Before He Was Anybody

Peter Rabbit is one of the most famous characters in the world of children's literature. But he wasn't always that well known. In fact, as with almost every other author, Beatrix Potter was initially unable to find a publisher for her story due to the usual rejections and her own insistence on a specific format and quality. Instead of compromising her vision, she decided to have a small run of the story privately printed.

The first private edition ran to 250 copies and was printed by Strangeway's in London in December 1901. A second run of private printings was completed in February of 1902. Finally, later that year, the first commercial edition was published by Frederick Warne & Co. The Tale of Peter Rabbit quickly became a commercial success and paved the way for numerous additional tales set in the same world.

Rauner holds one of the original first printings from the 1901 private edition.  Ask for Val 827P849 X to see Peter before he was famous and read about his misadventures.

The Playfully Morbid World of Edward Gorey

Edward Gorey described his mission in life as "to make everybody as uneasy as possible... I think we should all be as uneasy as possible, because that's what the world is like." As a writer and artist, Gorey has created his own uneasy world, through thousands of macabre illustrations. Gorey's world is equal parts morbid, silly, and exquisite. It expanded and evolved through books, pictures and even beanbags.

However, Gorey isn't for everyone. To find out if you find him delightfully creepy or just plain morbid, look at one of his best-known works, The Gashlycrumb Tinies. It is a short book, styled on a traditional children's alphabet book. However, the rhymes and pictures within aren't suited for most preschoolers. Instead, the book details the absurd deaths of a series of children in alphabetical order. Gorey begins with a bang: "A is for AMY who fell down the stairs" and "B is for BASIL assaulted by bears." The alphabet continues all the way to Zillah (who drank too much gin). If you find the image of the toddler Zillah drinking with a skeleton in a dress more delightfully ridiculous than offensive, there are a few other works to check out in Rauner's extensive collection of rare Gorey works.

Gorey wrote over one hundred books, all striking a delicate balance between gruesome and playful. One standout is The Loathsome Couple, about two child murderers and their casually miserable marriage. The book contains the inner flap description, "This book may well prove to be its author's most unpleasant ever." Another Gorey classic is The Gorey Alphabet, arranged in a similar style as The Gashleycrumb Tinies (and, like many of Rauner's works, signed by Gorey himself). The 'B' in this alphabet reads: "The Baby, lying meek and quiet/Upon the customary rug/Has dreams about rampage and riot/And will grow up to be a thug." One of the Gorey's less structured works is F.M.R.A. Published in 1980, F.M.R.A. is a box containing a mishmash of everything from dark Valentines to an envelope full of tiny pictures. Dartmouth owns one of the 426 copies created, signed (as all copies were) by Gorey.

Gorey also illustrated a number of books by other authors including Freaky Friday by Mary Rogers and The Recently Deflowered Girl: The Right Thing to Say on Every Dubious Occasion by Phypps Hyacinthe.

Gorey's work is popular outside of the world of literature. Rauner has an Edward Gorey board game, if you want to play with some friends, as well as a "Fantoid Pack" if you wish to predict your future (warning: it will not be bright). If you’re tired of the typical cheeriness of Christmas cards, check out Rauner's Edward Gorey Christmas Cards collection. Or, if you’re too stressed to study, seek the company of one of the Gorey's cuddlier creations: cat and pig beanbags. Through his illustration, Edward Gorey has created a vast and nonsensical universe. Come to Rauner to live in it for a few hours.

Take a look at F.M.R.A., Illus G675fmr; Pig Beanbag, Realia 504; The Fantoid Pack, Illus G675fan; and The Gashlycrumb Tinies, Illus G675gas.

Posted for Kate Taylor '13

Mourning a Prince

Four hundred years ago this week, Henry, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, died at the age of 18. The death of the popular prince, which cleared the way for the later ascension of his younger brother Charles I, was met with a great show of public grief. One slender volume in our collection, Three Elegies on the Most Lamented Death of Prince Henrie (London: William Welbie, 1613) by Cyril Tourneur, John Webster, and Thomas Heywood, shows the depth of mourning through its very printing.

The book's title page expresses loss by inverting the usual woodcut printing process to print white text on black. But the printers carried the grief throughout the book by alternating pages printed in black opposite each page of text. The dark ink on each verso bleeds through the paper so the text rests on a somber, dark background.

Between the elegies, a period of sorrow is enforced by two-page spreads of black.

For a moment of reflection and grief, ask for Rare PR1195.E5T68 1613.

Zombie President

What happens when a candidate passes away during an election? When Horace Greeley lost the 1872 election, he lost a lot more than his pride. In fact, Greeley died before the Electoral College even cast their votes – but after the popular election was over. How does an election continue with one of the major contenders dead?

The 1872 election was framed by the Liberal Republicans and Democrats as "anyone but Grant." Liberal Republicans split from the incumbent president, Ulysses S. Grant, and the Radical Republicans in 1870. In 1872, they nominated Horace Greeley to represent the party. The Democrats, who Greeley had clashed with in the past, decided to back Greeley as well, in hope of getting Grant out of office. However, Grant had too much support and momentum. While both parties backed Greeley, neither had a strong sense of loyalty to the poor campaigner. Grant won 286 electoral votes and Greeley 66.

Only 25 days after the general population voted, Greeley died. The election and the death of his wife had driven him to overwhelming psychological and physical breakdowns. In light of a situation that had never been encountered before (or since), the Electoral College was unsure on how to proceed. Some voted for Greeley, despite his death. These votes were invalid. Most cast their votes for other Democrats, though, unsurprisingly, none were able to make a sizeable dent in Grant’s lead. Grant went on to four more years as President, and the issue of a President dying in election has not been dealt with since.

For a dead man to lose the election is tragic, but politically resolvable. While Grant had clearly won the 1872 election, polls are much closer this year so dealing with the death of a candidate would likely be more complicated. There is no federal mandate on how the Electoral College votes; logically the parties would instruct electors on their chosen plans of action, whether it be to elect the Vice President or to select a new candidate.

For the Election poster ask for Broadside 872900.2, the letter on the election is MS 872554.1.

Posted for Kate Taylor '13

Hitting the Right Note in Presidential Elections

One aspect that dominated earlier presidential elections in the United States missing from modern day elections is campaign songs. Candidates today often use already popular songs as "theme songs," a tradition started by FDR in 1932. In previous centuries lyrics specific to the candidate would be set to well known tunes. This allowed for more direct arguments in songs to be sung in rallies and spread in support of certain candidates. Looking at the bold and sometimes absurd lyrics, the images the candidates wanted to portray of themselves (and their opponents) becomes strikingly clear.

For example, "For Jefferson and Liberty" made the pretty obvious link between the election of Thomas Jefferson and escape from religious bigotry and tyranny. George Washington was similarly straightforward in "Follow Washington" (featuring lyrics such as "My lads march on/And follow, follow Washington"). The peppy, upbeat melodies were easy to follow, allowing for wide distribution and singing at events.

However, candidates were not opposed to an occasional smear campaign. Depictions of the grim future other candidates would bring to America are common in modern elections and were just as prominent in the nineteenth century. "Little Know Ye Who’s Coming" was a frankly terrifying description of the future should John Quincy Adams not be elected--an America filled with swords, pistols, guns, famine, slavery and knavery. On a similar note, "If the Johnies Get Into Power Again" warned against allowing the Southern Democrats to win the 1880 election, as "The nation’s flag will lose its stars/The stripes they’ll change to rebel bars."

Rauner has a number of works from one election famous for its campaign songs. The 1840 presidential election had one of the more extensive and influential repertoires, forming a key part of William Henry Harrison's enthusiastic campaign. "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" is perhaps the best-known campaign song of all time. The song that became Harrison's slogan refers to Harrison's battle between his Indiana militia and Native Americans while gesturing to his vice president, John Tyler, "too." While "Tip and Ty" was most popular, Harrison had other songs, such as the "National Whig Song," which called for citizens to vote for this "fine, true-hearted gentleman." Harrison's aggressively upbeat campaigning allowed him to side-step national issues, such as slavery. Instead, he was able to portray himself as the candidate of the people in a time of economic depression. Unfortunately, his intense campaigning and extended inauguration speech led to Harrison's death of pneumonia only a month after being sworn into office.

Looking at these examples makes one wonder - should Obama and Romney be writing their own campaign songs? While will.i.am created a memorable music video "Yes, We Can" supporting Obama in 2008, no such tunes have emerged this year. Would YouTube and the Internet offer a new way to make these campaign songs go viral?

To sing along, ask for: The National Whig song - SC 414, Tip and Ty - SC 288, The Whigs of Colombia shall prevail - SC 478

Posted for Kate Taylor '13.

Shakespeare's Superstorm

The Shakespeare play that best lends itself to a spectacular performance is The Tempest.  Magic, fairies and huge storms gave 19th-century producers an opportunity to put on a Big Show and entertain audiences with the latest special effects. These playbills from our extensive Williams/Watson Theater collection present Shakespeare as a rousing good time--not exactly the high culture we have come to expect.

The 1823 production at Theatre-Royal in York hyped the "BURSTING of a MOUNTAIN into a VOLCANO" and "the ascension of Ariel." The play was based on Dryden and D'Avenant's popular 1670 rewrite of The Tempest and contained nearly 20 songs. More impressive was the 1856 production that featured 23,000 feet of painted scenery scrolling behind the actors in an "enchanted panorama" and used "extensive machinery" for other effects.

Curiously, a playbill from 1897 has Isadora Duncan in a bit role as one of the "spirits attending on Prospera." The next year she moved to London where she would soon become one of the giants of dance.

Come in and ask for Playbills PR ENK-You-TR 8230512, PR MA-Boe-BoT2 8560329, PR MA-Bos-Hol 8970510.

Friends Conceived

With birth control a hot button issue with the upcoming election, Dartmouth students can look inside Rauner library to gain some insight on topics that are still inciting national controversy. The papers of Juliet Barrett Rublee offer a peek into the beginnings of the birth control movement in America, with private letters and publications from which Planned Parenthood stemmed.

Rublee became involved in the birth control movement after meeting Margaret Sanger at a literary salon in 1912 and was immediately drawn to the activist. Sanger, at that time just beginning her work in sex ed and the fight for birth control, would go on to become the infamous founder of Planned Parenthood. She and Rublee became fast friends in the 1910’s, just as the birth control movement was beginning to blossom and Sanger was forced into exile in Europe. The pair was in near constant communication over the following decades. While Rauner has an extensive collection of letters Rublee received from a number of people, including her husband and other birth control activists, her letters from Sanger are perhaps the most intriguing.

Sanger is a figure that has been portrayed in modern times as impossibly forward-thinking and inconceivably cruel, an opinion usually divided across political lines. However, her letters to Juliet Rublee instead show an emotional and passionate woman deeply invested in the issue of birth control. Her letters are intended to keep Rublee, one of Sanger’s major funders as well as a leader in the movement, in the loop on different fronts on the birth control movement. Sanger’s casual name-dropping of authors, radical political figures and celebrities paint a rich picture of the interconnected world of early-nineteenth-century radical politics.

The letters also offer a window into Sanger’s private life. While Sanger and Rublee were brought together by political activism, they also shared less lofty interests: the opera, worrying about illness, strange crash diets. Sanger and Rublee, despite their warnings to the other to burn the letters in fear of discovery, rarely censored themselves in their writing, leading to both sordid details and a few tersely worded fights. Some particularly juicy letters touch on Sanger and Rublee’s interest in psychic mediums, Sanger’s involvement in the free love movement and associated affairs, and hints at a relationship between Sanger and Rublee that borders on romantic.

Check out MS-731 to see how Juliet Barrett Rublee mixed her personal and political life in helping found the birth control movement in America.

Posted for Kate Taylor '13.