The Mark of the Hydra

Perhaps the most remarkable beast in Rauner’s collections is the depiction of Albertus Seba’s specimen of a seven-headed hydra in his collection of natural wonders, Locupletissimi rerum naturalium (Amsterdam, 1734-65). He admits in the text to being doubtful at first, but becoming convinced that the specimen was true to nature. To a European collector reared on the classics, a seven-headed hydra brought back by sailors traveling into new worlds would probably have been less questionable than a duck-billed platypus.

Seba was one of the great collectors of all time. His first natural history collection was sold to the czar of Russia and became the seed collection for the natural history museum in St. Petersburg. With the proceeds of the sale, he assembled his second great collection cataloged here.

To see it in "real" life, ask for Rare Book QH41.S4.

Titled Title Page

Who's on top here? Sometimes a title page will clue you into the ideology of a text immediately. Here, in the first edition of John Smith's The Generall Historie of Virginia (London: Michael Sparkes, 1624), we see dominion over the new lands of Virginia laid out graphically.

England's royalty are superimposed on a map of Virginia atop the page. As your eye wanders down the engraved title page, the arms of Virginia Company and the arms of the New England Company divide the map from the details of life in the new world. Across the bottom of the page there are scenes of native peoples inhabiting the newly colonized space.

Ask for McGregor 164 to see it in person in Rauner.

Anaïs Nin

Rauner Library holds a small collection of letters by Anaïs Nin.  Of interest is a note where Nin lists the possible sources for her name, which she links together at the end of the note by stating "the only thing they agree on, is moon goddess."  Also included is a letter from September 1975 where she writes about her battle with cancer.  "I suppose you know I have been fighting cancer for 9 months - just recovering very slowly."

Ask for MS-1000 to read the original letters.

Engraved Prayers

This extraordinary little edition of the Book of Common Prayer is executed entirely with engraved plates. No movable type was used, but every letter and every image was engraved on metal plates by John Sturt and printed in 1717 by John Baskett in London.  Nearly every page contains an image as well as decorative and historiated borders.

The book, with its luxurious engravings and silver clad cover, is reminiscent of a late medieval book of hours.  It has even been hand ruled in red throughout to add an extra element of craft to the production. The very form elicits a feeling of transcendence suitable to the text within.

There is also a working volvelle: a circular printed sheet that can be manipulated to  calculate Easter and the date of any other Sunday in the year. Lest there be doubt that this book is for the Church of England, the Lord's Prayer is inscribed into the "Effigies of King George."

Seven Pillars of Wisdom

T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph is an autobiographical account of Lawrence's involvement in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Turks during World War I.  Lawrence began writing the text in 1919, and after several complete reworkings, one due to the loss of the first manuscript while changing trains, produced a final version of approximately 350,000 words.  This "1922 Edition" was later abridged in a privately printed subscriber's edition in 1926, each with a unique binding.

One of 170 complete copies of the 1926 "Cranwell" edition, this volume is bound in green and gold by Roger de Coverly and Sons and is inscribed by Lawrence on page xix: "complete copy. 1.XII.26 TES."  The TES stands for T.E. Shaw, Lawrence's pseudonym.

The numerous illustrations are by several artists, including Kennington, Roberts, Augustus John, William Nicholson, and Paul Nash.  Inserted in the volume by the donor are two sheets of paper with the signatures, in arabic, of King Faisal (pictured), Safoit El Awa, annd Jafar el Askeri.

Ask for Rauner Lawrence 65 to see the complete volume

Summer Road Trip

Taking a vacation this summer? Need the best maps available? Well, if it is England you are visiting, you could consult John Ogilby's Itinerarium Angliae: or, a Book of Roads, wherein are Contain'd the Principal; Road-Ways of His Majesty's Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales (London: John Ogilby, 1674), but you might get lost.

The maps are laid out in scroll form on the page ("ribbons of highway?") and take the reader through the countryside noting the locations of inns and other spots of interest to travelers. Because roads twist and turn, but the format of this book insists on straight courses, the perspective is rarely the same even on the same page.  Notice how the compass roses vary across the page, sometimes pointing to the side, other times angling over to the corner of the page.

The maps in this volume were revised over and over, and this book and its successors, Britannia Depicta: or, Ogilby Improved and The Traveller's Pocket-Book, or Ogilby and Morgan's Book of the Roads was the standard source for travelers for well over 100 years.

Come plan your trip with Rare Book G1808.O3 1675.

Webster's Birds of America

Without question one of the most stunning books in our collections is the elephant folio, first edition of John Audubon's Birds of America. A lot has been written about this book, and a simple web search can give you far more information than we can give you here, but what you won't find is the unique quality of our particular copy.

The three physical volumes on permanent display in Rauner originally belonged to Daniel Webster, Class of 1801. In 1836, while Audubon was in the United States seeking subscribers to the work, he received an order from Webster for the first 300 plates, all that had been issued up to that time.  Our bound volumes were delivered the following year.

Why Webster never acquired the fourth volume remains a mystery.  Chronically embarrassed for ready cash, Webster was often tardy in meeting his financial obligations; and, as late as 1842, Audubon was still pressing the then Secretary of State for the balance due him on the first three volumes. Perhaps, as Audubon was also in financial straits in the late 1830s, he felt that Webster's subscription for volume four would be a poor financial risk.

The three-volume set remained in Webster's library throughout his lifetime. When his library was sold in 1875, the Audubon was acquired by the Haverhill (Mass.) Public Library where it remained until 1965 when it came to Dartmouth College through a generous gift in memory of Andrew B. Foster, Class of 1965.

Take a break and cool off this summer in Rauner where you can see the stunning images in Birds of America (we turn the page every week or two, so there is always something fresh to enjoy).