MARBL

by Kelly Erby, Assistant Professor of History, Washburn University; PhD, Emory University

Recently, MARBL acquired the minute book of the Institution for the Education of Colored Youths in the District of Columbia. Located in our African American Miscellany collection, this extraordinary piece of history begins with a hand-written copy of the congressional charter that incorporated the school in 1863 with the purpose “to educate and improve the moral and intellectual condition of such of the colored youths of the nation, as may be placed under its care and influence.” At 197 pages and bound in contemporary marbleboard, this addition to MARBL’s collections promises significance for scholars from a variety of fields, including education and African American and women’s history.

by David Faulds, Rare Book Librarian, dfaulds@emory.edu

At the end of 2010 MARBL received a splendid gift of rare books from Emory alum Stuart Rose. Among the treasures was Polychronicon by Ranulf Higden (2011 108) produced by the famous printer William Caxton. It is one of the first books printed in England, and one of the first books in the English language. The work was completed by Caxton in Westminster, England in 1482.

by Sara Logue, Research and Public Services Archivist, MARBL

Being the newest member of the staff at the Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library (MARBL), and a recent transplant to Atlanta, I'm excited, and somewhat overwhelmed by, the amazing history of this city and the south as a whole. I'm originally from the northeast, and MARBL has been a great resource for me in uncovering southern history. In my brief month here I've begun to learn how interesting the growth of Atlanta has been, and how much it differs from the northern cities to which I'm accustomed. While it is my job to learn as much as I can about the unique collections held at MARBL, I think it's important that I share this information with anyone who could potentially be interested in our holdings.

Highlights from the Emory University Archives Collection

Art Theorists of the Italian Renaissance is a collection of treatises on art and architecture from the period 1470 to 1775, and is structured around Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists.   Emory’s Woodruff library has owned the CD-ROM since 1998, but those in the Emory Community now have online access at http://libcat1.cc.emory.edu:32888/DB=artheoir

The collection of over 90 treatises, from Alberti to Vignola, define key developments in European history, and while these texts are not solely specific to the study of art history, art scholars will find much relevant here, including the canon of classical architecture as represented in the writings of Vitruvius, Alberti, Palladeo, and Vignola; guides to painting and sculpture by Alberti, Leonardo da Vinci, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and others; and Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists.

What is even more exciting is that Emory owns many of these rare editions, which puts us in the company of other great libraries, such as Cambridge University Library, the Bodleian Library, the Fitzwilliam Museum, and the Vatican Library.

by Ryan Taylor, Project Archivist, MARBL

"Working for Freedom: Documenting Civil Rights Organizations" is a collaborative project between Emory University's Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, and The Robert W. Woodruff Library of Atlanta University Center to uncover and make available previously hidden collections documenting the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta and New Orleans. The project is administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources with funds from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Each organization regularly contributes blog posts about their progress.

The photographs of SCLC provide a unique window into the wide array of leaders, entertainers, politicians, and personalities that have aided or interacted with SCLC and its members throughout the lifetime of the organization. Featured below are some candid moments captured on film by members of SCLC staff. 

Above left: Muhammad Ali with two of his daughters, undated. Above right: Harry Belafonte, undated.

MARBL has just acquired a personalized Jesuit prayer book in manuscript incorporating devotional prints: [JESUIT MANUSCRIPT PRAYER BOOK]. Libellus Piarum Precum... [Trier?], colophon: 1575.
 
“What's interesting about this 'Trier' manuscript”, comments Professor Walter Melion, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Art History,  “is that the illustrations--woodblocks and engravings--are printed on the same paper as the manuscript, which indicates that they were produced for insertion into this codex.
 
The prayer book includes 5 full-page hand-colored woodcuts, 11 engravings with touches of hand-color, and numerous hand-drawn colored Jesuit monograms.