home Resources and Services, Special Collections and Archives Blessed are the Merciful…, or Missouri to the Rescue

Blessed are the Merciful…, or Missouri to the Rescue

Only a few days separate us from Christmas, and at this time we especially remember people in need, and perhaps try to do something to help them. I wanted to recall a story of great generosity and humanity.

Russia, a major exporter of grain in the 19th century, in 1891-92 suffered one of the most disastrous famines in its history. It was a combination of inclement weather and severe drought that struck the Russian South. People starved, many died.

It was estimated that about 35 million people were affected. The exact death toll is not known, but Richard Robbins, an American historian, put it at about 300,000.

The government, and especially the royal family, did everything to alleviate the disaster; the Emperor himself gave half of his income, around five million rubles, to relief funds; he also appointed the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Nicolas, the future Emperor Nicolas II, as chairman of one of the major relief committees; many wealthy people generously donated money and personally participated in the relief efforts. Anton Chekhov, the famous writer who was a physician by training, went with other doctors to the regions stricken by cholera and typhus to treat the sick and needy; Leo Tolstoy collected and distributed relief donations and organized food stations for peasants.

Leo Tolstoy and the relief committeeLeo Tolstoy (center) and the relief committee

The United States responded swiftly and generously. Millers of Minneapolis organized a gift of flour; Nebraskans contributed one-and-a-half million pounds of corn meal; besides, Americans collected through charities about a million dollars in addition to several shipments of humanitarian aid. First to the Russian shores (the Baltic port of Libava, now in Latvia) came the steamer Missouri with the cargo of grain. Two more U.S. ships followed later.

The future Emperor Nicolas II said:” We are all deeply touched by the fact that America sent us ships full of foodstuff.” A special resolution prepared by the distinguished representatives of the Russian public stated: “The United States show us the most moving example of brotherly feelings by sending bread to the Russian people at the time of such privation and need.”

One of the most famous marine artists, Ivan Aivazovsky, depicted the arrival of the Missouri to the Russian shores.

Ivan Aivazovsky. Arrival of the ship Missouri with grain to Russia

 

And here is a depiction of the joyful reception of the American help in the Russian village by the same artist.

Aivazovsky, American help arrived

 

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 Ellis Library Final Hours

Ellis Library Final Hours

Ellis Library is open until 4 am most nights during finals week. Some of the branch libraries also have extended hours. Please visit http://library.missouri.edu/hours/ for a detailed listing of MU Libraries hours.

home Resources and Services Recordings of All the Fridays @ the Library Workshops Are Now Available Online

Recordings of All the Fridays @ the Library Workshops Are Now Available Online

Missed one of our workshops? Check out the online recordings. They are available at https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/workshoprecordings.

 

home Resources and Services Congratulations to Nicki Murff! Winner of a Bookmark Cafe Gift Certificate! You Can Be a Winner Too!

Congratulations to Nicki Murff! Winner of a Bookmark Cafe Gift Certificate! You Can Be a Winner Too!

The MU Libraries want to hear from you on ways the library can improve to better meet your needs. Complete the MU Libraries Student Survey here: http://tinyurl.com/MULibrary14. The survey takes approximately 5 minutes. Once you have completed the survey you will be asked for your MIZZOU e-mail to be entered into a daily drawing for a $10 gift certificate to the Bookmark Café. The last day to complete the survey is Dec 19th.

Thank you! Your input will help shape the future of MU Libraries services, spaces and collections!

For questions about the survey contact Navadeep Khanal at khanaln@missouri.edu.

home Resources and Services Stress Free Zone

Stress Free Zone

Don't let finals stress you out.

Come to the stress-free zone in the Ellis Library colonnade on Dec 15-17 to relax.  We will have games, puzzles, comics, snacks and much more. So don’t let those finals get you down.

 

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