Happy Birthday, Gesenius

Today is the birthday of Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius (1786-1842). He was a Hebraist and later a professor of theology at Halle, where his lectures were popular among students because of his irreverent tone toward more traditional approaches to Scriptural problems. He pursued a purely philological approach to Hebrew Scriptures at a time when Biblicists were sharply divided between rationalists and the neo-orthodox.

Gesenius published numerous works on Semitic languages, among which is the two-volume work we are featuring today.

Scripturae linguaeque phoeniciae, was published in 1837 in Leipzig by F.C.G Vogel. It treats the Punic and Phoenician languages and includes tracings of inscriptions and coins, the two sources of evidence for these languages. It also included tables that collated the letter forms several other languages, as well as a very learned-looking discussion in Latin.

Now, who wants to join me in "Happy Birthday"? Anyone know it in Punic?

binding

front-pastedown

Title

litterae0001

Fold out

binders-ticket

Scripturae linguaeque phoeniciae..,
by  Wilhelm Gesenius.
Published in  Leipzig,  1837, by F.C.G. Vogel

Rare  PJ419 .G5

home Resources and Services Knight grant will help RJI develop born-digital-news preservation model

Knight grant will help RJI develop born-digital-news preservation model

A $35,000 grant from the Knight News Challenge on libraries will help University of Missouri Libraries and the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute develop a long-term model to protect born-digital news content from being lost forever.

Read more at the Reynolds Journalism Institute blog: Knight grant will help RJI develop born-digital-news preservation model

 

 

home Resources and Services Monetization of news

Monetization of news

In the face of decreasing revenues and increasing costs, news agencies everywhere are exploring creative methods of extracting more funding from their products. Some methods are more suitable to larger organizations and others to smaller ones.

Read more at the Reynolds Journalism Institute blog: Monetization of news

home Resources and Services Dodging the Memory Hole: Collaborations to save the news

Dodging the Memory Hole: Collaborations to save the news

The news is often called the "first draft of history" and preserved newspapers are some of the most used collections in libraries.

Read more at the Reynolds Journalism Institute blog: Dodging the Memory Hole: Collaborations to save the news

 

 

Ice Creatures

In honor of the official first day of winter and the recently fallen snow here on MU's campus, this week's installment of the Fantastic Beasts series highlights creatures that live and breath the ice and snow of the Arctic.  The first two images below show different depictions of Jack Frost, who, in these folk tales from Russia, saves a young girl whose step-mother threw her out in the cold to die.  The image to the right is of a creature from Japanese folklore called the Yuki-Onna (or, Snow Woman) that kills travelers with her icy breath, leaving them frozen.  In other legends, she breaks down the doors of houses with a fierce wind and then kills its sleeping residents (like she is in this picture).  The final three images depict the Frost Giants of Norse mythology.  in the first, the X-Men prepare to go up against the recently resurrected Ymir, progenitor of the Frost Giants.  In the last two, comic book hero Conan battles two such Frost Giants as he pursues their sister across the ice.

jackfrost0006  jackfrost0005  jackfrost0004  jackfrost0003  jackfrost0002

If the weather isn't cold enough for you yet, or you just want to help celebrate the first day of winter, come see us at Special Collections, where we've got all these ice creatures and more waiting to be discovered in the warmth of our reading room.

home Resources and Services How the Denver Public Library ended up owning the Rocky Mountain News archive

How the Denver Public Library ended up owning the Rocky Mountain News archive

Among the many stories shared at the recent "Dodging the Memory Hole" forum at RJI, none were more gripping and significant than the tale of how the Denver Public Library ended up owning the Rocky Mountain News archive.

Read more at the Reynolds Journalism Institute blog: How the Denver Public Library ended up owning the Rocky Mountain News archive

 

 

An Aztec Remedy for Mental Stupor

For Mental Stupor:

He whose mind is in this condition should drink the juice of the tlahtlocotic root crushed in warm water so that he will vomit.  A few days later both the bark and roots of the flowers yolloxochitl and cacauaxochitl are to be crushed in water; he is to drink the juice before lunch…His forehead, moreover, is to be anointed with the brain of a stag and the feathers of a dove, crushed and put in water, and human hair. On his neck he shall carry the stone found in the stomach of the swallow.

 Plate980001-copy

Plate 98 (left) and Plate 98, detail (right)

This remedy appears in a very special manuscript known as the Badianus Manuscript (Codex Barberini, Latin 241), now housed at the Vatican library. This manuscript was created in 1552 by two individuals of Aztec descent. One, Martinus de la Cruz,  was a physician; the other, Badianus, rendered the former's pharmacological knowledge into Latin. The manuscript, decorated with pigments made of native materials,  is not only astoundingly beautiful, but an important witness to Aztec medicine at the time of the conquest. Special Collections owns a facsimile, edited by  Emily Emmart.

Plate68

Plate 68

The Badianus Manuscript, Codex Barberini, Latin 241, Vatican Library: An Aztec Herbal of 1552

John Hopkins Press, 1940

Rare Folio RS169 .C7 1552a

home Resources and Services Extended Library Hours for Finals

Extended Library Hours for Finals

The Engineering Library will have extended hours on the following days:

  • Friday, December 5: 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
  • Friday, December 12: 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
  • Saturday, December 13: 9:00 am – 9:00 pm

Be sure to check for more extended hours at Ellis Library.

home Resources and Services That’s engagement: Forum participants plot course to preserve born-digital news content

That’s engagement: Forum participants plot course to preserve born-digital news content


The opportunity to advance the preservation of born-digital news is real. That’s my takeaway from the Dodging the Memory Hole: Saving Born-digital News Content forum.

Read more at the Reynolds Journalism Institute blog: That’s engagement: Forum participants plot course to preserve born-digital news content

home Resources and Services Engineering Library Thanksgiving Hours

Engineering Library Thanksgiving Hours

We will have special hours for the Thanksgiving break:

  • Friday, November 21: 8 am-5 pm
  • Saturday and Sunday, November 22-23: Closed
  • Monday-Wednesday, November 24-26: 8 am-5 pm
  • Thursday-Saturday, November 27-29: Closed
  • Sunday, November 30: 1 pm-12 am (return to normal hours)

Have a safe break and a Happy Thanksgiving!