Autograph of Alexander Blok

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Sometime ago, while preparing books for visitors, I opened the first issue of the magazine Love for Three Oranges, January 1914, and was surprised to see Alexander Blok’s autograph on the title page. The slim, almost homemade, magazine was published by Vsevolod Meyerhold (1874 – 2 February 1940), a brilliant and provocative Russian theatre director, under the nom de guerre Doctor Dapertutto, and the playful, theatrical, and sometimes clownesque nature of the magazine didn’t immediately associate in my mind with the tragic figure of Blok.

 

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One of the most famous Russian poets, Blok (1880-1921) was born in St. Petersburg to a refined, cultivated family of Russian gentry. The son, grandson and a son-in-law of the university professors, he was, by the definition of another poet, “the pampered child of a good home, who had been caressed by “tender women”, who, however, saw himself as an “orphaned outcast, and began to write most of his poems in the name of the man who was desperate, unsheltered, and buffeted by the wind” *
Poet of doom and gloom, he enjoyed the unsurpassed admiration of his contemporaries, and perhaps of one or two generations thereafter.
It is impossible to convey the bewitching music of his poetry in translation, but I’d like to give this small example:
A night, a street, a lamp, a drugstore
A meaningless and dismal lightBlok, student
A quarter century outpours –
It’s all the same. No chance to flight.

You’d die and rise anew, begotten.
All would repeat as ever might:
The street, the icy rippled water,
The store, the lamp, the lonely night.

Or another version of the same:
Some night and street, some chemist's lantern
Is bringing senseless weary light.
Well, nothing changes, that's one pattern,
Live extra twenty-five and find.

You die to start a life all over,
All things repeat as did before.
That night, cold waters at quay border,
That light, that street, that chemist's store. (October 10th, 1912) 

Personally, I have never fallen under the spell of Blok’s poetry, even in my youth, clearly preferring to him Gumilev and Khodasevich at the beginning, later Pasternak and Mandel’shtam. But I happen to know people who could cite Blok’s poems by heart for a long time nonstop. Cultivated and highly intelligent women and men, they regarded him with almost divine reverence and admiration, not quite comprehensible to me. Even Nabokov wrote that Blok was “by far the greatest poet of the first two decades of this (20th) century”**
The inscription on the title page says: “to much esteemed Alexander Alexandrovich Smirnov as a token of sincere devotion. A. Blok.”
The addressee of this autograph was three years Blok’s junior and his complete name-sake. At 31, Alexander Smirnov (1883-1962) was a well-known and well placed philologist, specialist in Celtic, French and Spanish literatures of the Renaissance, professor at St. Petersburg University, closely acquainted with, and well established in, the circles oAlexander Smirnov 2f the poets of the Russian Silver Age.
At times I think that one of the more interesting aspects of work in the Special Collections is that intoxicating thought of the many hands that had leafed through this or that old book and with whom you therefore are “in touch” throughout times and across continents. In this case, we happen to know the principal actors: Blok, Smirnov, and Meyerhold. In January 1914 they were all young, immensely gifted, looking forward to the future. The World War will begin only at the end of July***, then the atrocities of the revolution and the Bolshevik coup d’état would pounce upon them and everybody else in Russia, and their lives will be forever changed. Blok will stop writing and will drink himself to death soon thereafter; Meyerkhold will be arrested, brutally tortured by Stalin’s henchmen and finally executed in 1940; and only Smirnov will be living a long and seemingly uneventful life of a respected professor and scholar, loyal to the Soviet regime. But this small book, jolly and pert, is our window onto the world of a hundred years ago, where we can be very close to the trio of colorful characters, seemingly just one touch removed.

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*Kornei Chukovsky, “Alexander Blok as man and poet”, Ardis, 1982
**Vladimir Nabokov, Eugene Onegin, III:525, 1951-55
*** World War I started on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918

home Resources and Services, Special Collections and Archives Books with Personality-Sneak Peek 2

Books with Personality-Sneak Peek 2

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Artemus Ward

Artemus Ward; his travels …, 1865

Charles Farrar Browne, who wrote under the pen name “Artemus Ward”, was an acclaimed American writer, lecturer, and humorist in the 19th century. Ward was a favorite of many notable men, including President Lincoln and Mark Twain and contributed writings to popular magazines such as Punch and Vanity Fair. This copy of “Artemus Ward; his travels.” contains a signed photo vignette fastened to the flyleaf with a straight pin. Also included is a signed theater program from a performance of, “Artemus Ward, among the Mormons” at the Melodeon in Boston, MA. Both pieces are signed “Yours Trooly, Artemus Ward” with an intentional misspelling of “truly” as was consistent Ward’s writing style.

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home Special Collections and Archives Special Collections at the Movies: Days of Future Past

Special Collections at the Movies: Days of Future Past

Marvel Comics' winning streak continued in 1963 when they debuted the X-Men, a group of teenage superheroes who received their powers through mutation.  Originally going to be called the “Merry Mutants,” creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby settled on the title “X-Men” since their characters had “EX-tra power.” 

However, this group of mutants isn’t the only one to ever call themselves X-Men.  As we’ve seen in “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” sometimes completely different generations of mutants must band together under the same moniker.  To start of our Special Collections at the Movies blog series, we’ll highlight several different incarnations of those Merry Mutants that we have in our collection.

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This is a reprint of the first X-Men issue, published in September, 1963.  It introduces the original five-man team – Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman and Marvel Girl – and the X-Men’s most hated archenemy, Magneto.  We can see the team meeting Jean Grey, their newest member, and her amazing power of telekinesis.  Hardcore comic fans might notice something strange about this image – Cyclops’ name is Slim Summers, but we know him better as Scott Summers.  It wasn’t until the third issue of X-Men that Cyclops points out that Slim is just a nickname.

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Next we have an updated version of the same group of mutants, called the First Class.  We can see by the illustration on the cover that the lineup hasn’t changed, but the stories and events have been redesigned for modern readers.  It was this comic book line that was partially adapted into 2011’s “X-Men: First Class.”

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Our third incarnation is also an origin story.  A young Scott Summers is shown receiving his ruby visor, which holds in his optic blasts.  This series is meant to tie in with the animated TV show “X-Men: Evolution,” which focused on the very early years of the team.

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Finally, we have a collection of issues from the Generation X storyline.  Generation X ran from 1994 through 2001, and focused on an entirely different group of mutants.  This group, made of up primarily of Jubilee, Chamber, Husk, Gaia and Synch, often found itself in a moral grey area, often fighting for and against the X-Men. 

These four titles are just a sampling of the various X-Men series we have in Special Collections.  If “Days of Future Past” got you itching for more than the run-of-the-mill mutants, stop on by and check us out!

 

home Resources and Services, Special Collections and Archives Books with Personality-A sneak peek!

Books with Personality-A sneak peek!

In August 2014, Special Collections will mount a display entitled, “Books with Personality” in the Ellis Library Colonnade.  Over the next few weeks, we will give you a sneak peek to see what’s coming.  We hope you enjoy!

Poor Richard's Almanack

Benjamin Franklin

Poor Richard, 1747 : an almanack for the year of Christ, 1747, it being the third after leap-year …

This copy of Poor Richard’s Almanack was published in 1746 during the years Benjamin Franklin superintended the printing himself. The almanac includes calendars, weather predictions, astronomical calculations and astrological information. Franklin also shared poems, jokes, and offered wisdom to share with young persons. This copy bears evidence of the value someone has placed on the almanac. There are tears in four leaves which have been very carefully hand sewn. Although we cannot date the time of repair, the mending must have been made over a century ago.

Poor Richard's Almanac

Poor Richard's Almanac

Poor Richard's Almanack

Poor Richard's Almanack

Poor Richard's Almanack

Manuscript Monday has moved!

Manuscript Monday has moved to our Tumblr! We'll be sharing manuscripts available through the Digital Scriptorium database all summer.  Go follow us there, and check out the beautful materials from Special Collections and Archives at Mizzou  – and also from other libraries around the world.  

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Kelli Hansen

Kelli Hansen is head of the Special Collections and Rare Books department.

home Resources and Services, Special Collections and Archives What’s Blooming this Week: Red Valerian

What’s Blooming this Week: Red Valerian

Not far from the false indigo we featured last week, just outside the west entrance to Ellis Library, there's a beautiful red valerian in full bloom. The scientific name for this plant is Centranthus ruber.  It's also called Jupiter's Beard or spur valerian. 

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While red valerian is a member of the family Valerianaceae, it's not really a valerian. True valerian is known scientifically today as Valeriana officinalis.  Its roots were used medicinally and were thought to have a sedative effect.  Centranthus ruber has no known medicinal uses, although some sources claim it's edible. I didn't try it, and I don't advise you to, either!

In the past, Centranthus ruber and a few other members of its genus were thought to be closer relatives of true valerian than scientists believe they are today.  In 1816, the plant was published in Curtis's Botanical Magazine with a list of various other Valeriana species.  The plant pictured here, identified as Valeriana montana rotundifolia, is now known as Centranthus calcitrapa.  It is a hardy perennial, native to southern Europe. 

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This post wraps up our weekly series celebrating the connections between our collections and the Mizzou Botanic Garden – for now, at least.  I'll continue to use Special Collections to research the plants around us periodically over the summer and fall.  Have you seen a plant on campus or elsewhere that you'd like us to feature?  If so, let me know!

home Resources and Services, Special Collections and Archives What’s Blooming this Week: False Indigo

What’s Blooming this Week: False Indigo

We're visiting the west entrance of Ellis Library again this week to see what's blooming in the Mizzou Botanic Gardens just outside our doors.  This week, it's the spiky blooms of false indigo, or Baptisia.  We have two different varieties growing here on campus, yellow and blue.  Both types of false indigo were once used to make dye, but they aren't related to true indigo, which yields a very dark blue dye.

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Baptisia australis, the blue-flowering species, is native to the southeastern and midwestern United States.  It was illustrated in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1800, and there it was listed under the names Sophora australis and Podalyria australis, along with the following note: "It is a native of Carolina, and an old inhabitant of our gardens, having been cultivated by Mr. Philip Miller in 1758."  By the time the white-flowered species was illustrated in 1808, the genus Podalyria had been separated from Sophora.  The yellow false indigo we have here is a hybrid cultivar, but Curtis also includes a couple of other Baptisia species native to the Midwest: a yellow false indigo now called Baptisia tinctoria, and a white species, Baptisia alba.

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home Cycle of Success, Special Collections and Archives Teaching Spotlight: Nicole Johnston

Teaching Spotlight: Nicole Johnston

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Nicole Johnston is our guest for this month's Teaching Spotlight. We have looked forward to working with her Textile and Apparel Management students for the last few years, and we're excited to share her thoughts on object-based teaching.

Please tell us a bit about yourself and your interests.

I am Collection Manager of the Missouri Historic Costume and Textile Collection in the Department of Textile and Apparel Management (TAM) and also teach a large Writing Intensive lecture class for TAM titled “Survey of the History of Western Dress.” I have completed two degrees from the University of Missouri, during which time I learned that history, material culture and art are three of my favorite interests. I very much enjoy the hands-on, object-based aspect of material culture and working with the costume collection and in TAM enables me to combine all three of my passions. Teaching, in turn, lets me explore and research these fields in further detail and pass on this knowledge and excitement to my students. Dress, after all, incorporates almost every discipline on the University campus in one way or another, and it’s great to see students make these connections and, in turn, broaden their horizons and stretch their minds.

How do you use Special Collections in your teaching?

1980486As manager of an historic costume collection, I’m a big believer in object-based teaching and learning, and I try to take advantage of as many visual learning opportunities as I can. There is so much more one can learn about an object and its history through seeing and possibly touching the object up close. The object itself, the process of creating the object, it’s use and meaning, all become so much more real through this process, more personal. That’s why my class visits Special Collections every year. This year, in the process of learning about the development of book making and printing technologies, and their impact on dress, we took a closer look at the Collection’s illuminated manuscripts and incunabula. Last year, we looked at the Collection’s primary sources from the 18th century, such as books, journals and fashion magazines, while researching Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, and her social and political uses of dress.

What outcomes resulted from your class visits? What were the effects on your students?

While looking at illuminated manuscripts and incunabula, it was important for students to discover not only how these objects illustrated and reflected dress of multiple periods, but also for students to reflect on the development of these processes and their role in our own modern development. As students become more dependent on the use of technology (and their thumbs) to communicate, and become more anti-social in the process, the value and benefits of the written word – the book – are diminishing. By exposing them to these early methods of communication and their effects on societal development through the dissemination of knowledge and ideas, students develop a deeper appreciation for and understanding of how far we’ve advanced beyond and because of these earlier methods. And, hopefully, even went out and bought a book…

What advice would you give to faculty or instructors interested in using Special Collections in their courses?

Students’ learning experiences are broadened and amplified through the use of objects. Stretching young minds in this manner is a tremendous opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. In the process of discovering and researching history’s rich resources, students learn more about themselves, where they came from and where they’re going, than they ever could without them. The staff at Special Collections will assist in any way they can to create a quality, object-based learning experience for any and all faculty who are interested in incorporating this type of teaching tool into their classroom experience.

What’s Blooming this Week: Iris

It's been unseasonably chilly here in Columbia this week, but that means the irises blooming all over town have been an even more welcome sight.  There's a beautiful planting of Iris pallida 'Argentea Variegata' near the west entrance to the library, and I captured it on my walk into the building this morning. There are many different species of iris growing across the northern hemisphere.  According to the Missouri Botanical Garden, Iris pallida is native to Croatia and the southern Alps, and it has a sweet fragrance.  The variegated subspecies growing on campus here has striped leaves of pale green and cream. 

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In 1542, the physician and botanist Leonhart Fuchs included a different iris species in his herbal, De Historia Stirpium Commentarii Insignes, which is part of a long tradition of books that describe plants and their medicinal uses.  Although Fuchs wasn't interested in the plants' ornamental value, he hired three professional artists to illustrate the herbal to the highest degree of naturalism.  Fuchs wanted physicians to be able to use the book to identify medicinal plants, and the resulting publication is filled with detailed, hand-colored illustrations that depict species both familiar and exotic.  Iris germanica, illustrated below, is probably native to southern Europe, and it is the ancestor of most garden irises today. 

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home Resources and Services, Special Collections and Archives Monday Manuscript: Bertrand Russell tells you how to be a philosopher

Monday Manuscript: Bertrand Russell tells you how to be a philosopher

The semester's last manuscript of the week is from philosopher Bertrand Russell, whose birthday is on the 18th.  These three original manuscripts contain the text of "How to become a philosopher," "How to become a logician," and "How to become a mathematician."  They were later published in one volume by Haldeman-Julius Publications as nos. 7, 8, and 9 of The How-to series in 1942.  E. Haldeman-Julius donated them to the Philosophy Section of the Missouri Academy of Science in March 1943. Find it in the MERLIN catalog.

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Kelli Hansen

Kelli Hansen is head of the Special Collections and Rare Books department.