Lincoln on Publishers' Bindings: Selections from the Wade Hall Collection of Southern History and Culture

Here are just a few of the 19th and early 20th c. books on Abraham Lincoln from the Wade Hall Collection of Southern History and Culture. They are also featured in our ground-breaking collaborative digital project, Publishers' Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books.

A short piece on Lincoln was done for the PBO project that features a gallery of Lincoln-related volumes in PBO, as well as a brief biography. It can be accessed here.

Enjoy these beautiful bindings as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of President Lincoln's birth, February 12, 1809. And it also happens to be the birthday of the donor of these books --- and much more. Happy birthday to Dr. Wade Hall!

Cool as a Plate Glass Negative: Selections from the Eugene Allen Smith Collection

Camp kitchen and cooking staff, Central Coal and Iron Company, undated

The Eugene Allen Smith Collection spans more than four decades from the late nineteenth century to early twentieth century. The collection depicts Smith's field work and travels. E.A. Smith was a professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy at The University of Alabama from 1871-1913, and served as Alabama State Geologist from 1873-1913. We have 209 images from from his collection of plate glass negatives accessible through the UA Libraries Digital Collections.
The photographs featured here illustrate the broad spectrum of subjects -- from industry, to natural history, to The University of Alabama's history, to travel photographs.

View of Atlanta and Georgia Southern Railroad, undated

A native of Autauga County, Alabama and was born in 1841. Smith entered The University of Alabama at the age of nineteen and graduated with an A.B. degree in 1862. In his long and successful career as Alabama State Geologist he was instrumental in documenting, mapping, discovering and publicizing the abundant resources in the State.

Chemistry laboratory and classroom, Tuomey Hall, University of Alabama campus, undated

Smith was responsible for creating the first comprehensive Alabama geological survey as well as documenting these findings to fellow scientists and to the press, bringing to public view each new discovery of coal, iron, or other minerals. It was Dr. Smith who also first realized the historical value of Moundville and its artifacts, and actively focused public interest on this important archaeological site. His impact as an advocate for the state of Alabama is still felt to this day. The extensive Mineralogy collection stated by Smith in the 1870s is housed at the Alabama Museum of Natural History, located in E.A. Smith Hall also on the UA campus.

View of unidentified temple in China, undated

The purpose of the UA Libraries Digital Program at the University Libraries is to develop accessible digital collections of materials that support the teaching and research of UA faculty and students, and that, in turn, further the mission of The University of Alabama.

The Digital Program coordinates major digitization projects, actively develops policy and procedure relating to digital project and program development, and is active in soliciting digital project proposals and ideas for proposals, regardless of size, format, or technological medium. The program works with idea submitters to develop ideas into potentially viable projects, evaluating each individual digital project proposal. The Digital Program's role is to assess and seek out potential digital projects, and in turn make recommendations about implementation and development of these potential projects to the Dean of University Libraries.

New Exhibit! Mashup #2: Audubon meets T.P. Thompson meets the Elusive Ivory-Billed Woodpecker

Opening this week -- Audubon meets T.P. Thompson meets the Elusive Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, the second in what we're calling an "exhibit mashup" -- bringing together a few things in an interesting way.

This exhibit focuses on J.J. Audubon, the ornithologist and artist; T.P. Thompson, a book collector; and the ivory-billed woodpecker, a bird that was documented by Audubon and has recently been spotted and made international news.

The exhibit is inspired by the upcoming lecture and book signing on Thursday April 24th with UA professor, Dr. Michael Steinberg. Steinberg will discuss his new book, Stalking the Ghost Bird: The Elusive Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in Louisiana (LSU Press, 2008).

T.P. Thompson's books make up the foundation for the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library's Rare Books Collection. The library of over 10,000 items was purchased by The University of Alabama in 1938. Over four decades later, in the 1970s, the Hoole Library acquired the papers of T.P. Thompson. Thompson's papers provide great insight into his passionate hobby as a collector of books and other materials.

This exhibit includes maps and books from his collections as well as images and information that create an interesting portrait of the convergence of these two men and one very big and mysterious bird (Fact: Did you know that the ivory billed woodpecker stands about two feet tall and is the largest woodpecker in the United States!?).

One highlight of the exhibit is a portrait of Audubon, which has been purported to be the only self-portrait the artist ever did. This painting has been on display in the Hoole reading room for many years and has been moved to the lobby for this exhibit.

Another highlight of Thompson's collection and of the exhibit is an important association copy (a seven volume set) of the first octavo edition of Birds of America, published in 1839-1844 by the author & by J.B. Chevailier, Philadelphia. It is inscribed by Audubon and presented to his sister-in-law, Eliza Berthoud. (Image of Audubon's signature and inscription shown here).

T.P. Thompson's passion for collecting and his broad commitment to civic and charitable endeavors in New Orleans in the late 19th and early 20th century are very evident in his manuscript collection, and are touched upon in this exhibit as well. He gave freely of his time and his funds for a great many causes, but even more remarkably, he readily opened his home to researchers so that they may use his library.



“Any student who desires to refer to my books
is welcome, as I look upon myself rather as a custodian, than an owner. Good books, while seemingly frail, outlive many generations of proprietors.” - T.P. Thompson

He made a request in his will that upon his death, his books would be made accessible to Southern students. They are, and continue to be, at the Hoole Library.

(Image of Thompson's hand written catalog card for the royal octavo Birds of America shown here)

Mashup #2: Audubon meets T.P. Thompson meets the Elusive Ivory-Billed Woodpecker is on display in the lobby of the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library and opens today, April 16, 2008. The Hoole Library is open Monday-Friday from 8 am - 5 pm with Thursday evening hours until 9 pm.

Additional resource: It should be noted that The University of Pittsburgh Library has developed a great digital project that allows users to search for Audubon plates by keyword. That site is available at http://digital.library.pitt.edu/a/audubon/

A-Day 2008: UA Athletics and Terry Saban help raise funds for University Libraries

This cool image from 1968 Corolla - the '68 Corolla is available online as part of UA Libraries' Digital Collections (and part of the Corolla Digital Initiative and of course analog versions of all Corollas are available at the Hoole Library

Celebrate A-Day and give to a great cause! UA Athletics and Coach Saban's wife, Terry will help raise funds in order benefit academics for all UA students by taking donations for the University Libraries at the A-Day Game tomorrow, Saturday April 12, 2008. Terry Saban, UA students, faculty, staff, and student-athletes, including members of the UA men’s basketball team, will be collecting donations for the University Libraries at each gate at Bryant-Denny Stadium and in the Walk of Champions area before the A-Day Game and inside the stadium throughout the first half. Volunteers collecting donations will be wearing green shirts with the message “Athletics & Academics Support UA Libraries” printed on them.

“By helping raise money for the Libraries we are helping the entire University,” said Mal Moore, director of UA Intercollegiate Athletics. “Our Libraries must remain in the forefront with new resources and services and 21st-century technology,” said Terry Saban, wife of UA head football coach Nick Saban. “The University’s libraries provide critical services and resources that our students need to excel academically. We want our libraries to be just as good and nationally recognized as our athletic programs.”

“The money raised for the University Libraries on A-Day will be invested solely in what we know students need,” said Louis A. Pitschmann, dean of UA Libraries. “Although the Libraries continue to invest heavily in books, we need to acquire more and also to provide students with the online databases they need to remain competitive academically. Students at the Capstone are using libraries more than ever before, more than 1.3 million times last year.”

On A-Day, donations can also be made at the Bruno, McLure, Rodgers and Gorgas Libraries. Donations will be accepted in cash and check form. Donors who wish to give via credit card can go online to participate at www.lib.ua.edu , then must click on the “Make a Gift” link. For more information, contact Cheryl Altemara at 205-348-1416 or caltemar@ua.edu.

Voyages dans l'Amérique Septentrionale -- Collot's Atlas now online!

In 1796, French general and military engineer Georges Henri Victor Collot descended the Ohio and Mississippi rivers on a spying mission from the French government. Returning to France in 1800, Collot died in 1805.


His Voyages dans l'Amérique Septentrionale was published in Paris in 1826, and a copy of the atlas is part of the Hoole Library's Rare Books collection. We have digitized the atlas in its entirity and it is available online as part of our digital collections. Pictured here are the title page and two plates from the book, one featuring a typical log cabin observed by Collot, and a map of the sources of Mobile Bay and the Yazoo River.

Minsky Collection in PBO! From the real to the virtual!

It is a distinct pleasure and honor to announce that the Richard Minsky Collection of 19th and early 20th century publishers' bindings have been added to Publishers' Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books. This incredible group of books was acquired by The UA Libraries in 2007 and is part of the Hoole Library's collections.

One way to access the corpus of Minsky books in PBO, simply go to http://bindings.lib.ua.edu/sitesearch.html

and keyword search "minsky".

This will give you a glimpse at all 560 books included in the project -- browse through the pages, click on what you like, and change the view to experience larger images. From there, you can click on any of the hyperlinked terms and explore, for example, in the book above (pba02679), there is a hyperlinked subject heading that will bring you to all of the examples of togas in PBO -- clothing/Accessories--Togas Or hearts -- there are eighty-six examples of hearts used as decorative elements in PBO! And give yourself some time -- it's a great site to explore and experience incredible imagery and design.

This addition, along with 200 new books included from the University of Wisconsin-Madison will bring the total number of books to 5286 in the PBO project, and well over 10,000 images.

About Publishers' Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books:

In September 2003, The University of Alabama, University Libraries, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries, received an IMLS National Leadership grant to create the digital resource, Publishers' Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books (PBO).

All academic libraries have within their holdings books bound in 19th century decorative bindings. These materials are significant in their place within the fabric of American history and culture, but efforts to present these bindings in a collection that is representative of the era as a whole and to make them available virtually, via the World Wide Web have been limited.

Over the past five years, PBO has developed into a significant searchable digital collection of decorative book bindings, along with an enormous body of value-added resources including a comprehensive glossary, galleries, bibliography and webliography, lesson plans and teaching tools, and so much more. It has strengthened the growing interest in and created a broader awareness of this “common” object called the book. And it has done it in so many ways!

Publishers' bindings cover many of the books that people have in their homes today, but their owners are often unaware of their cultural and historical significance. These bindings reflect not only social and cultural history, but bibliographic history as well. PBO informs users about the importance of publishers' bindings as reflections of historical events, artistic styles and movements, 19th and early 20th century literature and writing, and the evolution of commercial binderies, and the 19th century book trade and other areas of research and scholarship. It also expands awareness of the book as artifact and of the role decorative bindings play in providing a window into historical, cultural, and industrial period of 1815-1930.

The project allows students, teachers, book artists, binders, and scholars in many different areas the opportunity to study these decorative bindings from two (and soon to be three - LSU is contributing one hundred Louisiana-centric titles to the project and will be added this spring) different physical collections in a single, virtual location. We are also looking at building beyond this scope and into the future. Those interested in PBO are encouraged to contact Jessica Lacher-Feldman, PBO project manager.

The project serves a model for collaborative digital projects, and offers education and inspiration to repositories and individuals. PBO greatly broadens a relatively unexplored scholarly field, and provides a venue for scholars of this field to further their interest and contribution. This resource will encourage interested parties to look at their own collections, and to gain an understanding of design movements and trends both within the United States as well as abroad, comparable to Jugendstil in Germany, Art Nouveau in France, Arts and Crafts in England, and Glasgow School in Scotland.

The additional resources and scholarship in PBO project serves a myriad of users and continues to grow. The Minsky Collection's inclusion in PBO is a perfect example of collaboration and scholarship working together in new ways to serve a broad audience.

A toast to PBO and the Minsky Collection! The books themselves are an incredible asset to the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, and they are doing amazing double duty as part of the innovative and incredibly cool, Publishers' Bindings Online project! They are also the subject and object of Richard Minsky's incredibly beautiful book, American Decorated Publishers' Bindings 1872-1929.

Richard Minsky and Jessica Lacher-Feldman will also be part of a symposium on the history, technology and conservation of nineteenth-century publishers' bindings, sponsored by the Guild of Book Workers, New York Chapter at the Grolier Club in New York on February 22, 2008. It will be held in conjunction with the Grolier Club exhibition, The Proper Decoration of Book Covers: The Life and Work of Alice C. Morse From the collection of Mindell Dubansky.

This is all very, very cool -- @ hoole and on the web too!

Corolla Digital Initative

Imagine over 100 years of The University of Alabama's yearbook, the Corolla, fully searchable and accessible with the click of a mouse! The UA Libraries have launched a project that will do just that --the Corolla Digital Initiative. Yearbooks are a source of history, humor and nostalgia, and are used by scholars interested in the history and culture of higher education.

We are using this as an opportunity to allow alums, groups of alums, individuals, and others interested in the project to sponsor the digitization of a Corolla in honor of a family member or friend, or just because! For more information about the project visit the Corolla Digital Initiative page, and to see what we've done so far, click here. To sponsor a Corolla, contact Jody DeRidder at jlderidder@ua.edu or 205.348.0511.