The Rare Books and Manuscripts Library contends with immediate conservation and long term preservation issues every day.  Barring incidental floods, fire, vermin or mold, books are relatively easy to preserve if housed in a stable and secure environment and monitored constantly from now until eternity.  Of an equal preservation challenge are non-print media – audio, video, computer, etc. – when time has yet to determine the life of these fragile media.  In addition to the materials themselves, there is the challenge of guaranteeing that old formats can be reformatted for new equipment without compromising sound or image.  We are all familiar with the development of audio formats from vinyl records to cassette tapes to CD’s to I-pods.  And, the change will continue: what will people be listening to in 2163?  Rare Books, then, and other special collection libraries around the world, preserve multiple formats of materials with the hope that even if we cannot reformat all our current holdings on a timely basis, technology will prevail.  Certainly, the conversion of “squiggles on soot-covered paper” to an audible version of Au Claire de la Lune is a hopeful sign.  The key, remains, however, to preserving the originals.  The 15th-century print versions of the Bible and the classics would not have been possible had manuscript versions not survived.  Listening to Hard Knock Life 150 years from now will not be possible without conserving some version of it today.

While there had been a number of independent exhibitions of the works of these artists held in Europe previously, one must not assume that the new styles had become mainstream there.

The complete run of the Paris Salon catalogs are also housed in Rare Books and Manuscripts.  As an art historian, I felt compelled to reach for the catalogs that marked critical years in the careers of Eugene Delacroix, Gustave Courbet or Edouard Manet, but reason suggested that I should highlight the one from 1913.  One will not find works like the Blue Nude or Nude Descending a Staircase No.2 here.  While Realism and Impressionism had gained more acceptance, the traditional Academic fare still dominated the Paris show.  One finds little change in what was presented to the Parisian public between the years 1863 and 1913. 

Being able to see an artist’s works within the context of an entire exhibit is of tremendous value.  Shelley Staples tackled such a challenge for the Armory Show back in 2001, creating a web site that attempts to recreate the full experience: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~museum/armory/armoryshow.html  Once you enter you can move from gallery to gallery following the exhibit layout provided in the catalog.  If you’ve not visited this site before, take time to commemorate this centennial by exploring the Armory Show yourself!

Over the years a number of manuscripts have been digitized and edited by Professor Ulman and  his classes and many are available online while others await further development:  Sophie Peabody Hawthorne letters (correspondence from the wife of Nathaniel Hawthorne to her sister Elizabeth Palmer Peabody) (http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/ulman1/Sophia_Hawthorne_Letters/ ); Valentine Peers Collection (letters and documents of a Kentucky family from the Revolutionary period to the Civil War); William B. Anderson letters (correspondence of an Ohio River boat captain to his wife during the Civil War) (http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/ulman1/WBAnderson_Letters/); Samuel S. Cox journal (a future U. S. Congressman’s honeymoon tour of Europe and the Orient in 1851) (http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/ulman1/SSCoxJournal/); the Louisa A. Doane journal (a young woman’s account of two voyages, the first to Marseilles [1852] and the second to Mexico and Peru via Cape Horn [1852 – 53]) (http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/ulman1/LADoaneJournal/default.cfm); the Stephens Family letters (correspondence of a teenage girl who traveled to El Paso, Mexico, the Northwest and the Yukon in the early 20^th century); and, the Lucius Clark Smith diaries noted above (the thoughts of a New Albany, Ohio schoolteacher and famer, 1859, 1861 – 62). 

Much has already been written about the contributions of digital works for the advancement of knowledge and learning.  If you are like me, you have read about or heard lectures upon the death of the book dozens if not scores or hundreds of times, a hysterical reaction to the growing influence of digital texts.  On the issue of rapid digitization of texts, I think we should welcome the democratization of knowledge.  On the death of the book, I believe the declamation is premature.  It will be a long, long time before all texts in print or manuscript will be digitized.  The digital documents edited by Professor Ulman’s class are surrogates of but a fraction of the 2,500+ linear feet of manuscripts in the Rare Books collection and our collection is a but a fraction of the myriad manuscript collections in institutions around the world.  Virtual access to manuscripts can generate from its users further information and knowledge about the subjects of the documents; it can encourage social reading of personal texts; it can solicit links to other like and related documents; and more.  Also ,what may appear counter intuitive, the production of digital surrogates actually leads to more use of the original physical documents because of their unique artifactual value and their intrinsic historicalness, prevailing allures for the serious scholar.

Geoffrey D. Smith

First, some of our physical objects or collections that have been digitized:
Some grew out of student projects, like Henry Bellingham’s Commonplace Book, or A Journey Through Time With Thomas More’s Utopia.  Other’s are devoted to highlighting individual collections, such as the John W. Bennett’s photographs from the Allied Occupation of Japan, 1948-1951 or Paul Henri Bourguignon’s photographs of Haiti, 1947-48.  RBMS staff digitize items in the collection on an almost daily basis, often at the request of researchers.  We have scanned a set of Peru images, also by Bourguignon, and are in the process of preparing a web exhibit of those.  A web version of the exhibition devoted to the King James Bible is also in the works.

Some of our collections are in fact, born digital, and our goal is to archive the files and provide continuous access to those resources well into the future.  One example is the archived version of Jim Leftwich’s blog, TEXTIMAGEPOEM.  RBMS has also archived all of the the Poets Against the War web site contributions.  While Sam Hamill published an anthology of Poets Against the War poetry, RBMS is committed to making every single poem available.

Accessibility is second only to conservation as one of our driving goals, so we have been transferring the early 16mm films of Lillian Feldman Schwartz to DVD since her collection was donated to OSU in 2004.  These may be viewed  in the Thompson Library Special Collections reading room.  While on the one hand we work to preserve the 1970s Schwartz films we are also addressing the need to maintain access to the more recent digital video work of Alan Sondheim, available at the moment only on an external hard drive.

What other digital archival materials do we have?  There are e-mails to pull out of the software and archive as individual files.  There are art works and digital photograhs, drafts of short stories and books, on floppy disks or in e-mails to save and transfer to a new storage medium, monitor and transfer again.   

So, on this day for calling attention to digital archives we want to take a moment to thank those who assist us in storing and preserving and providing access to our precious digital files, and we also want to encourage you to take advantage of their accessibility.

Please note that the course does not require any previous experience with textual editing, the technologies involved in electronic textual editing, or 19th-century American literature and culture.   The class will work with the Smith journal in part because its local provenance will enable students to consult local archives for relevant information, but the skills students will learn are applicable to any genre in any period or language.

Examples of other student-edited editions of RBMS materials, completed or in progress, can be viewed via the following links:

Selected Letters from the Ivan S. Gilbert Collection of Stephens Family Travel Letters and Ephemera
Louisa A. Doane’s Journal of Two Ocean Voyages (1852-1853)
Samuel Sullivan Cox’s “Journal of a Tour to Europe” (1851)
William B. Anderson Letters (1862–1864)

Students may contact the instructor directly for further information at ulman.1@osu.edu.

Download brochure.

Rinhart Collection daguerreotype of unidentified standing couple

I’m pleased to announce a major new book, a comprehensive edition of my work in Globbolalia (my invented language): TEXTIS GLOBBOLALICUS, 3 vols. [997 pp.], Roanoke, VA: mO)onocle-Lash Press, 2010

- John Bennett

Thompson Library
1858 Neil Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210

AN INTERNATIONAL AVANT WRITING SYMPOSIUM

In Memoriam Thomas L. Taylor

This August 19-21, the Thompson Library will be invaded by an exciting horde of writers, scholars, artists, and others for the 2nd Avant Writing Symposium.  There will be some 50 presentations, performances, papers, readings, installations, exhibits, and other events, and an untold number of observers, fans, scholars, and kibitzers.  Sponsored by The Avant Writing Collection and the Rare Books & MSS Library, with additional support from The Department of Spanish & Portuguese and The Center for Latin American Studies, the attendees and presenters will come from all over the United States, Latin America, and elsewhere.  All with a focus on various of the Avant Gardes active in the world today, primarily those using language in some form or other.  Events will take place in the Thompson Library, at OSU’s Urban Arts Space, and at Skylab in downtown Columbus.   In addition to the presentations and performances, there will be exhibits in the Thompson Library, and at Skylab, and a room dedicated to continual presentations of electronic and digital poetry and literature.

The previous Symposium, in 2002, was a huge success, and is still being talked about.  So if you want to learn about literary innovation and experimentation, avant garde writing, electronic and digital literature, multi-lingualism, visual poetry, performance poetry, Fluxus poetry and texts, collaborative writing, sound poetry, international networking, artist´s books, cut-up text, concrete poetry, found poetry, mail art, video poetry, and much much more, this is your opportunity.

For complete schedule and poster please see: http://library.osu.edu/find/collections/rarebooks/RBMSnews/avant-symposium/

Thursday August 19
8 AM – 5 PM, Thompson Library
Presentations and installations

7 – 8 PM, OSU Urban Arts Space
50 W. Town St. (downtown)
Be Blank Consort

Friday August 20
8 AM – 5 PM, Thompson Library
Presentations and installations

5-7 PM, 11th floor, Thompson Library
Award Reception

Saturday August 21
8 AM – 5 PM, Thompson Library
Presentations and installations

8 PM – 10 PM, Skylab
57 E. Gay St. (downtown)
Collaboration festival, performances, visual poetry exhibit

Sponsored by:

• The Ohio State University
• The Avant Writing Collection
• The Rare Books & MSS Library
• The Thompson Library
• The Department of Spanish & Portuguese
• The Center for Latin American Studies
• Skylab Gallery
• OSU Urban Arts Space/The Larry Marotta Hour

Curated by John M. Bennett

Registration fee is $30 US.  Pay by credit card on-line at: http://library.osu.edu/sites/rarebooks/orderform.php, using invoice no. 100; or pay at the door by check or cash (no credit cards accepted  at door)

Contact John M. Bennett for further information, registration and hotel information, and/or to be added to an email information list.  Bennett.23@osu.edu or 614-292-3029.

The opening on January 21, 2010, was well-attended, and featured a presentation by Steve Clay, the publisher of Granary Books, who talked about the press and some of the individual books on display.

The exhibit was curated by John M. Bennett, Avant Writing Collection.

 Snapshots from the Event:

John M. Bennet and Steve Clay

Looking at the Books

Carol Diedrichs, Steve Clay, Ann Hamilton, Gay Jackson, John M. Bennett

Geoffrey D. Smith (Ph.D.), Professor and
Head, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library