Join the Special Collections Library for fascinating talks this semester led by librarians, archivists, and curators. Topics this fall will range from Cuban publishers to the history of paper making. The talks take place monthly in the Special Collections Reading Room on the second floor of the Central & Divinity Libraries building on the first Thursday of the month from 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm. All events are free and open to the public.
January
January 23, 2020: Curator’s Talk
Special Collections Library | 4:00-5:00 PM
Found in Cuba: The Ingenuity and Creativity of Ediciones Vigía
Join us in Special Collections for a talk by Paula Covington, the Librarian for Latin American, Iberian and Latino Studies, and Senior Lecturer in Latin American Studies, as she discusses her new exhibit Found in Cuba: The Ingenuity and Creativity of Ediciones Vigía. Learn about this enterprising publishing house’s survival through economic hardships and the amazing artists whose creativity is on display in the bounty of books acquired through the years by Special Collections.
February
February 6, 2020: Curator’s Talk
Special Collections Library | 4:00-5:00 PM
G is for Gorey: The Remarkable Worlds of Edward Gorey
Edward Gorey (1925-2000) was an American writer and artist, noted for his pen-and ink book illustrations. Although he was a noted illustrator of literary book covers, he rose to prominence for his macabre slant on children’s and other short fictional works which featured Victorian and Edwardian settings. In 1980, he gained a national following after his artwork was animated and used for the opening titles of PBS’s Mystery! television series.
Join Special Collections curator Teresa Gray for a glimpse of the life of Edward Gorey and his literary world.
March
March 12, 2020: Curator’s Talk
Special Collections Library | 4:00-5:00 PM
Fables & Fantasies: The Illustrations of J.J. Grandville
An upcoming exhibition in the Central Library, will highlight the books of the French illustrator, J.J. Grandville (1803-1847). From satirical political cartoons to personified flowers, the illustrations of Grandville have been very influential, especially to Surrealism. His works are considered exemplary in the tradition of the French illustrated book.
Join us in Special Collections for a talk by Yvonne Boyer – Librarian for Art, French & Italian, and Librarian for the W.T. Bandy Center for Baudelaire & Modern French Studies – about artist J.J. Grandville and his art.
April
April 2, 2020: Curator’s Talk
Special Collections Library | 4:00-5:00 PM
The Ancient and Modern Craft of Papermaking: Examples from the Vanderbilt Libraries, 1493 to the Present
Join curator Molly Dohrmann for highlights from her exhibit, The Ancient and Modern Craft of Papermaking: Examples from the Vanderbilt Libraries, 1493 to the Present. Some of the items featured in this exhibit include a folio leaf from the Liber Chronicarum of 1493 produced at Ulman Stromer’s papermill in Nuremberg, Germany; archival photographs of the Hayle Papermill in Kent, England; the linen paper commissioned by William Morris for his late 19th century books; and examples by modern master papermakers Claire Van Vliet, Beverly Plummer, and Peter and Donna Thomas, among others.
Learn about watermarks, papermills, and papermaking processes and see paper that is over 500 years old and still going strong.