Harold B. Lee Library

Miniature Book Exhibit

January 21, 2009

Need a really small break from your studies? Like miniatures? Then come see the Miniature Book Exhibit in Special Collections. See whole miniature libraries, a tiny-but-readable (barely) Bible, dollhouse-sized books and magazines, ultra-portable dictionaries, and even cuneiform tablets. The exhibit will be up through January 30th, and Special Collections is open 8am-9pm Mon-Thu, 8-6 Fri, and 10-6 Saturdays.

In Honorable Remembrance: Thomas L. Kane and the Latter-day Saints

November 7, 2008

BYU’s L. Tom Perry Special Collections has been gathering Thomas L. Kane family papers into its collections for many years. We now have the largest collection of Thomas L. Kane manuscripts in the world (regarding Kane’s life and work see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_L._Kane). For this Exhibit, we are drawing from this rich archive original manuscripts, rare books, and photographs that document Kane’s relationship with the Latter-day Saints.

We also have arranged a series of monthly lectures by various scholars that focus on some aspect of Kane’s relationship with the Latter-day Saints. We hope that you will join us this coming Wednesday at 3 pm in the HBLL Auditorium for the Kane Lecture by William P. MacKinnon, a recognized authority on the Utah War, who will address the topic of “Thomas L. Kane and the Utah War”, after which we will have a reception and the official opening of the Kane Exhibit in Special Collections.

Kane, who never joined the LDS Church, was given a Patriarchal Blessing by John Smith, the Church Patriarch, in September 1846, in which he was blessed to live a long life (he was very ill), would marry and have children (he was then a confirmed bachelor), and would be held in honorable remembrance by the Latter-day Saints for his efforts to assist and defend them (a copy of the original blessing will be on display). Our exhibit seeks to continue this promised blessing, to “honorably remember” him. We invite you and your students to learn more about this remarkable man and to help pass this knowledge on to the next generation.

Water in the West: A Misplaced Resource Lecture

November 5, 2008

Dan McCool, a professor of Political Science and director of the Environmental Studies program at the University of Utah will be speaking on Water in the West today. Don’t miss it!

BYU’s L. Tom Perry Special Collections is a partner in conjunction with the University of Utah and five other universities in creating the Western Waters Project (www.westernwaters.org). The purpose of this project is to collect and make available on the web unique archival materials that would otherwise be unavailable or difficult to access for public water policy and historian research.

The Western Waters

  • Time: 3:00 PM
  • Date: Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008
  • Place: HBLL Auditorium, 1st Floor; Admission is free; arrive early for seats.

Our Common Prayer on 9-11

September 15, 2008

The following remarks were inspired by Frank McEntire’s exhibit Spontaneous Memorial

Early in the morning of September 11, 2001, while preparing for work, my wife and I helplessly watched the news report about the commercial jet that struck the first World Trade Center. We felt shocked and confused as we stood 2,000 miles away, unaware of the full story that was to unravel throughout the day.

My thoughts were consumed with the TV’s terrible images as I arrived at work, and in the midst of my helpless feelings a thought came to me, “we should have a department/public prayer”.  I quickly visited each colleagues present in Special Collections and asked them to join me under the atrium in our public reception area. It was sometime in the AM—mid morning. The second plane had just hit the other World Trade Center tower. I then asked our rare bookroom patrons to also join us. Faculty, staff, and patrons, gathered into a wide circle. When I surveyed the group, I caught the eye of our Digital Lab Manager, Robert Espenoza and asked him if he could lead us in prayer. A devout member of the Roman Catholic Church, Espenoza had recently made a pilgrimage to Rome in 2000 and had learned by heart a new rendition of The Lord’s Prayer. Having committed it to memory, he said it now with great serenity as we stood shoulder to shoulder with the morning sun streaming in and around our circle.

-Brad Westwood
Curator of Special Projects and Outreach
brad_westwood@byu.edu

This exhibit can be viewed at http://net.lib.byu.edu/art/McEntire.html

Medieval Manuscripts and Undergraduate Students

August 12, 2008

Professor Jesse Hurlbut, from the French and Italian department, recently collaborated with Maggie Gallup Kopp, Curator of European Books, in a seminar on medieval manuscripts. Hurlbut’s students had the opportunity to personally examine a number of medieval codices and manuscript fragments. They were then assigned to analyze at least 10 facsimiles of medieval manuscripts and to give a seminar presentation on a specific codex. In their studies, students examined various characteristics of medieval bookmaking, including the production of parchment, binding, and decoration within the text.

Dr. Michael Call, of the Humanities and Comparative Literature Department, also worked with Maggie Gallup Kopp in a senior seminar that examined the art and literature of mid-17th century France. Rare titles from the vaults were gathered for the students’ review, including French political and religious treatises, philosophy, and poetry and drama. Students learned how books were printed, illustrated, and published during the reign of Louis XIV, adding to their understanding of how the texts they read for the course were originally received and transmitted.

All of this took place at the bottom of the Lee Library’s glass atrium in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections. Here the library stores and makes available one-of-kind library materials, including rare books, manuscripts, and an assortment of other scholarly materials and artifacts. The facilities include classrooms and a reading room designed to attract and encourage faculty and students to use the materials. If it all works right, faculty and library curators come together to develop and deliver on-site presentations that combine three-dimensional materials along with state-of-the-art tech resources, bringing to life a host of different topics. BYU not only allows but actively encourages students to access our world-class collections, creating an ideal learning experience and presenting singular opportunities to learn from first-hand sources.

To arrange to meet with a curator about curricula, contact Russ Taylor, Supervisor of Reference Services, at 422-2932 or russ_taylor@byu.edu.