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Category Archives: Rare books
Beautiful Historic Wooden Book Covers in Burns Library
In the course of my job at John J. Burns Library, I often find amazing archival materials by chance while working on conservation projects. The jeweled binding of a Bulgarian manuscript held at Burns Library is one such serendipitous find. … Continue reading
Navigating Maps at Burns Library
Maps can tell us as much about the people who made them as the places they depict. Like all texts and images, maps serve the agendas of their creators, implicitly or avowedly. Consider this map produced around 1920, during the … Continue reading
Virtual Reference, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Local Note
One of the best privileges of being a staff member at a special collections library is free access to stacks closed to researchers. This is particularly helpful if, like me, you are terrible at remembering long Latin titles; I tend … Continue reading
Posted in Rare books
Tagged binding description, catalog records, local notes, rare book cataloging, search tips, virtual reference
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History of the Azores, or Western Islands
You don’t see many books on the Azores in Burns Library, so having traveled to the volcanic islands myself, once in 1995 and once in 2010, this particular book immediately caught my eye. I found it was a fascinating look … Continue reading
Posted in Rare books
Tagged Azores, British Empire, caldera, Great Britain, History, maps, portugal, st. michael, travel
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Thomas J. Shamon’s mystery recommendations
While we’re most well-known for our our major collecting areas in Irish history, Jesuitica, and Catholicism, Burns Library also has a strong mystery collection. With over 5,000 volumes, our mystery collection ranges in date from 1827 to 2018, and in … Continue reading
Posted in Rare books
Tagged book recommendations, mystery, recommendations, Thomas J. Shamon
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New Acquisition: Ioannis Petraloysii Praenestini Missarum Liber Tertius
Among the most eye-catching books acquired recently by Burns Library is this collection of masses by the prolific and influential Italian composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Printed in 1570, in Rome, this is the first edition of the third collection … Continue reading
Posted in Acquisitions, Rare books
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The Young Ladies Instructor
What does it mean to be educated? How much knowledge, in what areas, are you required to have? The question changes drastically depending on time period, geographic location, gender and class. With such variable answers, books that are meant to … Continue reading
A Rare Vellum Printing
A book may be interesting on the basis of its physical features, its intellectual content, or its history of ownership. Here we have the trifecta: a book of unusual, even beautiful, material construction, containing a text of scholarly interest, and … Continue reading
Posted in Acquisitions, Irish Studies, Jesuitica, Rare books
Tagged Ireland, provenance, vellum
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Swift, Satire, and BC Students
Does Swift’s searing satire lose its keen edge as the story is re-represented over time, country and culture? This was a question that arose last spring as students in Colleen Taylor’s English Literature class, Satire and Society, explored editions of … Continue reading
