Treasures from the Library: St John’s Bible

This week’s Treasure is a relatively new one, and well suited for Lent.

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In 1998, St John’s University and St John’s Abbey officially commissioned a new illuminated Bible, now known as the St John’s Bible. The Bible is presented in 7 volumes; work was first begun during Lent 2000, and the volumes were completed and released over a period of time, from 2001 to 2007.

The original seven volumes are currently held at St John’s University, but you can explore the volumes digitally through their website. The College holds the standard publicly available copy of the St John’s Bible. There is also an edition referred to as the Heritage Edition, which is a fine art copy of the original including touch ups by hand and gold leaf. Per the St John’s website, there is a Heritage copy as Assumption College in Worcester, MA.

Speaking for myself, I’m a big fan of illuminated manuscripts. I still remember my trip to the Getty Museum and the Huntington Library when I was on the cusp of high school. By far the biggest draws for me were the glorious collections of illuminated Bibles and Books of Hours– the colors were brilliant, even after so much time. The gold was tarnished but there was a distinct sense of history, of use. The Huntington has secular manuscripts as well, notably the Canterbury Tales. I highly recommend both institutions; the collections are wonderful and the surroundings are marvelous. The Huntington has botanical gardens attached and they are always a highlight to my visit. There is something lovely about a library and garden together. The Getty, on the other hand, is located up on the cliffs and glitters in the afternoon sun so fiercely you need sunglasses, though you’ll not notice it when you’re in among their collections.

For those seeking additional digital access to Medieval manuscripts, turn your attention to the Digital Scriptorium and Cambridge’s online Scriptorium.

The nice thing about having a complete copy of the St John’s Bible available for students is to see the contemporary take on a very old form. The illuminations contained in the Bible may not be everyone’s cup of tea– as with digital images, it is difficult to get the full sense of the illumination in a reproduction. The color scheme is somewhat different from what might be seen in medieval manuscripts. There is more information on the principles that shaped the St John’s Bible available on their website.

For our copy of the St John’s Bible, it is available to view within the library. In the foyer, there is an alcove which contains the display stand and all seven volumes. Any of the volumes may be moved to the Helm Room or Scholar’s Lounge for viewing but must be returned to the viewing stand. They are not available for circulation.

Shakespeare in New Hampshire

Consider this early warning for your spring plans, Shakespeare is coming to New Hampshire!

First, some background. The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC holds 82 copies of the First Folio, sometimes referred to as “The Book that gave us Shakespeare.” The First Folio is just that, the first published Shakespeare collection in folio form. There is far more to it then that, though. The First Folio was published in 1623 after Shakespeare’s death and represents the first time his plays were grouped into comedies, histories, and tragedies. It is also the earliest known folio containing a single author’s work.

Oh, and did I mention it is also the first time that 18 of Shakespeare’s plays were first published and thus preserved? If you happen to enjoy As You Like It, the Comedy of Errors, Henry VI part I, Twelfth Night, The Winter’s Tale, or my personal favorite The Taming of the Shrew, you owe their published existence to the First Folio.

At most, 750 copies were printed, with 233 surviving today. You’ll recall Folger has 82. And bless them, they are sending them out into the world so that those of us who cannot make it to DC have the chance to see a First Folio in person. There will be an exhibition in all 50 states throughout 2016.

The first dates of the tour have already wrapped in Indiana, Oklahoma, and Oregon.If you’re heading to Vermont this month, make haste to Middlebury College– they have a copy through Feb. 28. My MLS alma mater, University of Arizona, has a Folio starting tomorrow and running through March 15 for those who have escaped to warmer climes– I don’t begrudge you a bit. The windchill over the weekend was well below zero; we’ve finally recovered.

And New Hampshire? Pencil in April 9 through May 1, my friends. The First Folio will be on display at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester (along side an exhibit on high heels called Killer Heels. How can you not want to see that?) Other New England locations include Brown University in Rhode Island (April 11 – May 1), Amherst College in Massachusetts (May 9-31), and University of Delaware (August 30 – September 25).

Folger also has digital copies available, including downloadable files. Those can be viewed on their website.

Technology in the Library

Technology in the Library

Technology is a funny thing. The word itself is evocative of computers, digitization, even sci fi and space travel and infinite possibility. But that is hardly the end all be all of technology; it isn’t even the entirety of technology that we are dealing with today.

Technology in the library can be scary for some; there is an immediate fear that all those wonderful books, full of knowledge and touched by generations before us will disappear like so much smoke, leaving the walls bare and the ridding the air of that sweet vanilla smell of old books. Don’t forget, however, that the book itself is a form of technology.

Brief pause for the video that I’m convinced is shown at the beginning of everyone’s sojourn through library school:

The word technology, when broken down simply, comes out to mean the science or study of craft or art. Easy enough for everyone to agree that a book is a physical object and the result of a craft; it was certainly a technological advance over the scroll or sheaves of loose paper. There is no question of the art of the book: one need only look at an illuminated manuscript to see art; one can even look at the books of the 1890s and 1900s to see the art put into the end paper and title pages.

These days, technology in the library is generally taken to mean removing the books and going digital, to compliment the digital catalog that can be accessed both in the building and from the wider web. Being on paper at the college, it was with great interest that I read Karen Coyle’s article “The Evolution of the Catalog.” After all, we have the ability to bypass the growing pains that were felt in the 1980s and 1990s when the majority of Libraryland was going digital, simply by virtue of the fact that we don’t have to install the very first OPAC and work our way up. We can apply what was learned throughout the implementation process and in the past 35 years of digitization.

What I found most interesting, though not necessarily surprising, is that developments in cataloging and inextricably caught up in the technology in use. The system of cataloging a string was tied to the technology of paper and the card catalog; the MARC format was born out of a need to easily provide card catalog cards and was pressed into service as the foundation for OPAC records.

Now that we are firmly in the world of the digital database, the format can chance again. During library school, the focus was on Functional Requirements for  Bibliographic Records (FRBR), which is relational as opposed to listing information in a string. I’ll admit, I did not keep up with the development of FRBR once I was out of the library school, simply because of the limited number of hours in the day. Now I’m catching up. Those interested in the development of FRBR can check out OCLC’s write up as well as the documents on FRBR from IFLA.

Treasures from the Library: Sonnets on Shakespeare

Welcome to the new blog series! Hopefully you guys get as much of a kick out of the random, weird, and wonderful things in the collection as I do. First though, a quick word to clarify: when I feature something as a treasure of the collection, it may or may not have monetary value. It may be a book with an interesting story or it may be a first edition of an author that is a favorite of the college. There are many types of value, after all.

Now, onto our first find!

My first question for you is, have you ever heard of Major General Ethan Allen Hitchcock? If the answer is no, don’t worry, I hadn’t either. Ethan Allen Hitchcock was born in Vergennes, VT in 1798. As an aside, you should visit Vergennes if you ever get the chance. Its a beautiful little town about 7 miles away from Lake Champlain. Seriously difficult not squee at the quaint nature of the town when you drive through. But back to the task at hand. Vergennes was named after the Comte de Vergennes at the suggestion of Ethan Allen. Ethan Allen being the grandfather of Ethan Allen Hitchcock, and famous for a great many things in his own right.

The son of a judge/delegate to the Constitutional Convention/part of the group who founded the University of Vermont and the grandson of the man who captured Fort

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General Ethan Allen Hitchcock. He doesn’t have time for your shenanigans.

Ticonderoga and helped found the state of Vermont, the good (eventual) General had a lot to live up to. After graduating from the US Military Academy, Hitchcock moved through the ranks, serving in the Seminole War and the Mexican-American War. He was out of service for a time before returning to serve in the Civil War, attaining the rank of Major General.

He was a military man, through and through. And yet, somewhere in between marching all over the country and commanding troops during a war that was the bloodiest to date, he found time to write. The flute and alchemy were his two loves, but he clearly had a soft spot in his heart for Shakespeare, as this little volume attests.

Remarks on the Sonnets of Shakespeare was published in 1867, four years before Ethan Allen Hitchcock passed away. It was the last book he wrote that was published in his lifetime. His journals, Fifty Years in Camp and Field and A Traveler in Indian Territory would only be published posthumously.

The copy we possesses is not in the best condition: it has visible wear on the spine and there are sections that are detaching from the spine. Its to be expected of a little book from 1867 that has rattled around for almost 150 years. There aren’t any distinguishing marks on the book, so I can only guess where it might have come from. Most of our library books began their library career elsewhere before retiring to our collection, and that very well may hold true for this little volume as well.

 

For those looking to read the work, this volume has been removed from general circulation until we can decide how best to proceed. However, the Internet Archive has a digital copy that can be found here.

https://archive.org/stream/cu31924013143841?ui=embed#mode/2up

Primary Day

The College, as you know, is located in a lovely little corner of New England. Most specifically, the college is in New Hampshire. Every 4 (or so) years, we find ourselves at the center of the media spotlight as candidates dutifully troop through, hoping to garner a vote. It is odd, at least to me, that a state so small should have such a glare on it. I figured I was far from the only one with that question. In addition, this year is the 100th anniversary of the First in the Nation Primary. So, in the spirit of furthering knowledge, I present you with a smattering of resources about the First in the Nation primary and the politics of a presidential election:

In the Library:

The Stacks are were you should go for any resources on political science or political philosophy. I happily spent hours (days… weeks even) down in the stacks doing research for my Junior Project and Senior Thesis, being of a political philosophy bent. It didn’t hurt that the Stacks are easily the coolest place in the library during our warmer months.

Specifically, you will want to browse the E and F sections, and keep a weather eye out for books of interest in J and K.

Online:

  • The State of New Hampshire has a good write up on the history of the First in the Nation Primary.
  • The New Hampshire Historical Society up in Concord has a virtual exhibit “New Hampshire: A Proven Primary Tradition.” If you get a chance to go up and visit them in Concord, there are objects that you can view in person, as well as a wonderful research library.
  • New Hampshire Public Radio has a number of features and articles of interest. In particular, there is a piece on the history of the first FITN primary, a series of articles on the history of the Primary in New Hampshire, and run down of a new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on the Primary and its history which will be offered by University of New Hampshire.
  • Check out the Secretary of State’s site, which has a new poster designed for this year with replicas of the ballot and all the old ballot boxes that were used in each town.
  • If you’re looking to keep an eye on things online, you’ll want to follow two hashtags: #FITN and #NHPrimary.
  • Finally, our friends up at Saint Anselm house the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. Most of you will have seen them host debates in this election cycle as well as previously, but did you know that the Political Library is houses the most comprehensive collection of objects relating to the primary?

Saturday Librarian: Snow, glorious snow!

I’m sure everyone in New England is familiar with the snow in the title. For those outside the region, the forecast shifted before and during the storm.

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The view of Manchester St from the passenger seat. These were some of the better road conditions.

We went from dusting to an inch to 3 inches to 7 inches in the space of 12 hours. Needless to say, the first order of business for everyone was to dig out.

 

By the time we arrived on campus, there was a clear path to the library door, for which I am grateful. I’ve had more than a few spills on that campus in the winter months. I tell myself I am more graceful than in my youth, but I think the truth of the matter is there’s more ice melt than there was back then. Whatever the reason, I’m sure all who have ever fallen on the road from dorm to library can share in my pain and the happiness that is not falling.

The semester is well underway, of course, but we’ve managed to stay on pace with the shelving, a victory in its own right. Beyond the handful of books returned (one of which we’ll highlight this week. Interesting stuff!), I found that the number of books wandering the rooms was beginning to get out of control.

This week’s room in focus was the Helm Room, in no small part due to the fact that my office opens onto it. Too, there were a number of books scattered along the window sills throughout the room. These have all found their homes on the shelves, their presence noted in the shelf read spreadsheet. The spreadsheets have been cleaned up and stripped down to essentials: since I will not be creating full MARC records for each of our books, there is little reason to check all those fields. Once we move to a full OPAC, the system will pull down the records for us, a development for which I am eternally grateful. I enjoy cataloging to a certain extent. I do not enjoy the amount of coding that goes into creating original records.

Another minor impact of the shelf read is the ability to double check the call numbers. There have been some acquisitions processed in the last decade or so with call numbers that make you go “huh?”

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Fresh spine labels for everyone!

Granted that reasonable minds can disagree on the correct call
number for a work, some of these were far from home. The advantage I am finding in doing the shelf read is the ability to really get into the collection, to get a feel for what my predecessors have done and where they have agreed and disagreed with each other.

 

The call number previously on these volumes out of the Loeb Classics collection, for example, would have put them squarely in the center of bird watching books for New England Species. Not the first place I’d check for Pliny, to be sure. When I consider trying to do this in the age before the internet, when things like World Cat can bring you call number consensus in 30 seconds or less, I find myself with even greater respect for those who braved this world of information before me. I wouldn’t necessarily go back to their world were it took far more time to find out how the Library of Congress had classified something, but I can appreciate the amount of work that went into such an endeavor.

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Hint: several of these books will make an appearence

Trying a few new things on the blog in the coming weeks, including the beginning of a feature on the interesting, odd, cool, and wonderful volumes I find in the library.

If there’s anything you’d like to see or anything you’d like to hear about, drop me a line or post a comment!

Lenten Resources

Lenten Resources

With Ash Wednesday on February 10th, Lent is rapidly approaching. With that in mind, check out the following resources for a fruitful Lent:

In the Library— the number of copies per book may vary

  • The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola are always a popular choice. They are located in the Helm Room, BX 2179 L7 E5.
  • Introduction to the Devout Life by St Francis de Sales comes recommended in this post from Jen Fulwiler. Also located in the Helm Room, call number BX 2179 F85.
  • The Great Divorce by CS Lewis may not be your prototypical Lenten book, but I found it to be very interesting and through provoking. You’ll find it in the Helm Room, BJ 1401 L4.
  • Orthodox Lent, Holy Week and Easter: Liturgical texts with commentary by Hugh Wybrew is a summary introduction to the Orthodox traditions of the season. Located in the Helm Room, BX375.T75.W83
  • The Easter Book by Francis Weiser traces the development of Lenten and Easter traditions through the length and breadth of Christendom through history. You’ll find this volume in the Stacks, GT.4935.W4
  • Easter Vigil and Other Poems, by Karol Wojtyla I have not read the poems written prior to Karol Wojtyla becoming Pope Saint John Paul II but I can’t imagine that there would not be value there. PG7158 J64 A26, located in the Ballroom
  • Resurrection and the Message of Easter by Xavier Leon-Dufour BT481 L4513
  • Journey toward Easter, by Pope Benedict XVI comes recommended by both Jen Fulwiler and Simcha Fisher in the posts linked to elsewhere in the list, and can be found in the Helm Room. BX1912.5 R3813
  • Great Lent: Jouney to Pascha by Alexander Schmemann come recommended in this post from Simcha Fisher and can be found in the Helm Room, BX.376.S36
  • Jesus of Nazareth, by Pope Benedict XVI. Part of Pope Benedict’s reflection on the Life of Jesus, this volume covers the time from the Baptism of Christ to the Transfiguration. Located in the Helm Room, BT303.2 B4613
  • Reflections on the Psalms by CS Lewis has been recommended to me as a good companion when reading through the Psalms. Call number BS 1433 L4 in the Helm Room.
  • The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis. A Lenten classic. Located in the Helm Room, BV 4501 L48.
  • The Bible should go without saying, but our large collection of various translations can be found in the Helm Room. Of particular note, we have several volumes of the St John’s Bible in the foyer of the library by the entrance to the Scholar’s Lounge. The St. John’s Bible is a modern take on the illuminated manuscript, commissioned by St John’s Abbey and St John’s University in Minnesota. Additional information on the Bible and its production can be see at saintjohnsbible.org

Online Resources

  • View Pope Francis’ Lenten Message on the Vatican Website.
  • Our Dioceses, the Dioceses of Manchester, have set up a page chock full of information, meditations, prayers, and considerations for a fruitful Lent.
  • The USCCB has also put together resources for a fruitful Lent, particularly calling attention to the Pope’s call that “the season of Lent in this Jubilee Year be lived more intensely as a privileged moment to celebrate and experience God’s mercy”
  • Catholic Apptitude has a page for Lenten apps that is updated yearly. 2016 apps are already being updated and will be through the start of Lent.
  • If you’re looking for articles on how to have a fruitful Lent, a quick search of Catholic Exchange or National Catholic Register will turn up a number of articles.
  • EWTN has a really nice Lent and Easter Portal set up for this year, starting the week of Ash Wednesday and taking you all the way through Easter.

Saturday Librarian: So much to do, so little time

A quick post for you today. The semester has begun and students have filtered back into the classrooms and the library. While there were certainly books that came in, I have managed to check them in and shelve them all and maintain a semblance of control on the shelving for another day!

The next few days will be spent preparing the spreadsheets for our renewed efforts in the shelf read/inventory process. Lest anyone fear, the spreadsheets are synced to four different back up sources as well as the working laptop, so that nothing will be lost should one (or more) systems go down. Having nearly lost my NaNoWriMo to a hard drive crash, I believe in more than one back up at all times!

The days continue to stay lighter longer here in New Hampshire, and with that comes a new energy to attack the pile of work. I only paused for a few moments to contemplate all the incoming books that wait patiently for our inventory to be complete. It is much like having a giant assortment of presents under the Christmas tree, but finding it is only September and there is a long way to go before you get to open your gifts. We shall soldier on nevertheless.

Look for a post next week on resources both local and digital to help with a fruitful Lent. At some point in the next few weeks, there will also be a weekly or biweekly feature starting up on the blog for the interesting and weird finds hidden on the shelves.

Burns Night!

There are a handful of literary holidays scattered throughout the year, but Burns Night is a singularly delightful one.

To begin at the beginning, Burns Night is generally celebrated on January 25th, to correspond with Robbie Burns’ birthday. The Poetry has a nice overview of Burns: his life, his poems, and their place in Scottish and English literary movements. You probably don’t want to tell a Scotsman that Burns has a place in the English literary tradition since he is the National Poet of Scotland (And this isn’t a post about Scottish independence. I’m not so foolish as to wade into that on a library blog). You can’t deny his influence on the poets to the south of him and after his time, however. For those on campus, we have a small selection of Burns in the Newman Room.

How does one go about hosting a Burns Night/Burns Supper/Burns day celebration? Since we’re in the US, there won’t be any real haggis, so a modified one with have to do (until the ban is lifted, as many of my acquaintances and friends fervently hope it will be soon). There are a number of Scottish dishes to prepare for Burns night. Fortunately for us, the power of the internet brings us a menu and recipes directly from Scotland. In fact, the Scots have put together a full guide to Burns Night: food, drink, wardrobe, even an app to download that contains the poetry of Robert Burns and an outline of which poems to recite when.

And what, exactly, will you get yourself into? Burns Country has the itinerary:

  • Gather, meet and mingle
  • Start the meal with the Skelkirk Grace, followed by the first course of soup (and whiskey)
  • The Parade of the Haggis– really, you ought to have it piped in if at all possible. Its marvelous.
  • Address to a Haggis– Don’t worry, its one of Burns’ poems, you needn’t make up your own. Make sure you have your dirk at the ready.
  • Immortal Memory– about the only serious point in the evening. Now’s the time for a speech about Robert Burns- general, biographical, poetic analysis are all allowed, and the speech is usually on the longer side: up to half an hour. Youtube has a number of taped speeches from Burns Societies and Burns nights around the world, and its worth watching a selection to get a feel for what you’d like to say.
  • Songs and recitations– many of Burns’ poems have been turned into songs, so these will be fairly easy to find at any of the sources linked to. That’s not to say this is the only time to sing or recite. Usually, there will be songs and recitations sprinkled through the remainder of the evening. “Musts” (though everyone’s list is different) include Tam O Shanter, Address to the Unco Guild, To A Mouse, To a Louse, Holy Willie’s Prayer, Ae fond Kiss, My Luve is like a Red, Red Rose.
  • Toast to the Lassies– originally a toast to the ladies in thanks for the meal, the toast or address to the lassies is generally a humorous take on womankind or any variety of topics. It is not meant to be offensive or crude and men beware, the reply is next!
  • Reply (or Toast) to the Laddies/Reply from the Lassies– whatever you call it, the women receive the last word. Also meant to be lighthearted and funny without giving offense, it is not uncommon for those delivering the toasts to collaborate beforehand so that the toasts compliment each other. If you can do it on the fly, then by all means do!
  • Closing– after the speeches your night can continue for as long as you choose with singing, dancing, and recitations but once the evening is drawing to a close, it is customary for the host to say a few words of farewell and for all to then sing Auld Lang Syne. Depending on the quantities of whiskey and ale drunk, you may want to have copies of the lyrics available.

 

slàinte mhòr!