University of Illinois RBML

Shelfmark:
Lithographic reproductions of war horses of the Tang Dynasty (19--?) - F. 709.51 L713

Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is a time for gathering with family and welcoming an auspicious start to the new year. A wide variety of customs are celebrated by cultures across Asia and diaspora communities.

How will you be celebrating Lunar New Year? 🐎

Taizong commissioned six large stone panels to commemorate the warhorses he rode during his military campaigns. The reliefs of the “Six Steeds” were located at his mausoleum in Shaanxi, China, for centuries, and those depicted here are now at the Beilin Museum in Xi’an.

Close-up of a black-and-white lithograph of a galloping horse wearing a saddle and bridle.

Black-and-white lithograph of a standing horse wearing a saddle and bridle.

Black-and-white lithograph of a galloping horse wearing a saddle and bridle that has been struck with five arrows.

Happy Lunar New Year! 🌑✨

To celebrate the Year of the Horse, we are featuring four images of horses from the tomb of Tang-dynasty Chinese emperor 太宗 Taizong (r. 626-649 AD). These lithographic reproductions, however, were created in the 20th century.

@illinoisrbml.bsky.social on the road!

Shelfmarks:
"Whooping Crane" drawing by John James Audubon - X 598.2 AU21840
Twenty love poems and a song of despair (1969) by Pablo Neruda - Broomfield 0115
Never Been Kissed press kit - MSS00030, Box 21, Item 1574

Photorealistic color drawing of a Whooping Crane.

Book cover for Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Despair (1969) by Pablo Neruda.

Press kit images for Never Been Kissed (1999) starring Drew Barrymore.

Happy Valentine's Day! ❤️

Love can be found in all corners of RBML's collections, from drawings of birds that mate for life to collections of love poems to rom-com press kits and more!

In his lecture, Dr. Petrou will explore the evolution and transmission of the Greek book from East to West, the preservation and transmission of classical Greek knowledge through manuscripts, and how this inherited book culture was transformed through the new technology of print.

"Dr. Elias Petrou. The Evolution of the Greek Book: From Byzantine Manuscripts to Renaissance Incunabula. Thursday, February 26, 3-5 pm in the RBML. Learn about the evolution and transmission of the Greek book from East to West, and how this inherited book culture was transformed through the new technology of print. This talk is free and open to all audiences!"

Join us on Thursday, February 26 from 3-5 pm for a talk by Dr. Elias Petrou (Literatures and Languages Library), titled "The Evolution of the Greek Book: From Byzantine Manuscripts to Renaissance Incunabula."

This event is free and all are welcome. Refreshments will be served.

Shelfmarks:
Broadside Press storefront negative (circa 1975) - Gwendolyn Brooks collection, Box 334, Folder 3a
"All of us are all of us" (1974) by Lucille Clifton - Q. 811.08 B78 no.81
Broadside memories: Poets I have known (1975) by Dudley Randall - Modern Poetry Q. 928.1 R15b

Broadside Press initially sought to republish, distribute, and promote the poetry of established Black poets, but soon broadened its focus to also feature works by emerging Black writers and artists, making it a remarkable vehicle for the Black Arts Movement.

Photo of the Broadside Press storefront with a 10th Anniversary book display.

Broadside Series No. 81: "All of Us Are All of Us" by Lucille Clifton.

Page from Broadside Memories highlighting Dudley Randall with text titled "Broadside Press: A Personal Chronicle..."

Page from Broadside Memories featuring an advertisement for Lotus Press.

In honor of Black History Month, we’re highlighting some of our Broadside Press materials! Broadside Press (now Broadside Lotus Press) is a Detroit-based publisher of Black poets and writers founded in 1965 by poet-librarian Dudley Randall.

Shelfmarks:
Le dignità de' consoli, e de gl'imperadori (1561) - Baldwin 2666
The graded-school first-fifth reader (1875) - TEXT. 428.6 VANBR1875 v.4
Excerpta quaedam ex Luciani Samosatensis operibus (1757) - Baldwin 0653
The third reader (1877) - TEXT. 428.2 AMBO1877

Other curses explicated non-religious consequences that were instead more physically harmful. The tradition continued into the early printing period, with book curses often written on the front endpapers or at the end of the book, near the colophon.

Image of the bottom half of a page with a handwritten book curse in Latin.

Close-up image of a page with a handwritten book curse that reads: "Do not steal this book, my honest friend for fear the gallos [sic] might be your end..."

Close-up image of a page with a handwritten book curse that reads: "Steal not this book for fear of shame for under wrath the synear's name."

Close-up image of a page with a handwritten book curse that reads: "Don't steal this book or you will catch it from the owner. I wrote this you don't know who."

Curses upon ye! How does a book owner stop thieves from stealing their books? Well, in the medieval period, one popular method to discourage thievery was book curses. These curses often threatened that excommunication or anathema (a formal curse from the church) would befall the thief.

Dr. Thomas will explore visual representations of the Middle Passage in children’s picture books and comics, re-envisioning the slave ship as a metaphorical floating “dark forest.”

This event is free and all are welcome. Please sign up to receive the Zoom link at go.illinois.edu/DarkForest.

Graphic with text: "RBML presents a virtual talk by Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas. 'Into the Dark Forest: Exploring Textual Representations of Enslavement in Children's Books and Comics.' Wednesday, January 28, 7:00 pm Central. Screenshot and click the QR or register at go.illinois.edu/DarkForest to receive the Zoom link. This program is free and all are welcome to attend!"

Join us virtually on Wednesday, January 28 from 7-8 pm for a talk by Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, titled "Into the Dark Forest: Exploring Textual Representations of Enslavement in Children's Books and Comics."

Shelfmarks:
Martin Luther King, Jr. letter (1957) - Post-1650 MS 0366
“Selected quotations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” by Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. (1997) - Q. Kennedy 323.1196073 K585s

This post features a 1957 letter written and signed by Dr. King to George Hendrick, a former professor of English at the University of Illinois, and a book of Dr. King's quotations created by letterpress printer and social activist, Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. for the Milwaukee Public Library.

A signed letter with a Dexter Avenue Baptist Church letterhead from Martin Luther King Jr. to Prof. George Hendrick, dated February 5, 1957.

Cover to "Selected Quotations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." with a cloth black, brown, and white geometrical pattern.

Quotation: "When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men conspire to preserve an unjust status quo, good men must unite to bring about the birth of a society undergirded by justice." From "Where Do we Go from Here: Chaos or Community," by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1967.

Quotation: "Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear; only love can do that. Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illumines it." From "Strength to Love" by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1963.

RBML will be closed on Monday, January 19th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Shelfmarks:
Dorcas Leaves: A Manual of Domestic Arts (1884) - Tennyson 5707
Needle-Craft: Artistic & Practical (1889) - Tennyson 5705
Carl Sandburg papers (Asheville) - Box 40

Crochet pattern for a "Marguerite Medallion."

Illustration of a woman engaging in needlework in a domestic setting.

Photos of a family outdoors.

January is National Hobby Month!

Get inspired for your personal hobby journey through hobbies represented in the RBML collection, including crochet, needlework, and photography.

Graphic with text: "Happy holidays from the Rare Book & Manuscript Library."

Warm holiday wishes to you and yours! RBML will be closed for the holidays Wednesday, December 24–Friday, January 2. We look forward to welcoming you back in the new year on Monday, January 5! ❄️

Shelfmarks:
Pride and prejudice (1813) by Jane Austen - 823 Au7p1813
Pride and prejudice (1940) by Aldous Huxley and Jane Murfin - Q. 791.4372 P933
Sense and sensibility (1811) by Jane Austen - 823 Au7s1811
Sense and sensibility (1995) by Emma Thompson - Q. Scripts 791.4372 Se591995

The 1940 film Pride and Prejudice, written by Aldous Huxley and Jane Murfin, invents an archery scene in which Elizabeth outshoots Darcy. Emma Thompson’s script for the 1995 film Sense and Sensibility emphasizes the emotional contrast between the two heroines, practical Elinor and romantic Marianne.

Title page for a Pride and Prejudice (1813) first edition, attributed to "the author of 'Sense and Sensibility'"

Page from 1940 "Pride and Prejudice" film script in which Elizabeth and Darcy do archery. Elizabeth scores two bullseyes and an inner.

Title page of an Sense and Sensibility (1811) first edition, attributed to "A Lady"

Page 106 of 1995 Sense and Sensibility film script, featuring the line "Elinor finally explodes"

Happy 250th birthday, Jane Austen!

This post features two Austen first editions in RBML’s holdings, Sense and Sensibility (1811) and Pride and Prejudice (1813), and two scripts for Austen film adaptations that show different facets of the original stories and include some creative liberties.

Graphic with text: "Reading Day Relaxation in the RBML. Color! Make a button! Snag a fresh lino print! Do a puzzle! Drink cider! Eat some treats! Thursday, Dec. 11. 3-5pm in RBML (346 Main Library)."

Join us on Thursday, December 11 from 3-5 pm for some Reading Day relaxation! Celebrate the semester’s end with sweet and salty treats and some of our favorite winter-themed materials from the RBML vault. Make a button, color, puzzle, and leave with a live-printed linocut card!

All are welcome.

Graphic with text: "RBML will be closed on Thursday, 11/27 and Friday, 11/28 in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. We will reopen on Monday, 12/1."

The Rare Book & Manuscript Library will be closed on Thursday, November 27 and Friday, November 28 in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, and will reopen on Monday, December 1. 🍂

Shelfmark:
Latham's faulconry, or, The faulcons lure and cure (1658) - IUA07659

The note suggests that if the falconer fears any bruise, they may "add a little mummy" to a medicinal mixture. The claim at the time was that powdered mummified remains would stop internal bleeding. Who knew that the medieval practice of medical cannibalism extended to the animal husbandry field?