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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. We're kicking things off with a look at some rare almanacs!

50 - 47

As the new calendar year begins, let's look at four of our rare almanacs. In addition to weather predictions, an 18th or early 19th century almanac was a book that had a practical use as a calendar, church festivals, astrological notes, miscellaneous literary works, and weather guides with seasonal suggestions for farmers.


#50 : "An Astronomical Diary, Or, An Almanack For The Year Of Our Lord Christ 1741" by Nathanial Ames
You can view the original by making an appointment or see the entire almanac online in our Baylor Digital Collections. Click here

 


#49 : "Poor Richard's Almanack" printed in 1761 by Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
In addition to seeing the original here in the library, you can also view this one in our Digital Collections. Click here

 


#48 : “London almanac for the year of Christ 1794” printed for the Company of Stationers in 1793 (miniature book)
See webpage link below to make an appointment to see this extraordinary miniatures.

 


#47 : "The New England farmer's diary and almanac" 1820 by Truman Abell
Almanacs provide an authentic view into American history and culture. Come visit soon!


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.


Congratulations to Andrea Turpin for winning the 2017 Lilly Fellows Program Book Award!

 

Click here for Baylor Media story

 

 

 

For more information on the award:  http://www.lillyfellows.org/grants-and-prizes/book-award/

Tuesday marks the 500th anniversary of Reformation Day, celebrated as the day Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of the All Saints’ Church in Wittenburg, Germany on October 31, 1517, the official starting point of the Protestant Reformation.

The Central Libraries is celebrating this momentous anniversary by presenting these amazing resources in the collection:

Confessio fidei exhibita invictiss (Confession of faith exhibited invictiss) is a  Lutheran Confession of faith written in Latin by one of Luther's collaborator's Philip Melanchthon and published in 1568.

 

'T Omstandige leven van den groten kerken leeraar en reformateur, docter Martinus Lutherus (The Real Life of the Great Church Teacher and Reformer, Dr. Martin Luther) was written by Andries Paauw in Dutch in 1731.

 

Biblia, das ist: Die gantze Heilige Schrift, Altes und Neues Testaments (Biblia, that is: The whole Holy Scriptures, Old and New Testaments) is a German Bible translation by Martin Luther that was published in 1708.  

To visit these resources and many more, start with our webpages:
https://www.baylor.edu/lib/centralspecialcollections/