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To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Moody Memorial Library, we are counting down 50 unique items from the special collections housed in the half-century-old building.

This month we are highlighting the Crouch Fine Arts Library, including examples from the Jennings Collection, the Book Arts Collection, the Spencer Collection, and the Baylor School of Music Performance Recordings.  Enjoy these selections, provided by Music Librarian Clayton Crenshaw.

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#8: Parts of the Holy Mass for a Confessor and a Bishop and Parts of the Holy Mass for a Virgin Not a Martyr.

At the time this music was created, printing was a relatively new technology and music notation was still developing.  The combination of those two things makes these two 500-year-old leaves very special indeed.  The individual pieces of type that made the impressions were carved from wood; tiny gaps in the staff lines show the imperfections of the process. The printer is believed to be Luca Antonio Giunta of Venice, whose family established printing businesses throughout Italy and eventually in many other parts of Europe.


 

#7 : The Tower Book designed by Beth Thielen (2007).

This is one of approximately 1,000 items in the Baylor Libraries Book Arts Collection.  Designed by artist and educator Beth Thielen, who has worked with inmates in the justice system throughout her career, it consists of linoleum prints and four volumes of original writings by inmates at the San Quentin State Prison and the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, California. The four books form the sides of a prison guard tower and are held together by a removable roof.

 

 

#6 : The Star- Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key.

In Baltimore in September 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that would become the text of our national anthem.  Days later, it was published in the Baltimore newspapers, and shortly thereafter in other cities.  It was set to a popular English tune of the day, “To Anacreon in Heaven,” as had other patriotic poems.  The first sheet music edition was published (with errors) by Baltimore music store owner Thomas Carr.  The second was published in Philadelphia, by A. Bacon & Co., sometime between 1814 and 1816.  In the Frances G. Spencer Collection of American Popular Sheet Music, we have a facsimile of the Carr edition.  But our copy of the Bacon edition is the genuine article, and available for viewing online as part of the Baylor Digital Collections website (http://digitalcollections.baylor.edu/cdm/ref/collection/fa-spnc/id/16051).

 

 

#5 : Baylor Recording of Verdi’s Requiem Mass

Throughout its history, the Crouch Fine Arts Library has served as the repository for recordings produced by the Baylor School of Music. Most of these are archival recordings that are available to the Baylor community, but not distributed.  But over the years a small number of recordings, like this one, were professionally recorded and produced to be shared widely.  The two-record set was produced from a concert given in Waco Hall on December 10, 1963.  The performance honored the 150th anniversary of Verdi’s birth, and was also dedicated to the memory of President John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated only weeks before.  Daniel Sternberg, the long-time Dean of the School of Music, conducted the Oratorio Chorus and the Baylor Symphony Orchestra.  The soloists were Sarah Harvey Wilkinson and David Ford, both graduates of the School of Music; Baylor faculty member Henry Bannon; and Catherine Akos, a faculty member at Southern Methodist University.

Listen to a sample of the recording here:


You can access these materials by arranging a visit with our special collections staff! To make an appointment, please visit our web page:

https://www.baylor.edu/lib/CentralLib/centralspecialcollections/

This post is part of the 50 for 50 series highlighting 50 unique and fascinating items found in the Central Libraries' special collections. The series is being held as part of the ongoing celebration of Moody Memorial Library's 50th anniversary.

 

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Moody Memorial Library, we are counting down 50 unique items from the special collections housed in the half-century-old building.

This month we are highlighting four sermons. The Central Libraries Special Collections hold around 300 sermons dating from the 17th century through the 20th that cover a broad range of topics.  In addition to the message of the sermon, researchers can find different perspectives on historical events and periods.

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#12 : The glorious rest of heaven by Mather Byles.  (Boston, 1744)

 

#11 : A sermon, occasioned by the death of General George Washington by Peter Thatcher (Boston, 1800).

 

#10 : Earthquakes: a token of the righteous anger of God by Charles Chauncy (Boston, 1755).

 

#9 : The Godly Man's Ark  by Edmund Calamy (London, 1661).

 


You can access these materials by arranging a visit with our special collections staff! To make an appointment, please visit our web page:

https://www.baylor.edu/lib/CentralLib/centralspecialcollections/

This post is part of the 50 for 50 series highlighting 50 unique and fascinating items found in the Central Libraries' special collections. The series is being held as part of the ongoing celebration of Moody Memorial Library's 50th anniversary.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Moody Memorial Library, we are counting down 50 unique items from the special collections housed in the half-century-old building. This month we are investigating a handful of our early medical books.

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#20 : Clinical notes on uterine surgery with special reference to the management of the sterile condition by J. Marion Sims (New York, 1866).

 

#19 : De homine figuris, et Latinitate donatus a Florentio Schuyl by Rene Descartes (Lugduni Batavorum, 1662).

 

#18 : The medical and surgical history of the War of the Rebellion (1861-65) / prepared, in accordance with acts of Congress, under the direction of Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes, United States Army (Washington).

 

#17 : Primitive physic: or an easy natural method of curing most diseases by John Wesley (Philadelphia, 1791).

 

 


You can access these materials by arranging a visit with our special collections staff! To make an appointment, please visit our web page:

https://www.baylor.edu/lib/CentralLib/centralspecialcollections/

This post is part of the 50 for 50 series highlighting 50 unique and fascinating items found in the Central Libraries' special collections. The series is being held as part of the ongoing celebration of Moody Memorial Library's 50th anniversary.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Moody Memorial Library, we are counting down 50 unique items from the special collections housed in the half-century-old building. This month we are showcasing a handful of items related to the American Revolution.

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In honor of Independence Day, we are investigating a small sampling of our rare books connected to our nation's birth.  Happy Fourth of July!

#24 : A thanksgiving sermon on the total repeal of the Stamp-act by Nathaniel Appleton (Boston, 1766).

The Stamp Act of 1765 was a direct tax on the colonies on printed materials.  After months of protest, Parliament repealed the Act in March 18, 1766. That same day, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, affirming Parliament's authority in the colonies.

 

#23 : An address to Protestant dissenters of all denominations by Joseph Priestley (London 1774). 

 

#22 : American patriotism farther confronted with reason, scripture and the constitution by John Fletcher (Shrewsbury, 1776).

 

#21 : The remembrancer, or, Impartial repository of public events (London, 1775).

Published by English journalist John Almon, this is the first volume of a seventeen-volume collection of colonial government documents and press reports from various colonial newspapers documenting the events of the American Revolution.


You can access these materials by arranging a visit with our special collections staff! To make an appointment, please visit our web page:

https://www.baylor.edu/lib/CentralLib/centralspecialcollections/

This post is part of the 50 for 50 series highlighting 50 unique and fascinating items found in the Central Libraries' special collections. The series is being held as part of the ongoing celebration of Moody Memorial Library's 50th anniversary.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Moody Memorial Library, we are counting down 50 unique items from the special collections housed in the half-century-old building. For this edition, we will look at some of our unique works by women.

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In honor of Women's History Month, we are highlighting some of our amazing women authors. Moody's Special Collections hold a wide range of fascinating pieces. See the link at the bottom of the post to make an appointment to see these and other extraordinary items.

 

#41 : "The child of nature: a dramatic piece. in four acts."  by Elizabeth Inchbald.

 

#40 : "Ibrahim" by Madeleine de Scudery, French author credited with writing one of the longest novels ever published, Artamene, with over 2.1 million words.

 

#39 : "The story of the little white mouse or the overthrow of the tyrant king" by Madame d' Aulnoy. 19th century chapbook.  Chapbooks, most popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, were inexpensively produced booklets intended to spread popular culture to common citizens.

 

#38 : "Letters de Milady Montague, pendant ses voyages in Europe, en Asie & en Afrique" (Letters from Milady Montague, during her travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa, containing, among other curious relations, details of the religion, government, and customs of the Turks) by Mary Wortley Montague (1689-1762).  Most of Lady Montague's writing were published after her death.

 

#37 : Kathleen Kenyon Archaeology Collection.  Read more about how this archive is being used here:  https://blogs.baylor.edu/centrallibrariesstories/2018/03/01/kathleen-rachel-and-deirdre-three-womens-journeys-united-by-an-archival-collection/. 


You can access these materials by arranging a visit with our special collections staff! To make an appointment, please visit our web page:

https://www.baylor.edu/lib/CentralLib/centralspecialcollections/

This post is part of the 50 for 50 series highlighting 50 unique and fascinating items found in the Central Libraries' special collections. The series is being held as part of the ongoing celebration of Moody Memorial Library's 50th anniversary.