyage was published with the general public in mind; readers interested in the particulars of Cook’s observations were directed to the Transactions of the Royal Philosophical Society. We’re fairly certain our copy once belonged to an armchair traveler -- it still carries a faint scent of tobacco.

See Cook’s observations for yourself by asking for Val G12 H313ac.

From the Yukon to Abilene

Our books have lives that we will never know. When you look at a 16th-century book, you know it has been in a lot of places and been held by many hands. Many of our books have a definite provenance--they have gained value by association with famous people and places--but most have had less glamorous, undocumented travels.

We just bought this interesting little tourist book, Scenes from the Land of the Midnight Sun (Dawson: Landahl's Emporium, [1908?]), featuring snippets from Robert Service's poetry laid over photographic scenes from the Yukon. If we can trust the inscription, our copy was purchased at Dawson in 1928, but it somehow managed to find its way to the Hilton Hotel in Abilene, Texas. You have to wonder, how did the parched and weary traveler arriving at the hotel respond to this book? In the Texas mid-day sun, was the cool of the midnight sun just a dream?

We purchased it from a Canadian book dealer, so we have interrupted its journey back to the Yukon. We think the Hanover winter and being ensconced in the Stefansson Collection on Polar Exploration should make it feel at home, but will it long for the smell of cattle, dust and oil?

Ask for Stef F912.Y9 S25 1908 to see it.

Almost Reaching That Peak

Browne (left) & Parker 1912

Belmore Browne was an explorer, artist and writer. Despite his contributions to these areas, he is perhaps most famous for his involvement in early attempts to summit Mt. McKinley. All three of the expeditions Browne was part of failed to reach the top - the last by mere yards.

In 1906, Browne was a member of Frederick Cook's expedition. Cook later claimed to have summited with another member of the expedition, but this was eventually proved false by photographs taken during Browne's second expedition - the Parker-Browne Expedition of 1910.  These photographs show that Cook's peak is actually a much lower peak several miles from the real summit.

Cook's "Fake Peak" at left
showing its relative height to the
real peak (right arrow)

Browne Photographing the
"Fake Peak" during one of the
Parker-Browne Expeditions

The third expedition missed the top by yards.  Severe storms kept the party from the top, despite several attempts to reach it.  This may have been providential as the glacier the expedition members were camped on shattered only hours after they had started back down the mountain. The first true summit of Mt. McKinley was finally achieved by Stuck and Karstens in 1913.

Page from Browne's
Stikine Trip Sketch Book, 1902

In addition to numerous photographs (prints, negatives, and lantern slides) of the various Mt. McKinley expeditions, Browne's papers contain his sketchbooks and diaries as well as scrapbooks and clippings.

Ask for Stef Mss 190. A paper guide to the collection is available in Rauner.

Is Not My Word Like Fire

Long before he dreamed of Dartmouth College, Eleazer Wheelock was a key player in "The Great Awakening." The religious revival of the 1740s enflamed church and civil life in New England. Its stern vision of personal piety and salvation challenged the delicate balance of Puritan life. For Wheelock, the fervor was both religious and physical: this two-week preaching schedule scrawled on the back of some sermon notes shows Wheelock’s popularity as an evangelist. "Upon the Sabbath here, Monday at Hebron, Tuesday at Colchester, Wednesday at Goshen…." And in a letter from 1742, he wrote, "The week before last I preachd 10 sermons... last week I preachd 10 times again... I am exceedingly worn out with constant labour and much watching."

Letter - June 28, 1742

Our current exhibit, "Is Not My Word Like Fire," looks at the Great Awakening and Wheelock's participation. It will be up through the end of June in our Class of 1965 Galleries. You can see Wheelock's itinerary anytime by asking for MS 940, Box 2. The letter is Mss 742378.