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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 is our final month wrapping up a year-long celebration of our collections. We are highlighting four Bibles from the rich and expansive collection of religious texts. The Central Libraries Special Collections hold hundreds of Bibles (facsimiles and originals) dating from the 4th century through the 20th. Since we can't show you all in one blog entry, the librarians voted to highlight some of the earliest bibles. Each bible in the collection holds a significant place in religious and political history as religious text and as cultural object.

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#4 : Codex Vaticanus B (Facsimile: Rome, 1999, original dated from 4th century)

 

#3 : Aleppo Codex (Facsimile: Jerusalem, 1976, original dated from 10th century )
 

#2 : A smaller Biblia pauperum... (London, 1884, content dated from 1450)

 

#1 : Biblia Sacra polyglotta (London, 1963, content dated from 1657)

 


We hope you've enjoyed these past 12 months of special collections highlights! 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.

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On the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month of 1918, fighting in World War One ceased. This year on November 11, 2018 we honor the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day and the end of World War I.
Much has been written about these years of war and the Baylor Central Libraries Special Collections house research materials that offer a glimpse into life during this time period.

On the homefront, the government published reports through various agencies giving guidance on how to operate day to day under the stresses of wartime.

"Home economics teaching under present economic conditions, Sept. 5, 1917" (call# : Gov.Docs. I 16.5:917/6)

There is a wealth of research opportunities working with wartime advertising. Many agencies advertised to raise support for various war efforts.

“Government war advertising : report of the Division of Advertising, Committee on Public Information” published in 1918. (call#: Gov Docs Y3.P 96/3:2 W 19)

On the Western Front, the 33rd Division completed their mission in Europe. The 33rd Division was a formation of the U.S. Army National Guard.

“33rd Division A.E.F. from its arrival in France until the armistice with Germany, November 11, 1918” printed in 1919. (call#: Hughes D570.3 33d .T4 1919)

In the years immediately following the war, many leaders published personal narratives and first-hand accounts of their involvement in the war. Winston Churchill wrote a multi-volume work on the 'Great War' entitled “The world crisis, 1911-1914” published in 1923. Several printings and volumes are available in the libraries (call #: Payne D 521 .C53x 1923). John Pershing, the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Western Front, wrote a personal narrative “My experiences in the World War” published in 1931 (call#: Hughes D640 .P454 1931b v.1-2).

John J. Pershing - narratives 1931

Here at home, communities worked to help returning soldiers and find their own organization’s role in the aftermath of massive losses.

"The new opportunity of the church" 1919

"When you go home, tell them of us and say, for their tomorrow we gave our today." -- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

We hope this glimpse of life surrounding Armistice Day has honored our veterans and their families. If you'd like to see these materials and more, 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/centralspecialcollections/

Just a short ‘flyby' on the Audubon exhibit currently on display at the Martin Museum on Baylor’s campus. If you haven't visited yet, check here for more information: Martin Exhibits

John James Audubon (1785-1851) was an artist, ornithologist, and naturalist. He was known for his illustrations of birds throughout the Americas. Audubon's most famous collection “Birds of America” was printed in 1827 and 1838. His extensive work with illustrations and water-color paintings are significant examples of early book arts.

Willow Ptarmigan

If you’d like to explore Audubon’s works more we have several resources in the libraries general collections and a few items in our special collections.

  • 2 volume set of “The original water-color paintings by John James Audubon for The birds of America” published by Houghton Mifflin Co. in 1966 (this is a full series of color plates, includes quotations from Audubon’s Ornithological biography, and is housed in Central Libraries Special Collections)
  • A limited edition reproduction of “The birds of America” published by Macmillan in 1937 (first reproduced as an octavo edition, includes parts of the country for the various species, and is housed in the Central Libraries Special Collections)

Goldfinch

The Audubon Society offers more information on their continued work and access to online images. https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america

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/centralspecialcollections/

BANNED BOOKS WEEK 2018: Sept. 23 - Sept. 29

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Coordinated by the American Library Association (ALA), the week brings together a community of people and events to highlight the harms of censorship. This year, with the slogan "Banning Books Silences Stories" libraries and organizations across the country are highlighting these stories pulled from the stacks.

What books are banned?
One such title is housed in our general shelves and also on our rare books shelves (limited edition presses). "A Farewell to Arms" published in 1929 by Ernest Hemingway (winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954) is on the top 100 most challenged banned books list and on the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th Century. It has been banned for salacious content, a 'sex' novel, burned in Nazi book burning fires, and criticized for the 'all too real' depictions of war.

Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene beside the concrete names of villages, the numbers of roads, the names of rivers, the numbers of regiments and the dates.
― Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (Chpt 27)

In this year's top ten challenged books, "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee makes the list again. This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, considered an American classic, was challenged and banned because of violence and its use of the N-word. Join us and listen to Randy Umstead, one of our Baylor faculty members, read Atticus Finch's closing arguments speech from this classic story.



Keep reading for more information from ALA on this important topic.

Q: What is the difference between a challenge and a ban?

A: A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group.  A banning is the removal of those materials.  Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others.  Due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.

Q: Why are books challenged?

A: Books usually are challenged with the best intentions—to protect others, frequently children, from difficult ideas and information. See our Notable First Amendment Cases page.

Censorship can be subtle, almost imperceptible, as well as blatant and overt, but, nonetheless, harmful. As John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty:

If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.

 

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 books also considered to be works of art. The Baylor Libraries' Book Arts Collection, which began in 2007, contains over 1200 items, most of which are known as “artist’s books.” In the broadest definition, artist’s books are the creations of artists working in the medium of the book or with the “idea of the book.” Enjoy these treasures chosen by this collection's curator, Sha Towers.

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#16 : Panorama by book artist Julie Chen (2008). Limited edition of 100 copies.

 

#15 : Sometimes I Pretend: A Poem by poet Naomi Nye and book artists Peter and Donna Thomas (2014). Limited edition of 35 copies.

 

#14 : Smoke by book artist Amy Pirkle (2013). Limited edition of 30 copies.

 

#13 : Wide White Holes by book artist Katya Reka (2013). One-of-a-kind artist’s book.

 

 


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.