Modern European Cultures – Page 6

Upcoming Events: August and early September

Please join us for the following event being hosted in Rare Books and Special Collections:

Thursday, August 25 at 5:00pm | The Italian Research Seminar: “Sandro Botticelli on Facing in Dante’s Paradiso” – Heather Webb (Cambridge). Sponsored by Italian Studies at Notre Dame.

In other news, the July spotlight exhibit featuring a recently acquired Piranesi volume will soon be changed out for the August spotlight exhibit highlighting the Elisabeth Markstein Archive.

The spring and summer exhibit Vestigia Vaticana will remain on display through August 15. After that, the fall exhibit will be installed: Ingenious Exercises: Print and Physical Culture in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1800.

Watch for news about a new Fall semester spotlight exhibit soon!

Color Our Collections: Vatican and Piranesi exhibits

Today’s coloring sheets comes from items on display in two of our ongoing exhibits: Vestigia Vaticana and the July spotlight exhibit on a recent acquisition, three works of Piranesi. The Vatican exhibit is open through mid-August, while the Piranesi exhibit closes at the end of this week.

Enjoy, and if you have the time please come in and see the full exhibits!

Download a PDF [1 MB]

Color Our Collections

Coloring books are everywhere these days it seems. Books stores. Craft stores. Museums and libraries. Libraries?

Yes, even libraries have been getting in on the current craze. Who are we to miss an opportunity to highlight some of the beautiful illustrations to be found in our collection?

Today’s coloring sheet comes from Jost Amman’s Kunnst- und Lehrbüchlein für die anfahenden Jungen (Book of Art and Instruction for Young People), published by Sigmund Feyerabend in German and Latin in 1578. If you’d like to see more of the illustrations from this book, it is featured in the “Society” showcase of the online exhibit After Gutenberg: Print, Books, and Knowledge in Germany through the Long Sixteenth Century. Or come visit us and ask to see the book in person — the call number is on the coloring page.

Download a PDF [1 MB]

Recent Acquisition: A Collection of Eighteenth-Century Illustrated Fables

by Marsha Stevenson, Visual Arts Librarian

The Hesburgh Libraries recently acquired a two-volume set called Raccolta di Varie Favole by Giorgio Fossati. Published in Venice in 1744, these books gather 216 fables from a variety of sources. The fables are printed in both Italian and French, and conclude with brief proverbs. Each is illustrated with a full-page engraving, many of which portray animals and/or architectural settings.

Giorgio Fossati (1705-1785) identifies himself as “Architetto” on the title page, but was a polymath of many talents. He was an accomplished etcher and book illustrator, publishing editions of Vignola and Palladio and producing numerous maps. He also worked in the performing arts, revising opera librettos and designing theatrical sets. He was specially noted for devising ephemeral decorations for feasts given in honor of distinguished foreign visitors.

This engraving “Of Armed Animals” comes from Book One, Fable 27. It illustrates the “soldiers” chosen by a wise Lion whose kingdom was being challenged by an upstart Leopard. These animals, among which are the Rhinoceros, the Crocodile, the Hedgehog, the Porcupine, and the Tortoise, all feature as their distinguishing characteristic both offensive and defensive capabilities. This thoughtful choice of “troops” enabled the Lion to defeat and banish the Leopard’s army. The accompanying proverb advises on the importance of soldiers being able to respect their leader.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recent Acquisition: L’École des armes (The School of Fencing)

Domenico Angelo. L’École des armes: avec l’explication générale des principals attitudes et positions concernant l’escrime. . . . London: R & J Dodsley, 1763.

Domenico Angelo (c1717-1802) was an Italian fencing master whose School of Arms in Soho, London brought continental small-sword techniques to a fashionable English clientele that included members of the royal family. His L’École des armes (The School of Fencing), first published in London in 1763, went on to become the most influential instructional of the later eighteenth century (and the immediate source for the article on fencing in Diderot’s Encyclopédie). It is also a lavish book, an oblong folio (29 x 47 cm) containing 47 engraved plates after John Gwynn. Together, Angelo’s text (written in French) and Gwynn’s images provide a course of instruction that emphasizes both the cultivation of poise and grace and practical modes of self-defense.

BOO_004370170-pl_14 — Plate 14: *Cinquieme position du Salut.* (Fifth position of the Salute.)

BOO_004370170-pl_21 — Plate 21: *De la parade de prime sur le coup de second.* (Of the parade called prime against the second thrust.)

BOO_004370170-pl_46 — Plate 46: *L’epée & Lanterne combattiie par l’epée & Manteau*. (The sword & Lantern against the sword & Cloak.)

Rare Books and Special Collections recently acquired a first edition of L’École des armes, an important addition to the early modern sport-related titles in the Joyce Sports Collection.

Recent Acquisition: Three Works of Battista Piranesi

by Marsha Stevenson, Visual Arts Librarian

An important new acquisition is Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s Antichità d’Albano e di Castel Gandolfo (Antiquities of Albano and Castel Gandolfo), published in Rome in 1764. This volume is dedicated to Pope Clement XIII, who was an important patron of Piranesi’s. It is bound with two related works from 1762: Descrizione e disegno dell’emissario del Lago Albano (Description and Design of the Emissarium of Lake Albano) and Di due spelonche ornate dagli antichi alla riva del Lago Albano (Concerning Two Caves Embellished by the Ancients on the Bank of Lake Albano). All three focus on the environs of Castel Gandolfo, which is just outside of Rome, overlooking Lake Albano, and is the summer residence of the popes.

Piranesi (1720-1778), best known as an etcher and engraver, was an influential figure in eighteenth-century neoclassicism. His Vedute di Roma (Views of Rome) were informed by his personal architectural and archaeological research and are especially celebrated. Also of significance are his Carceri, which are imaginative views of early Roman prisons.

The volume acquired by the library was produced soon after Piranesi opened his own printing studio in 1761. It is a very early edition, issued without several of the illustrations that appeared in later versions. Two of the plates in Di due spelonche have lettering and drawing in pen and brown ink which are believed to be in Piranesi’s hand. Only eight other copies of this kind are known to be in existence.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Bram Stoker’s Manuscript of His Lecture on Abraham Lincoln

Bram Stoker (1847-1912), when he was manager of the renowned English actor Henry Irving, made many trips to the United States. Over the course of these visits and perhaps after meeting the poet Walt Whitman in 1884, he became intrigued by Abraham Lincoln. In the late 1880s and 1890s, Stoker lectured on Lincoln at numerous venues in both the United States and Europe.

In composing his lecture, Stoker drew on many of the standard sources of the day and also quotes Whitman. Stoker emphasizes slavery throughout and Lincoln’s role as emancipator. A long prelude provides background on the “peculiar institution” in the United States and the sectional crisis of the 1850s. Then follows the life of Lincoln proper. Stoker’s attitude toward his subject is reverent in the extreme. Explaining that “the hour had come for the final struggle . . . between slavery and freedom,” Stoker reiterates to the audience in introducing his subject, “The hour had come—and with it . . . came the man—Abraham Lincoln.”

Notre Dame holds the original, working copy of Bram Stoker’s 152-page, unbound manuscript. Approximately half of the Notre Dame manuscript is a single, essentially sustained narrative though deletions, additions, and corrections abound. The rest consists of variations on portions of that narrative inserted, perhaps, to suit a particular audience.

MSE-IR_5304-1B-019r — Folio 19r, showing the first example of the beginning of the lecture (MSE/IR 5304-1B).

MSE-IR_5304-1B-098r — Folio 98r, showing a variation on the beginning of the lecture (MSE/IR 5304-1B).

MSE-IR_5304-1B-099r — Folio 99r, showing another version of the beginning of the lecture (MSE/IR 5304-1B).

MSE-IR_5304-1B-160r — Folio 160r, showing a third version of the beginning of the lecture (MSE/IR 5304-1B).

Spotlight Exhibit: Constructing Shakespeare

January 2016

The posthumous First Folio printing of William Shakespeare’s plays in 1623 represents a landmark development in the history of English drama, rescuing some of the bard’s works that would have been lost forever. The earlier editions that do exist, however, differ markedly from the First Folio, and there is little evidence that Shakespeare oversaw their publication. What, then, is the “real” text?

The Shakespeare we know emerges from hundreds of years of this debate. Current holdings and recent acquisitions in Rare Books and Special Collections shed light on the discussion as it developed into the nineteenth century. Selections from the Second and Third Folio accompany printings by some of Shakespeare’s earliest critical editors, including the famous poet Alexander Pope and the moral censor Thomas Bowdler.

This month’s spotlight exhibit is curated by Daniel Johnson, English Literature and Digital Humanities Librarian, and accompanies the special traveling exhibit “First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare, on tour from the Folger Shakespeare Library.” The exhibit is open to the public 9:00am to 7:00pm Monday through Friday and noon to 5:00pm on weekends, through January 29, 2016 (extended hours due to the “First Folio!” exhibit).

Upcoming Events: January

“First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare” on tour from the Folger Shakespeare Library will arrive at Rare Books and Special Collections in the Hesburgh Library during the first days of 2016 as one of the first stops of the exhibit’s yearlong nationwide tour. The exhibit will open on Wednesday, January 6 with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony (read more below).

On-Going Exhibits

First Folio Exhibit

January 6th – January 29th
Rare Books & Special Collections (102 Hesburgh Library)

9:00am – 7:00pm Mondays through Fridays
noon – 5:00pm Saturdays and Sundays

Guided tours of the First Folio exhibit will be offered daily by Hesburgh librarians and curators — Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3:30pm; Tuesday and Thursday at NOON; and Saturday and Sunday at 2:00pm.

Tours will meet by the entrance to Rare Books and Special Collections (102 Hesburgh Library, first floor). Reservations are not necessary. If you are planning to bring a group, please feel free to alert Rare Books and Special Collections directly about your visit: rarebook@nd.edu or 574-631-0290. Times are subject to change.

First Folio Banner, Costume Display and “Selfie Station”

January 3rd – end of January
1st Floor North Entrance Gallery, Hesburgh Library

View this self-guided exhibit whenever the library is open.

“Constructing Shakespeare” — a Spotlight Exhibit of RBSC Shakespeare Books

January 6th – January 29th
Rare Books & Special Collections (102 Hesburgh Library)

9:00am – 7:00pm Mondays through Fridays
noon – 5:00pm Saturdays and Sundays

Special Events

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Wednesday, January 6 at 4:16pm
1st Floor North Entrance Gallery, Hesburgh Library

In January, Shakespeare at Notre Dame kicks off “SHAKESPEARE: 1616-2016,” a yearlong series of performances, conferences and special events commemorating the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death and his legacy. The First Folio exhibit and Notre Dame’s year-long celebration officially launch at 16:16 (4:16 p.m.) Jan. 6 with the ribbon-cutting ceremony in the Hesburgh Library’s new North Entrance Gallery.

Formal remarks will precede the official ribbon cutting beginning with Scott Jackson (Executive Director of Shakespeare at Notre Dame), followed by Diane Walker (Edward H. Arnold University Librarian), Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. (President of the University of Notre Dame), Pete Buttigieg (Mayor of South Bend), and John T. McGreevy (I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts and Letters).

“Folio Fridays” Lecture Series

January 8 at 4:00pm | Printed Shakespeare: Quartos, Folios, and the History of Books by Jesse Lander (Chair, Department of English)
Rare Books & Special Collections, Hesburgh Library

January 15 at 4:00pm | Mobile Shakespeare by Elliott Visconsi (Chief Academic Digital Officer)
Rare Books & Special Collections, Hesburgh Library

January 22 at 4:00pm | Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies by Peter Holland (McMeel Family Chair in Shakespeare Studies)
Rare Books & Special Collections, Hesburgh Library

January 29 at 4:00pm |Centuries of Shakespeare by Michael Witmore (Director, Folger Shakespeare Library)
Carey Auditorium, Hesburgh Library

All four 90-minute lectures are free, open to the public, and located within the Hesburgh Library.

Shakespeare Week: January 18–22

During the third week of the First Folio exhibit – Monday, January 18 through Friday, January 22 – there will be increased traffic from 9am–3pm. Shakespeare at Notre Dame will be leading 90-minute encounters with over 1000 students from throughout Indiana and Southern Michigan.

Please be aware that access to the First Folio exhibit and to Rare Books and Special Collections resources will be limited during this time.

Who’s Who in RBSC: Dan Johnson

With his excitement barely contained, Dan Johnson reveled in what a great addition this would be for RBSC—a map of Middle Earth annotated by J. R. R. Tolkien himself! Dan went on to explain that this map was recently discovered stuck in the renowned illustrator, Pauline Baynes’ personal copy of The Lord of the Rings and that it promises to be an important piece of Tolkien ephemera. “If only we had a Tolkien collection to justify pursuing this,” he lamented.

Dan’s enthusiasm and appreciation for the Inklings is among his many literary interests. He studied English literature, earning his BA from Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, MN, and then went on to earn an MA from Wake Forest University. He is currently researching the supernatural in the 18th century. Part of this research examines the work of Charles Brockden Brown, the first major American novelist and Gothic fiction pioneer. He is finishing his dissertation, “Visible Plots, Invisible Realms,” en route to earning his PhD in English literature at Princeton University. All the while he is learning the ropes of the library world as the new English Literature and Digital Humanities librarian for Hesburgh Libraries.

Having come to Notre Dame in August, Dan quickly immersed himself in getting to know the collections, faculty, and students. Within the first couple of weeks, he was meeting with English students and faculty, and preparing classes that featured rare materials, including the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He pulled out multiple editions of The Ancient Mariner and along with Professor Yasmin Solomonescu guided the students through Coleridge’s marginal glosses, talking about the book as artifact.

Tightly integrated with Dan’s interests in American and British literature from the 18th and 19th centuries is his fascination with how technology can enhance research in the Humanities. Dan founded and manages a digital archive of texts and digital humanities projects related to 18th- and 19th-century British and American literature called Scholar’s Grotto. This includes his own project, a scholarly edition of The Relief; or, Day Thoughts (1754), a parody and critique of graveyard poetry by Henry Jones, the “bricklayer poet.”

Dan is quite excited about enhancing RBSC’s literary collections. He has acquired two significant additions: a 1725 edition of Shakespeare’s works edited by Alexander Pope and the 1818 second edition of The Family Shakespeare in Ten Volumes edited by Thomas Bowdler. Both of these will be featured in his upcoming Shakespeare spotlight exhibit in RBSC—this will be the first exhibit Dan has ever curated. It will coincide with RBSC’s hosting of First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare, the Folger Shakespeare Library’s touring exhibit that will bring a First Folio of the bard’s plays to each of the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Dan will also lead guided tours of both exhibits and invites everyone to brave the snow and come out to learn about Shakespeare.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.