Harold B. Lee Library

Archive for the “Collection highlights” Category

• Miniature Bibles
  Posted December 1, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  What’s the smallest Bible at BYU? Well, it might be a microform version which is about 5 cm square. Over 1200 pages of text are reproduced on a single slide. But if you’re looking for a tiny Bible which might actually be legible without mechanical intervention, Special Collections has several miniature books which contain the [...]

• Polyglot Bibles
  Posted November 8, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  This week’s post highlights a different type of Bible found in Special Collections: the polyglot.  Polyglots present the text of the Bible in multiple languages, side-by-side on the page, in order to facilitate study and scholarship. Special Collections’ earliest example of a polyglot Bible is the “Genoa Psalter” of 1516.  This polyglot presents the text [...]

• Fine Press Editions of the King James Bible
  Posted October 21, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  As a monument of English culture, religion, and literature, the Bible has been a source of inspiration for book artists, typographers, illustrators, and book designers. Because of its size and the varied types of material in the Bible, it also presents artistic and technical challenges in printing and illustrating. Along with early editions of the [...]

• Special Collections’ Wycliffite Bible manuscript
  Posted October 3, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  One of the more unique Bible manuscripts held by Special Collections is this copy of the Wycliffite New Testament.  It is currently on display in the exhibit “The Life and Legacy of the King James Bible.”  Special Collections’ Wycliffite New Testament was copied in a cursive script by a man named Richard Robinson around the [...]

• Manuscript Bibles in Special Collections
  Posted September 21, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  This manuscript Bible, a 13th century Old Testament in Latin, is currently on display in the Library’s exhibit “The Life and Legacy of the King James Bible: Celebrating 400 Years.”  Special Collections owns several other manuscripts which contain the text of the Latin Bible, including an illuminated Old Testament created in 15th century France and [...]

• The Bible Moralisée
  Posted September 6, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  The term “Bible moralisée” (moralized Bible) has been given to a lavish type of picture Bible which was popular during the thirteenth century in Western Europe.  Several illuminated manuscript moralized Bibles have survived to the present, and Special Collections possesses facsimiles of a number of these manuscripts. Moralized Bibles do not contain the full text [...]

• Celebrating the King James Bible
  Posted August 15, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  Special Collections is proud to announce the opening of its newest major exhibit, “The Life and Legacy of the King James Bible,” which celebrates the 400th anniversary of the printing of this monumental work.  The exhibit, located in Special Collections’ first floor gallery, is open during Special Collections’ operating hours.  The library has also created [...]

• Losing Teeth
  Posted July 28, 2011 by Kristi Young

  Losing your first tooth is a rite-of-passage longed for by young children. They wiggle their teeth looking for one even slightly loose. Joy erupts when they finally find one. A variety of folk practices accompany this important event. Some children have stubborn teeth that seem to wiggle forever or even hang on stubbornly by a thread. [...]

• Mesoamerican manuscripts
  Posted July 21, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  Several posts on this blog have featured the facsimiles of unique medieval European manuscripts held by L. Tom Perry Special Collections.  Special Collections also owns facsimiles of important non-Western manuscripts, including surviving Mesoamerican codices.  The Mayans and Aztecs created manuscript books on paper made from the bark of fig trees, which was fashioned into long [...]

• Visiting Victorian London
  Posted June 7, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  Visiting the UK this summer?  You’re probably bringing along a guidebook to help you navigate, see the sights, and understand the local culture.  Old guidebooks can provide an interesting snapshot of place and time.  For example, Special Collections owns numerous 19th century guidebooks to places in the British Isles, including Scotland, the English Lake District, [...]

• Project update: French Political Pamphlets digital collection
  Posted March 7, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  BYU’s multi-year project to digitize its unique collection of French political pamphlets continues making strides.  To date, nearly 1500 items have been scanned and posted online at http://www.lib.byu.edu/dlib/fpp/. The collection includes works printed between 1547 and 1626 which cover such topics as French laws and statutes, economy, propaganda, religion, and social and cultural commentary.

• Celebrating the King James Bible
  Posted February 22, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  At Brigham Young University, the spotlight is shining on the King James Bible, which was first published during the year 1611.  To celebrate the King James version’s 400th  anniversary, during the month of February BYU has hosted a university forum address by Bible scholar David Norton, and the Religious Studies Center will present a symposium [...]

• Victorian Valentines
  Posted February 7, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  Valentine’s Day greetings were just as popular with the Victorians as they are today.  In 1865, the British postmaster general reported that 542,000 valentines were mailed annually within London and more than double that amount sent from London to the countryside.  No wonder that in 1870, one newspaper noted that “[St. Valentine] is the terror [...]

• See Philip II on the big screen this Friday!
  Posted January 26, 2011 by Maggie Kopp

  BYU’s Motion Picture Archive Film Series is screening the 1940 Errol Flynn movie “The Sea Hawk” this Friday.  The film is set during England’s naval wars with Spain in the 16th century and stars Flynn as an English sea captain. Special Collections owns primary documentary evidence of these wars from the Spanish point of view, a [...]

• Images of hunting
  Posted December 26, 2010 by Maggie Kopp

  Hunting has been a popular sport in Europe since the Middle Ages.  Medieval manuscripts depict aristocrats hunting on horseback and on foot, with hawks and hounds, and provide insight into the methods and practices used in organized hunts.   Over the centuries, printed books about hunting, falconry, and fishing have been popular with sportsmen and book [...]