Hand colored plates by Lotte Pritzel
Images taken from Puppen by Rainer Maria Rilke
Munich, 1921
Super Admin
Digital archives not as complete or long-lasting as they should be — or could be
Today, digital archives and ?computer-assisted journalism? are commonplace. Almost all stories, photos, videos and related news assets are now created digitally ? so one might think electronic archives are universal. But it?s not necessarily so. Digital archives may not be as complete or long-lasting as they could/should be.
Read more at the Reynolds Journalism Institute blog: Digital archives not as complete or long-lasting as they should be — or could be
Ghosts, Friendly and Otherwise
While sometimes our stacks can certainly feel like they're haunted, the only ghosts we know live here are the ones in our books! From Casper the Friendly Ghost to the Headless Horseman, our shelves are inhabited by a large variety of spirits. We even have books claiming to be written by ghosts, such as the Ghost Epigrams of Oscar Wilde, and collections of ghost stories spanning the years.
Automatic writing allows a person to channel the supernatural to produce written words without consciously writing. In this case, allowing the figure of Lazar to write pages worth of witty epigrams from the spirit of Oscar Wilde.
In this pamphlet, a speech is recorded from the ghost of Lord Haversham, who was so disturbed by some of the carrying-ons of the Parliment that he returned as a ghost after his death to give this speech to the House of Lords in 1710.
Even Holmes and Watson join the fray in the fight against evil spirits in these crossover comics that pit the famous consulting detective and his biographer against the opera ghost, or the Phantom of the Opera.
One of the more well-known ghosts in American literature is that of the Headless Horseman from Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Also a terrifying figure in other European folktales, a common theme among all depictions is that, where this spirit shows up, death usually follows.
So if these books make you want to take up ghosthunting this October, you know who to call. (Hint: it's us, Special Collections!)
Ma and Pa Ingalls
Charles and Caroline Ingalls (Pa and Ma)
Image taken from Let the Hurricane Roar by Rose Wilder Lane
New York and Toronto 1933
Written by their grandaughter, Rose Wilder Lane, Let the Hurricane Roar tells the story of Charles and Caroline Ingalls. The novel recounts events in the lives of the young newlywed couple making their way West, detailing the challenges and adventures encountered along the way.
Bats, Rats, and Spiders
Oh my!
Throughout October the Fantastic Beasts series will be taking a turn for the creepy as each week in October we feature spooky creatures and things that go bump in the night. For the first week we'll start with some of the tamer creepy-crawlies that lots of us see on a daily basis: bats, rats, and spiders. Each of these are commonly featured in tales of terror, and are associated with death, disease, or mystery, among other things. They can also serve as familiars to witches and sorcerors, which is where they picked up a lot of their negative associations. Truth is, many of these fears are largely unfounded, as bats, rats, and spiders are important parts of any ecosystem and for the most part are either scared of or not a threat to humans. Giant versions of any of these (such as those pictured below) are, of course, another matter entirely.
See Spot Run!
Dick, Jane, Sally and Spot: icons in 20th century American education.
The New We Work and Play by William S. Gray, A. Sterl Artley, and May Hill Arbuthnot. Published 1951.
The Dick and Jane Reader Series was an extremely popular Reader collection used in American classrooms from the 1930's-1970's. Peaking in popularity in the 1950's, it is estimated that almost 80% of Readers used in 1st grade classrooms were from the Dick and Jane series. These Readers focused on whole language and repetition to teach children how to read. University of Missouri-Columbia professor, Dr. A. Sterl Artley, played an important part in the production and study of these books. Dr. Artley won the Thomas Jefferson Award and was a Reading Hall of Fame winner for his work on the series.
CRCnetBASE Database Trial
Try out MU Libraries' latest trial database CRCnetBASE. This database includes searchable access to more than 12,000 eBook titles, covering scientific, technical, business, engineering, medical, and veterinary medical references. Trial ends Oct. 23, 2014. Be sure to leave feedback to let us know what you think about this resource.
The Griffin, King of the Beasts
The mighty griffin, with the head, wings, and talons of an eagle and the body of a lion, is said to represent power and majesty as the ruler of all creatures. Which makes sense since the eagle is commonly cited as the king of birds and the lion as the king of beasts. The griffin is quite common in tales and mythology throughout the ages, and is one of the more well-known fantastic beasts, like unicorns or dragons.
Griffins are incredibly strong, and are often used in heraldry and crests. Griffins were also said to be extremely wise, and, like dragons, had a tendency to seek out and hoard gold. Adrienne Mayor suggests that the origin of the griffin myth comes from fossil findings of the pentaceratops (a dinosaur with a beaked face and four-legged body), whose bones would have looked much like a griffin's were supposed to, near known gold veins.
Lewis Carroll even includes a gryphon (pictured below) in his stories as a demanding guide to take Alice to the Mock Turtle.
To find the king of the beasts for yourself, all you need to do is pay a visit to us here at Special Collections – no digging in the mountains necessary!
Verso
The cooler, drier weather, though not unwelcome,
always gave Marge fly aways.
Micrographia restaurata, London 1745
Rare Folio QH271 .H8
Revelations
Original image taken from Album Lokner : artes y letras 1898, Madrid.