Notice: Archives and Rare Books Library Renovation

By Kevin Grace

Notice: On January 9, the Archives & Rare Books Library will begin moving our offices and reference/reading room to the north end of the 8^th floor in Carl Blegen Library in Room 814. This move will allow the final phase of renovation of the Archives & Rare Books Library through a grant from the Schott Foundation.

Two years ago, the north end of the floor was renovated with fresh paint, new carpeting, creation of the Marge Schott Seminar Room, a small book arts room, and exhibit cases. This final phase on the south end will also see fresh paint and new carpeting, and the relocation and building of a new reference desk, all to better meet the needs of students and researchers.

It is anticipated that the renovation will take three months, but there will be no disruption in reference and research services. However, ARB’s reference holdings will not be available during the project. All other archival materials and rare books can still be accessed. Room 814 will serve as our office space and our reading room, as well as continuing to be the venue for our monthly “50 Minutes-1 Book” lunchtime lecture series.

For further information, please call 556-1959 or email us at archives@ucmail.uc.edu.

50 Minutes-1 Book

By Kevin Grace

Last Thursday we had a wonderful turnout for the monthly 50 Minutes-1 Book lunchtime talk. Greg Hand, UC’s Associate Vice President for Government Relations and University Communications, spoke on the 1943 Cincinnati Guide in the federal Writer’s Project program. It was an excellent presentation that put this seminal Cincinnati book in the context of the Great Depression, national politics, and local history.

Please join us next month, January 19^th, to hear Jerry Newman talk about a key book in Western literature, Miguel Cervantes’ Don Quixote. February’s presentation will be on Oscar Wilde’s Salome. The 50 Minutes-1 Book lunch talks are held in the Schott Seminar Room, 814 Blegen Library, Archives & Rare Books Library from 12-12:50.

50 Minutes-1 Book

By Kevin Grace

The first 50 Minutes – 1 Book lunchtime talk for this academic year will be held Thursday, December 8, in the Archives & Rare Books Library, in the Schott Seminar Room, 814 Blegen Library at 12:00 noon.

Greg Hand will discuss the book variously known as “The Cincinnati Guide” or “The WPA Guide to Cincinnati,” although its actual title is Cincinnati: A Guide to the Queen City and its Neighbors, published in 1943 and written by the workers of the Federal Writers Project. In the seven decades since publication, it has become an essential starting point for historians of Cincinnati. For this discussion, Hand will talk about the Great Depression and the WPA in Cincinnati and Ohio. He will review the development of the guide, its reception on publication, and a great deal about the post-WPA life of its editor.

Last year, the 50 Minutes – 1 Book series featured presentations on the world’s smallest book, a book bound in human skin, the work of local bookbinder and designer Gabrielle Fox, and Barry Moser’s magnificent Pennyroyal Caxton Bible. As we renew the lunchtime presentations, we look forward to more wonderful discussions about books. January’s talk will be on Cervantes’ Don Quixote, presented by Jerry Newman.

Please join us on December 8 for another casual noon get-together. Bring your lunch, order in, or just come to listen, look, learn, and converse. All students, faculty, and staff are very welcome.

50 Minutes-1 Book

By Kevin Grace

Please join us on December 8 for another casual noon get-together. Bring your lunch, order in, or just come to listen, look, learn, and converse. All students, faculty, and staff are very welcome.

"Banned Books" in the Archives and Rare Books Library

By Janice Schulz

In observance of Banned Books Week, celebrated this year from September 24 through October 1, 2011, the Archives & Rare Books Library has compiled a list of Rare Book titles that have appeared on the American Library Association’s (ALA) most challenged books lists. Each book on our list is presented with an image, challenge incidents, and reasons for challenges.

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Domestic Manners of the Americans by Mrs. Frances Trollope

By Janice Schulz

“We heard on every side, that of all the known places on ‘the globe called earth,’ Cincinnati was the most favourable for a young man to settle in…”

From Domestic Manners of the Americans

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Mrs. Frances Trollope

London gentlewoman Mrs. Frances Trollope had an idea. She would open a shop – a shop in America where she could offer the residents of that fast-growing country the finer things in life – unique items that they otherwise would not have the chance to purchase. Her middle son Henry could run the store, establish himself in a lucrative business, and take advantage of the opportunities that America had to offer a young man. Although possessed of the highest manners and an impressive family background, the Trollopes were not wealthy by the definition of London society, a fact that seriously interfered with Mrs. Trollope’s plans, especially for her children’s future. So she looked to America, and specifically to Cincinnati, to provide the right economic climate and market for her shop idea. In the end the venture was not a smashing success and her expectations of Cincinnati were far from confirmed, but the trip resulted in what would become Mrs. Trollope’s crowning glory, Domestic Manners of the Americans, a travel log of her adventures in the United States. While the book earned Mrs. Trollope popularity and was hailed as a triumph in her homeland, its revelations of uncultured Americans served to portray her as a snobbish villain in the States, particularly with the residents of Cincinnati. Continue reading →

Music, Naturally

By Lauren Fink

(Note: This blog by our student worker, Lauren Fink, is one of what will be a series on the volumes from the Robert Clarke Collection. In 1898, UC board member William A. Procter purchased the private library of Cincinnati publisher Robert Clarke and presented the 6,792 volumes to the university as the founding collection in its modern library system. Over a century, the collection underwent several tribulations and in the past few years we have strived to reconstitute it in the Archives & Rare Books Library. Individually, the volumes are not as valuable as the aggregate because the Clarke holdings represent a significant period in the history of the University of Cincinnati. We intend to write more about the Clarke books, both on specific titles and on the history of this gathering of volumes. - Kevin Grace).

On the shelves of the Archives and Rare Books Library, between a signed copy of New Orleans Jazz Family Album by Al Rose and Edmond Souchon and Del Svono De’tremori Armonici E Dell’ vdito Trattati Del P. Daniello Bartoli, there sits a book entitled, The Music of Nature; or An Attempt to Prove that What is Passionate and Pleasing in the Art of Singing, Speaking, and Performing upon Musical Instruments, Is Derived from the Sounds of the Animated World; with Curious and Interesting Illustrations, by William Gardiner. Continue reading →

Civil War History: General Benjamin Franklin Butler

By Janice Schulz

Our latest installment in the Archives & Rare Books Library’s commemoration of the 150^th anniversary of the Civil War focuses on Benjamin Butler, a controversial Union general whose command of New Orleans earned him the nickname, “The Beast.” As commander of Fortress Monroe, Butler coined the phrase “Contraband of War” to refer to slaves that had crossed over to Union territory and were retained by the Union Army. His successful protection of Baltimore and command of the Department of Eastern Virginia earned him the command of the Department of the Gulf, where he took control of the captured city of New Orleans early in 1862. But the accolades ended here, and the rest of his military career was marked with controversy and strife. Eventually he was relieved of his command in the Gulf and of his subsequent command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. Continue reading →

Historical Cincinnati Maps

A map of Cincinnati in 1869 from The Queen City in 1869 by George E. Stevens

By Janice Schulz

The Archives & Rare Books Library has digitized some historical Cincinnati maps dating from 1802 – 1929 and has made them available for research on our website. The maps are all located in materials from our Rare Books Collection and are scanned at a high resolution to provide detail for researchers.

The maps provide both geographical and social information about the City of Cincinnati through the years. Several of the maps included keys or labels indicating buildings and landmarks and can show trends in public services and the development of particular communities. Continue reading →

Raymond Walters Redux

By Kevin Grace

Former University of Cincinnati president Raymond Walters (1932-1955) has been on our minds recently because of UC naming changes. In June, the Board of Trustees voted to change the name of its branch campus, Raymond Walters College, to UC-Blue Ash in order to bring consistency to university branding and degree programs (UC-Clermont is the other branch campus). However, as the university moves into a new era of semesters, admissions requirements, and academic challenges, its history isn’t forgotten as the Blue Ash campus will rename one of its major buildings to maintain its recognition of Walters.

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