During his professional career, Cazden (1930-2002) wrote frequently on the German-American book trade and amassed a considerable personal collection of related materials, from almanacs and religious tracts to political histories and literary monographs.  There are a great many early American German imprints from the 18^th and 19^th centuries, as well as 20^th century contemporary volumes.

The culmination of the efforts that brought this rich acquisition to the University of Cincinnati represents several years of cooperative work between the Cazden family, the Archives & Rare Books Library, the Monographs and Cataloguing departments, the Libraries’ development office, and the Libraries’ administration.  For more information on the German-Americana Collection and the Robert Cazden materials, please go to www.libraries.uc.edu/libraries/arb/index.html.

Written by Kevin Grace

Accessible via http://digitalprojects.libraries.uc.edu/cooperative_engineer/, each scanned issue of Cooperative Engineer can be viewed in its entirety. The issues are also searchable by keyword and by phrase. In addition, viewers of the collection can browse by issue cover.

Started in 1921 to “reflect the readers’ common interest in the University and in the industrial and commercial world with which they are brought in contact,” Cooperative Engineer offers historical material on the College of Engineering, the UC campus, the City of Cincinnati, and on world events. It chronicles the development of engineering and industrial processes and provides insights into student life and social customs of the time. Articles describe many of the 20th century’s major technical accomplishments including advancements in aviation, space exploration, and the creation of the atom bomb. Articles on UC athletics and social events appeal to the reader’s lighter side. Each cover of Cooperative Engineer is skillfully illustrated and numerous images and photographs are included throughout the publication. Original copies of Cooperative Engineer are housed in the Archives and Rare Books Library.

“Digitization of this excellent publication was made possible by Michael and Margaret Valentine, long-time supporters of our Engineering Library,” said Victoria A. Montavon, dean and university librarian. “We are also very appreciative of the work of Dorothy Byers, former head of the Engineering Library, in bringing this project to fruition.”

Artwork by Barry Moser from the Pennyroyal Edition of Frankstein

What better time of year to celebrate one of the greatest horror stories in world literature than now?  Since its publication in 1818, the tale of the man-made monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus has captivated readers and caused no small stir of debate on the creation of life and the egotism of mankind.  In fact, Dr. Frankenstein’s monster has been re-created time and again in film and literature, sometimes as an awful and terrible creature and occasionally as a poor wretch who desperately tries to break free of man’s cruelty. The Archives and Rare Book Library hold some electrifying editions of Mary Shelley’s famous work.

One of the most beautiful printings of this book ever to be produced is part of the holdings in the Archives & Rare Books Library.  The Pennyroyal Edition, published in 1983 by Barry Moser, is a gorgeous book that does immense credit to the story.  Moser is arguably the pre-eminent bookman in the world today, working as an artist, printmaker, and designer.  His work is deeply treasured in numerous libraries and private collections, and the library holds a very fine collection of his work.

Frankenstein's Monster by Barry Moser

In this edition of Frankenstein, the book was printed by the late Harold McGrath of Massachusetts in an edition of 350, of which the University of Cincinnati copy is #322.  Moser is well-known for his dark, brooding woodcuts in a number of his books, particularly in his Pennyroyal Caxton Bible of 1999, generally accorded as being one of the most beautiful books ever printed.  Frankenstein’s creation is a notable example of Moser’s work.  The monster is never portrayed full-body, or even full-faced.  His horrifying visage is rendered by Moser in shadows, his intent being to draw the reader deeply into the monster’s world, to use imagination in how the monster looks.   In composing the images, Moser wants the reader to see the monster as a sympathetic figure in a dark and hopeless world.

The Moser Frankenstein is presented in a slipcase, with a suite of prints of the woodcuts.  The text is based on the original 1818 edition of the novel, using the copy in the Smith College Library.  Essays by Joyce Carol Oates, William St. Clair, Ruth Mortimer, and Emily Sunstein complement the text.

The call number for the book is Spec Col Ref oversize PR5397.F7 1984c.  To find more of Barry Moser’s work, please consult UCLID, the University of Cincinnati Libraries catalog.

A woodcut image of the monster by Lynd Ward

Other editions of the Frankenstein story in the Archives & Rare Books Library include The Frankenstein Notebooks, compiled and transcribed by Donald H. Reiman.  This two-volume set allows researchers to explore Shelley’s original manuscript, which is housed in Oxford University’s Bodleian Library.  In addition to a facsimile of the original manuscript, this set contains transcriptions and a corrected, critical text of the first issue of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.  Another interesting edition of the novel, published in 1934 by Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, contains woodcuts by the artist Lynd Ward.  Ward was a master of the woodcut technique and was also the first person to create an entire novel from only woodcuts.  The call number for The Frankenstein Notebooks is Rare Books Oversize PR5397.F73 .S54 1996.  The call number for Frankenstein illustrated by Lynd Ward is Rare Books PR5397 .F7 1934b.  See the gallery below for more images from Frankenstein by Moser and Ward.

Written by Kevin Grace and Suzanne Maggard

 

The Pennyroyal Edition opens with lightening by Barry Moser

Frankenstein's lab by Lynd Ward

Frankenstein by Barry Moser

Image from the 1958 Band Camp welcome flyer

The Archives and Rare Books Library recently processed a new collection of records documenting activities of the University of Cincinnati Bearcat Bands from 1954 to 1996. The records are part of the University Archives through the UC Band Alumni Association. Operating as a department within the Division of Student Life, UC Bearcat Bands provides students of all majors with opportunities for performing musically while obtaining fine arts credit. The UC Band Alumni Association provides alumni opportunities to stay connected with UC Bearcat Bands and other alumni after graduation. Alumni members can also participate in the Community/Alumni Band.

This two-box collection offers a look into the operations of the various bands that made up “UC Bearcat Bands” during the years, including marching band, symphonic band, varsity band, and stage band. The addition of this collection to the holdings of the University Archives provides breadth to the research material available on student life at the University.

Highlights of the collection include:

• Photographs of band members and activities, mostly from the 1970s and 1980s
• Records of performances and band activities, such as orientation, band camp, high school band nights, and Varsity Vanities
• Records of band organizations, such as band council, band sponsors, and the Alumni Association
• Programs from the Cincinnati Classic and Music Bowl competitions sponsored by UC in the 1980s
• Records of activities surrounding the 75th Anniversary of the UC Bearcat Bands in 1995-1996

The 1988-89 Marching Band, Majorettes and Bearkittens

A finding aid is available on the OhioLINK Finding Aid Repository as well as on the Archives and Rare Books Library website.

-Written by Janice Schulz

]]> http://www.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/2009/10/28/bearcat-bands-in-the-university-archives/feed/ 1 http://www.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/2009/10/22/first-german-baptist-church-records-finding-aid-now-available/ http://www.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/2009/10/22/first-german-baptist-church-records-finding-aid-now-available/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:20:24 +0000 Suzanne Maggard http://www.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/?p=879

The Constitution of the Synzygus Verein of the First German Baptist Church, which appears to have been adopted prior to 1915.

The records of the First German Baptist Church or Deutsche Baptisten-Kirche of Cincinnati have been fully processed and a finding aid is now available on the OhioLINK Finding Aid Repository.  The collection holds various records for the church between 1880 and 1991 including church meeting minutes, financial records, and Sunday school attendance sheets.  The material in the collection prior to the 1930s is primarily in German.

The records of the First German Baptist Church illustrate a small, but significant religious movement among Cincinnati Germans in the late nineteenth century.  The First German Baptist Church was founded in Cincinnati in 1857, with the assistance of the Ninth Street Baptist Church, whose congregation saw the need for a Baptist missionary movement among German immigrants.  The Ninth Street Baptist Church hired Philip W. Bickel, who had been trained at the Rochester Baptist Seminary in New York, to work as a missionary among Cincinnati’s German Community.  When enough converts were obtained to justify the founding of a church, Bickel became the first pastor.  The church reported 42 members in its first year.  Several years passed before construction on a church building began at the corner of Walnut and Corwine Streets in Over-the-Rhine, but the building was finally completed in 1872.  Due to the church’s location, it was commonly referred to as the Walnut Street Baptist Church.

The records of the First German Baptist Church are part of the Archives and Rare Books Library’s German-Americana collection and complement other Cincinnati German religious records including those of the Third German Protestant Church.  For further information on these records or other similar German religious records, please consult the finding aid or visit the Archives and Rare Books Library.