Today marks the 250th anniversary of the first publication of Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, the first book published by an African-American writer. Wheatley was born in West Africa around 1753 and was sold into slavery as a child. She was taken to Boston, where she was purchased by a wealthy merchant family, the …
Special Collections’ latest small case exhibit focuses on women writers’ influence in literature, from the middle ages to the present. Curated by undergraduate intern Sayle Owen, the exhibit features rare and modern editions by women authors who indelibly shaped such literary genres as science fiction, fantasy, and poetry. The exhibit is on display in the …
A new exhibit for Women’s History Month is now on display in the Special Collections lobby area. In Her Own Words features autobiographical writings by 19th century American women, including prominent and lesser-known writers. Their life experiences reflect many of the major themes and events of 19th century American history, such as the Great Awakening, …
The HBLL has been scanning items from the Rare Books Collections which have recently entered the public domain. Selected items published between 1924 and 1926 are now available in the library’s repository at the Internet Archive. Highlights include works by Rudyard Kipling, Eugene O’Neill, and H.G. Wells. More material from Special Collections’ holdings will be …
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of American writer Stephen Crane. While Crane’s reputation suffered for several decades after his death, his writing had a strong influence on later 20th century writers. Today he is recognized as a major figure in American literature, particularly as a representative of late 19th century Naturalism. Crane …
From October 13-31, Special Collections reprises the “Thrills and Chills in Cloth” exhibit for Halloween. It features some particularly spooky 19th and 20th century books from our Rare American Literature and Victorian and Edwardian collections. The exhibit demonstrates how British and American book designers took advantage of new technologies to stamp full-color images into cloth …
March is Women’s History Month, and today we examine three recent acquisitions of travel narratives written by women. A Narrative of the Life and Travels of Mrs. Nancy Prince (1853). Nancy Gardner Prince was a free-born African-American woman from Massachusetts. She traveled to Russia with her husband, Nero Prince, who worked for several years as …
A temporary exhibit in Special Collections’ lobby showcases creepy and mysterious book cover designs in time for Halloween. “Thrills and Chills in Cloth” features British and American cloth bookbindings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the late 1880s, book manufacturers developed a process to stamp bookcloth with colored ink. Publishers used this …
If you’re a fan of 19th and early 20th century literature, you won’t want to miss Special Collections’ newest reading room exhibit! “A Century of Style: Historic Clothing and Classic Literature” pairs rare editions from the The L. Tom Perry Special Collections with original pieces from BYU’s Historic Clothing Collection, which is now housed in …
May 27 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of American writer and activist Julia Ward Howe. Howe is perhaps best remembered today as the author of “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” but during her lifetime, she was acclaimed as a poet, lecturer, abolitionist, and advocate for the rights of women. She helped to found …