Can a book read in childhood be the inspiration for a lifetime of teaching and European travel? Helen Perry Curtis’s Jean & Company, Unlimited, the charming account of an American girl’s first encounter with Europe, was precisely that for author and historian Laura Gellott.
In 2015, Gellott located Curtis’s three granddaughters. That meeting resulted in the publication of Helen Perry Curtis and the European Trip of a Lifetime. Gellott’s book traces Curtis’s life from its Nebraska roots to New Jersey and New York and across the European continent in the 1930s. She tells the story of the real-life travels behind Jean & Company, Unlimited, a book designated as a Junior Literary Guild Selection in January, 1938.
Laura Gellott is professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside (Kenosha), where she taught European history for 30 years. She is a frequent European traveler. She first read Jean & Company, Unlimited, nearly 60 years ago. She has found it to be an ever-reliable guide.
The University of Iowa’s Main Library will be a busy hub of four unique offerings on Saturday, October 23 during this year’s Iowa City Book Festival.
All are welcome to attend an open house in Special Collections & Archives, a talk by guest author Laura Gellott, a guided tour of the Main Library Gallery’s current exhibition about Dostoevsky, and a Riverside Theatre performance of Dostoevsky’s The Grand Inquisitor.
“As our community returns to more in-person gatherings, we thought hosting a small set of events over the course of the afternoon would make it easy for community members to come to the UI’s Main Library and enjoy different types of programming,” says John Culshaw, the UI’s Jack B. King University Librarian. “There’s something for everyone!”
Special Collections & Archives, University of Iowa Libraries. Photo: Sara Pinkham.
About the events
Open House — Reading through the Roarin’ 20s, an open house event, will take place in Special Collections & Archives on the 3rd floor of the Main Library from 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Visitors are welcome to drop in any time during event hours to view selected rare books.
“This open house will be fun because we are celebrating the ’20s through books, but not just the 1920s or 2020s,” says Elizabeth Riordan, outreach and engagement librarian for Special Collections & Archives. “We’re looking at books from 1520, 1620, and so forth, to explore book history and literature through the ages. It’s a chance to get up close to history and hear the stories these items have to tell.”
Author Laura Gellott.
Author Talk — At 2:30 PM,guest author Laura Gellott will give a talkin Shambaugh Auditorium inthe Main Library about her new book, Helen Perry Curtis and the European Trip of a Lifetime. As a child, Gellott read Helen Perry Curtis’s Jean & Company, Unlimited, a charming account of an American girl’s first encounter with Europe. The book inspired Gellott—professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin – Parkside (Kenosha)—to pursue a lifetime of teaching and European travel. Gellott’s book traces Helen Perry Curtis’s life from its Nebraska roots to New Jersey and New York and across the European continent in the 1930s. She tells the story of the real-life travels behind Jean & Company. A book signing and light reception will follow Gellot’s talk.
“Given the number of writers and travel aficionados in our community, we thought folks would be interested in Laura Gellott’s journey toward the publication of this book,” says Culshaw.
Poster for The Grand Inquisitor. Credit: Riverside Theatre.
Live Performance — Riverside Theatre will be performing The Grand Inquisitor, a short play based upon the most famous chapter of Dostoevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov, at 7:30 PM in the Main Library Gallery. Tickets are free but must be reserved ahead of time at RiversideTheatre.org. Information about additional show dates can also be found on the Riverside Theatre website.
“The Book Festival is always a great way for us to share our resources and highlight authors to the community as a whole,” says Culshaw. “As a public institution, community engagement is an important part of the UI and the UI Libraries’ missions. We’re excited to share these unique events with the community.”
In the exhibit: P︠S︡altirʹ. (Bible. Psalms.) Moskva: Synodalbhaia Tyts, 1851. Russian. [x-Collection, BS1425 C4 1851] Special Collections & Archives, University of Iowa Libraries. Photo/Sara Pinkham.Items selected by guest curators for display in the Main Library Gallery are frequently drawn from Special Collections & Archives. Preparations for exhibitions provide excellent opportunities for rare objects in Special Collections to be examined for conservation needs. Professional care of rare materials is a core specialty of the Conservation and Collections Care department at the University of Iowa Libraries, and Conservation Lab treatments for fragile or damaged materials range from simple to complex.
“We are constantly finding unique gems in our vast collections through use, and one of the ways we do that is through researching for exhibits,” said Giselle Simón, University Conservator. “This is especially exciting because we work with expert curators who really delve into our holdings, revealing items that might go unnoticed. This allows us to care for these items and get them into our focus, with faculty and students. It’s another great way to expand our working knowledge of the collections, to understand the breadth of what we have here at the UI.”
In the case of an 1851 Russian psalter chosen by curator Anna Barker, PhD for the From Revolutionary Outcast to a Man of God: Dostoevsky at 200 exhibition, it was important to remedy the severe deterioration of the spine prior to display.
Before treatment: the book’s spine is damaged from several decades of use and it suffers from red rot. Photo/Sara Pinkham.
Bill Voss, conservator technician and exhibits preparator, managed the complex treatment process for this book.
Before treatment: the book’s spine is damaged from several decades of use and it suffers from red rot. Photo/Sara Pinkham.
“For the psalter, the main issue was the degraded quality of the leather, often called red rot,” said Voss. “This is not uncommon for modern leathers from the industrial era, which were tanned using chemical processes rather than traditional vegetable tanning. Because the leather on the spine had degraded and the book was a tight back with the leather directly adhered to the spine, over time the spine began to suffer losses, especially in creases where the book opened sharply.”
When asked what was most challenging about this treatment, Voss noted that that spine required the most time and intensive repair. “The main challenge was to remove the remaining pieces of the spine intact, after which a new spine piece that stays free of the back when opening was inserted under the original covers. Then the spine was adhered and the edges of the repairs were mended with tissue and toned with acrylic,” he said.
“It seems unusual to have a printed Russian psalter from this time period,” said Simón. The book is remarkable for multiple reasons. “It has its original binding. While worn and abraded, it’s still there.” No repairs had been made to the psalter prior to its emergence as part of the From Revolutionary Outcast to a Man of God: Dostoevsky at 200 exhibit. 170 years after it was originally bound, Voss was the first person to attempt and successfully complete treatment on the book.
After treatment: the P︠S︡altirʹs spine is repaired and the book’s condition is stable. Photo/Sara Pinkham.After treatment: the P︠S︡altirʹs spine is repaired and the book’s condition is stable. Photo/Sara Pinkham.
Eric Ensley, PhD, Curator of Rare Books & Maps, agreed that this psalter was a unique find in Special Collections & Archives. “This is an interesting book because it is emblematic of the changing society in which it existed,” he said. “The book is printed in kirillitsa, which is a traditional Russian script that mimics the earliest Russian writing and Church Slavonic of much earlier writings. Even in the middle of the nineteenth century, the book would have looked like a relic. By this time, Peter the Great (1672 – 1725) had introduced a much plainer, simpler font known as the Civic Type that could be found in many books and documents. Imperial Russia was a quickly changing place; there existed scientific writings printed in Civic Type alongside psalters like this one printed in archaizing letters.”
Ensley also considered a deeper interpretation of the psalter’s presence in the exhibition in relation to Fyodor Dostoevsky’s work. “In Crime and Punishment we can see a similar story played out where a young man, Rodion Raskolnikov, is out of sorts in the modernizing world he inhabits. Raskolnikov has at its root [the Russian word] ‘raskol,’ that is a ‘cleaving,’ but it’s also the term for the split between the ‘Old Believers’ who followed an earlier version of Orthodox Christianity and those who embraced modernizing reforms. Raskolnikov’s very name suggests one out of place in the modern world, not unlike this book with its liturgical content and appearance from a different period. Indeed, Raskolnikov finds redemption through Christianity and belief at the end of the novel, and it’s not a stretch to imagine the book he and Sonya read looked like this.”
Closeup: P︠S︡altirʹ. (Bible. Psalms.) Moskva: Synodalbhaia Tyts, 1851. Russian. [x-Collection, BS1425 C4 1851] Special Collections & Archives, University of Iowa Libraries. Photo/Sara Pinkham.When asked why this psalter appears in the exhibit, Barker said, “It is representative of Dostoevsky’s deep appreciation of his copy of the New Testament. The New Testamentwas the only book the prisoners in Omsk were allowed to keep, and it was Dostoevsky’s only book companion for the four years his spent in the labor camp. He treasured his copy all his life. Descriptions of Dostoevsky’s copy appear in his novels Notes from the Dead House, Humiliated and Insulted, and Crime and Punishment.” Dostoevsky was sentenced to hard labor, beginning in 1850, for his involvement with a radical group called the Petrashevsky Circle. He was considered a dangerous political prisoner. Text written by Barker for the exhibition states: “This group advocated for greater social freedoms, relaxation of censorship, and abolition of serfdom. Most famously, the group participated in the reading and distribution of a politically charged and banned letter written by the literary critic Vessarion Belinsky to the writer Nikolai Gogol. After this incident, group members were arrested and imprisoned.” This period in Dostoevsky’s life inspired Barker to search Special Collections holdings for a Russian biblical text, resulting in the discovery of this book.
Proper conservation of materials makes it possible for everyone to continue learning from rare and unique books like this Russian psalter. “It is important so that we can not only keep the content alive and well for research, but also the bibliographic information that we get from book structure, paper type, printing style, and all other materials used to publish a book in its time [of origin],” said Simón.
Photos included below, taken by Bill Voss during his conservation of this book, give more insight into the technical process behind its repair.
Documentation of conservation work done on the P︠S︡altirʹ (1851) by Bill Voss in 2021 in the University of Iowa Libraries Conservation Lab. Photos/Bill Voss.
For those distant to campus, or who would like to experience the latest Main Library Gallery exhibition from home, a virtual tour of From Revolutionary Outcast to a Man of God: Dostoevsky at 200 is now available online.
From the Revolutionary Outcast to a Man of God: Dostoevsky at 200 virtual tour, Main Library Gallery.
The tour features 360° photos of the Main Library Gallery, which allow the viewer to move from area to area. The text panels and the cases containing the items on display are clickable, meaning close-up views of most objects are available along with narrative from curator Dr. Anna Barker.
The exhibition features several books from the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections & Archives, including illustrated limited editions of Dostoevsky novels, 19th century travel books, a 19th century Russian P︠S︡altirʹ (Psalms), and even editions of books by Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles Dickens, George Orwell, Franz Kafka, and Aldous Huxley. These are supplemented by materials from the UI Libraries circulating collection and from the curator’s own collection.
An immersive reader option is readily available in each section of the virtual exhibit to read the detailed image descriptions for each piece on display.
To read about the specific items featured in the exhibit, check out the accessible exhibition guide. It includes an introduction by the curator.
The Fall 2021 exhibition is now open in the Main Library Gallery. From Revolutionary Outcast to a Man of God: Dostoevsky at 200 was curated by Anna Barker, an adjunct assistant professor in the Asian and Slavic Languages and Literature department at the University of Iowa. Her selections and research, coupled with bold exhibit design by University of Iowa Libraries creative coordinator Kalmia Strong, make the life and acclaimed works of Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky both tangible and approachable.
A storied literary giant, Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821 – 1881) authored many undisputed classic novels and was writing at the same time as Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, Samuel Clemens, and others. The exhibition examines his inspirations and influence in the world of literature, but it also shares the odyssey of his personal life. In his earlier years he was a daydreaming youth, an aspiring translator, and a champion of freedom and progress. His involvement in the radical Petrashevsky Circle landed him in a Siberian hard labor camp, a difficult circumstance which was the catalyst for many more years of personal struggle and commercial success. Among other things, the exhibition briefly chronicles his marriages, affair, family relationships, gambling addiction, European travels, and his spiritual journey alongside publication of his major works. In his later years he was recognized for his wisdom and literary achievements; at the time, he was hailed as the conscience of the nation. His works are still popular worldwide, and he continues to be celebrated in Russia.
In this Q&A with the curator, Anna Barker explains her interest in creating an exhibition for the University of Iowa Libraries’ Main Library Gallery in collaboration with the Libraries’ exhibit production team.
What inspired you to curate an exhibition about Fyodor Dostoevsky and his work?
Anna: “I love Dostoevsky. Deeply, profoundly, and crushingly. It was not a love at first sight. In my teens and twenties, I was infatuated with Pushkin and Lermontov and Turgenev and Tolstoy and Dumas and Stendhal and Hugo and Goethe. Dostoevsky came later, in my thirties, when the heart learned grief and the mind became weary of doubt. If I could sum up Dostoevsky in one statement, it would be through the words of one of my favorite Dostoevsky characters, Grushenka in The Brothers Karamazov: ‘The world is a good place. We may be bad, but the world is a good place. We are bad and good, both bad and good…’
My students find Dostoevsky’s novels eerily relatable precisely because Dostoevsky, with uncanny and unflinching insight, managed to depict the totality of humanity, never shying away from the horror concealed in the human soul, but always keeping faith in the light.”
Main Library Gallery, University of Iowa Libraries. From Revolutionary Outcast to a Man of God: Dostoevsky at 200. (Photo/Sara Pinkham)
What do you hope visitors will gain by visiting the exhibit?
Anna: “I hope those who visit the exhibit will gain a greater appreciation of not only the works of Dostoevsky, but of his art in the context of both Russian culture and Western civilization. Other familiar names in the exhibit relate in some way to Dostoevsky, such as Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, Sylvia Plath, Leo Tolstoy, Charles Dickens, Franz Kafka, George Orwell, and even Jesse Eisenberg!”
Which items on display are your favorites?
Anna: “All of the novels with illustrations by Fritz Eichenberg – they are fabulous! He really understood the totality of Dostoevsky’s vision. The Russian travel books from Special Collections & Archives add a historical and geographical dimension to the exhibition. I love the Tula samovar and Russian Imperial Porcelain in the front display case because they provide a cozy invitation into the gallery. There are also some invaluable juxtapositions that help unfold the essence of the novels: the Eichenberg illustration from Demons paired with my family’s icon of Saint George and the Dragon, and a reproduction image of The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb (1520-22), a work by Hans Holbein the Younger, paired with the Eichenberg illustration from The Idiot which depicts a section of this painting. The exhibit also has a soundtrack which provides visitors with another dimension for appreciating the exhibit. It helps add to the experience of Russian culture.”
For those new to Dostoevsky, which novel would you recommend reading first?
From the exhibition: Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Idiot. Translation by Constance Garnett. Edited for this edition and with an introduction by Avrahm Yarmolinsky. Illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg. New York: For the Members of the Limited Editions Club, 1956. [x-Collection, FOLIO PG3326 .I3 1956] University of Iowa Special Collections & Archives. (Photo/Sara Pinkham)Anna: “If readers are interested in the totality of Dostoevsky’s artistic and philosophical vision, all of the novels on display in the exhibit – from Poor Folk to The Brothers Karamazov. But that’s a lot of reading! If readers are interested in the final five novels in the exhibit (Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons, The Adolescent, The Brothers Karamazov), please start with Notes from Underground. It serves as the foundation for those novels. Reading Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons would be fabulous before reading Dostoevsky. It inspired many of Dostoevsky’s ideological musings.”
Which Dostoevsky-related events are you most looking forward to this fall?
Anna: “The screenings of Dostoevsky film adaptations at FilmScene, and The Grand Inquisitor play by Riverside Theatre being performed in the Main Library Gallery!”
From Revolutionary Outcast to a Man of God: Dostoevsky at 200 will be on display in the Main Library Gallery through December 17, 2021. Learn more about the exhibition here.
NOTE: The easiest way to access the Main Library Gallery is via the north entrance of the Main Library.
Guests from the general public and the University community are welcome to stop by the Gallery any time during open hours. No appointments are needed. Classes may occasionally be visiting the gallery during open hours.
The Fall 2021 Main Library Gallery exhibition, From Revolutionary Outcast to a Man of God: Dostoevsky at 200, will open on August 16.
Curated by Dr. Anna Barker, University of Iowa professor of Russian literature, the exhibition is dedicated to the life and work of Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) and covers the entirety of Dostoevsky’s prolific literary career. His youth, his years of exile in Siberia, a period of gambling addiction, and his philosophical and theological teachings are explored in the context of Russian historical events and many of his most famous novels, from Poor Folk to The Brothers Karamazov.
The exhibition contains many items from the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections & Archives, including several beautifully illustrated special editions of Dostoevsky’s novels; 19th century books about travel; classic novels by Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Charles Dickens; and a rare 19th century Russian Psaltir (Psalms).
From Revolutionary Outcast to a Man of God: Dostoevsky at 200 will close on December 17, 2021.
From Revolutionary Outcast to a Man of God: Dostoevsky at 200 in the Main Library Gallery.
The Main Library Gallery now has new walk-in hours for Summer 2021 and beyond!
Guests from the general public and the University community are welcome to stop by the Gallery any time during open hours. The Main Library no longer requires an Iowa One Card for building entry. No appointments are needed. Please wear a mask until vaccinated, or if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
From the Building Our Own Community: 50 Years of the Latino Native American Cultural Center, Founded by Chicano and American Indian Students in 1971 exhibition. Photo: Sara Pinkham.
The University of Iowa Libraries’ Main Library Gallery is now seeking exhibition proposals for Fall 2023, Spring 2024, and Fall 2024. University of Iowa faculty and staff are invited to submit statements of interest between May 28 and July 16, 2021. Proposals from across campus are welcome. Read on to learn more about curating exhibitions in the Main Library Gallery and to find a link to the submission form.
From Stories Worth Telling: Marking Twenty Years of “The Greatest Generation,” co-curated by Elizabeth Riordan & Laura Michelson, 2018.
What is the Main Library Gallery?
The University of Iowa Libraries’ Main Library Gallery is a museum-quality exhibition space located on the ground floor of the Main Library. The Gallery is equipped with temperature and humidity controls, professional grade display cases with alarms, and low light, all of which make it a suitable environment for rare artifacts requiring special display conditions. The facility has the capacity to host exhibition-related public programs for up to 100 guests in person, and the Gallery is a member of the American Alliance of Museums. A key purpose of the Gallery is to showcase UI Libraries collections.
Past Exhibitions:
Exhibits at the Main Library Gallery give the campus community and the general public access to items from the rich collections of the University of Iowa Libraries, including those which are rare and historically significant. Exhibit curators select unique objects, photos, papers, and books from these collections to tell stories about a range of fascinating topics, some of which have included:
the ground-breaking space discoveries of UI professor James Van Allen
Shakespeare’s First Folio, a rare volume of the bard’s plays published only one year after his death
Star Trek memorabilia from the personal collection of Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer
the accomplishments and legacies of African American Hawkeyes
early filmmaking in Iowa as seen through the lens of Frank Brinton
a tribute to Walt Whitman
selections from the Ruth and Marvin Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry
a 50th anniversary celebration of the Latino Native American Cultural Center
How is the role of curator defined for the Main Library Gallery?
A guest curator in the Main Library Gallery is someone who assembles a research-based story narrative for the exhibition medium. This storytelling is enhanced by a selection of compelling items from the Libraries collections. In addition to researching for and curating items for the exhibition, people in this role must expect to serve as subject matter experts throughout the duration of an exhibit. This includes some exhibit-related class interaction or instruction, public programming, and serving as a content consultant for exhibit-related videos, social media and blog posts, and other engagement projects being created by Gallery staff to promote an exhibit.
Janet Weaver, Assistant Curator in the Iowa Women’s Archives, assists co-curators Dr. Kim Marra and Mark Anderson as they select items for The Pull of Horses on National and Local Histories and Identities, 2020.
Lead curators should be prepared to devote approximately 15 months to exhibition production: 9 months of moderate work to plan the exhibition, followed by 3 months of intensive work before opening day, and ending with approximately 3 – 5 months of intensive work while the exhibition is open, depending upon the exhibit’s run dates. This includes availability to give guided tours, talks, and other types of exhibit-related programming where possible.
Who can curate an exhibit in the Main Library Gallery?
Faculty and staff of the University of Iowa are eligible to serve as lead curators. Students and community members may be approved as co-curators.
How are exhibitions chosen?
Step I: Potential curators submit an initial statement of interest, after which the Gallery Advisory Team reviews the collected statements. Strong statements are chosen by this team for the next step. Top consideration will be given to exhibition ideas with well-defined themes, learning objectives, potential for community and curricular impact, and which prioritize inclusion. The Gallery Advisory Team is made up of nine UI Libraries staff members, a representative from the Pentacrest Museums, and an Associate University Librarian.
Step II: The initial statements with the strongest themes and highest potential for impact are invited to create and submit a complete exhibition proposal.
Step III: The Gallery Advisory Team reviews and selects the most rounded finalist proposals. Three proposals will be accepted, one each for the following time slots: Fall 2023, Spring 2024, and Fall 2024.
Step IV: Approved guest curators begin working with the Gallery’s exhibition and engagement coordinator. A production calendar will be established.
Can I propose the installation of a traveling exhibition from another organization?
Yes. However, traveling shows must be proposed by a University of Iowa faculty or staff member, as with all exhibits. This faculty or staff member must be willing to serve in a curatorial capacity and provide subject matter expertise for classes and public programming throughout the duration of the exhibition.
The Main Library Gallery is part of the University of Iowa Libraries. Can I curate an exhibition of non-UI Libraries materials?
University of Iowa Libraries materials must play a starring role in Main Library Gallery exhibitions, but may be shown alongside approved items loaned from other institutions, campus GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, museums) partners, or collectors.
TIMELINE
July 16: Deadline for statements of interest. August 2: Decisions are announced. Finalists are invited to write complete proposals. December 1: Deadline for finalist exhibition proposals. December 17: 2023 – 2024 exhibitions are announced.
Curating an exhibition is a significant time investment, but the exhibit production process will be guided by Gallery staff and a reasonable production calendar. A professional designer, preparator, conservator, and exhibition and engagement coordinator will ensure success.
From Building Our Own Community: 50 Years of the Latino Native American Cultural Center, Founded by Chicano and American Indian Students in 1971. Main Library Gallery, University of Iowa Libraries.
2021 is a milestone year for the Latino Native American Cultural Center (LNACC), which has served as a home away from home for Latinx and Native American students at the University of Iowa since 1971. Anniversary festivities will continue throughout the calendar year as the campus community and alumni celebrate 50 years of the LNACC. The current Main Library Gallery exhibition, curated by librarians Rachel Garza Carreón and Christopher Ortega, will be extended through July 23 to provide more opportunities for visitors to learn about the Center’s history and impact.
The University of Iowa Libraries invites you to online trivia, emcee’d by Andrew’s Bar Exam. Join for eight rounds of general knowledge questions and see if your team triumphs!
Form a team with your family, friends, or colleagues to compete, or compete individually. (Please arrange a secondary method for your team members to communicate outside of the Zoom event to confer on answers. Text, Facebook messenger, Discord, or other conference call apps are all good options.)
No pre-registration is required, though Andrew’s Bar Exam will be accepting donations throughout the duration of the event.
Any donations received will go toward the UI Libraries Student Employee Scholarship Fund. Student employees provide critical staffing for programs and services benefitting the entire UI community. These scholarships are a way to recognize, support, and motivate students in their scholarship, research, and creative work at the University.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa–sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Katie Buehner in advance at (319) 335-3088 or katie-buehner@uiowa.edu.
