Special Collections & Archives at Wesleyan University
A place for news and information about rare books, manuscripts and university archives.
In the course of pulling sample materials for a presentation to Prof. Ron Schatz’s Exploring Middletown’s History (HIST171) class, I came across this aerial view of downtown Middletown found in the SC&A “Middletown, Photographs, Main St.” vertical file. Main Street runs diagonally from top left to bottom right, and Court and College Streets are running … Read more
An association for the establishment of a rural cemetery in Middletown was organzied on July 3, 1850. It purchased property known as Indian Hill. The association charged Dr. Horatio Stone with laying out the grounds. The cemetery was dedicated on Sept. 30, 1850, and among the participants were the mayor, other city officials, clergymen, prominent … Read more
A researcher wanted to know if SC&A holds music programs for concerts performed during the Civil War era so he could analyze the compositions played. In the Wesleyan Music Dept. Records, four such programs are found, including the one shown above.
What is a broadside? It’s another term for a poster, but often with more words than pictures on it. I’ve been cataloging a small stack of broadsides printed during and after the American Revolutionary War. Here are two proclamations printed as broadsides — one from the governor of Connecticut, Jonathan Trumbull, in 1777, and a … Read more
Love those silly internet cat sites? Adorable kitties getting into trouble have been around forever. Here’s one of many too-cute-to-be-true images from Oliver Herford’s Rubáiyát of a Persian Kitten (New York: Scribner’s, 1922, c1904). This sweet little stray wandered off the library’s weeding list into a safe, new home in Special Collections & Archives, already … Read more
In the SC&A vertical files, there is a nice selection of images of Van Vleck Obersvatory, one of which I came across this week. It’s undated, but judging from the landscape, I would estimate that the photograph was taken sometime in the 1920s or ’30s. That’s the iconic Douglas Canon in the foreground. You can … Read more
Here is the photograph of the John Wesley Club in the 1965 Olla Prodrida. Look familiar? Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper: (Image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giampietrino-Last-Supper-ca-1520.jpg)
The pick this week is our new exhibition, John Cage Writes, that opened on Monday, December 3rd. It focuses primarily on the five books influential experimental music composer, writer, and artist John Cage wrote that were published by Wesleyan University Press: Silence (1961), A Year from Monday (1967), M (1973), Empty Words (1979), and X … Read more
I needed to examine images of the 1993 commencement ceremonies in response to a reference request and I encountered this shot. I like the colors and the mortarboards against the sky, and it reminded me that for this year’s seniors, there’s just one semester to go.
A patron asked to see our first edition of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, 1855.
