{"id":6806,"date":"2024-09-18T11:48:25","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T16:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/?p=6806"},"modified":"2024-09-18T11:48:27","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T16:48:27","slug":"making-the-book-past-and-present-places-the-centuries-in-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/2024\/09\/18\/making-the-book-past-and-present-places-the-centuries-in-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Making the Book, Past and Present places the centuries in conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Detail from The City is My Religion: A Typographic Memoir<\/em>. Jennifer Farrell. Chicago: Starshaped Press, 2020. x-Collection Oblong [FOLIO N7433.4.F3677 C58 2020]. Special Collections & Archives, University of Iowa Libraries. Photo: Sara J. Pinkham.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sentinella. Daniel Essig. Asheville, North Carolina: Daniel Essig, 2013. x-Collection Oblong [N7433.4.E88 S45 2013]. Special Collections & Archives, University of Iowa Libraries. Photo: Sara J. Pinkham.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Stara Kniha (Old Book). Jan Sobota. Dallas: Jan Sobota, 1980-1998. x-Collection. Special Collections & Archives, University of Iowa Libraries<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Psalterium cum Antiphonis<\/em>, late 15th century. Rebound and treated in the University of Iowa Libraries Conservation Lab by William Anthony in 1985. Medieval Manuscripts [xMMs.Ps3]. Special Collections & Archives, University of Iowa Libraries. Photo: Sara J. Pinkham.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Books have the extraordinary power to turn their stewards into time travelers. A roughly sewn leather cover on a medieval book or a centuries-old doodle can reveal a lot about a book\u2019s owner and its use. Minuscule notes scribbled in the margins of a plague-year calendar can hold weightier sway over today\u2019s post-pandemic imaginations. A delicate handwritten book of recipes for everything from medical tinctures and elixirs to inks and imitation port wine lends some insight into 19th-century conventional wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From January through June 2024, the Main Library Gallery<\/a>\u2019s spring 2024 exhibit, Making the Book, Past and Present<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>showcased a global selection of rare historic books and modern book art. Using items from Special Collections and Archives at the University of Iowa Libraries, the exhibit explored the intersections of history, art, and practicality. From medieval manuscripts and early modern works to recent book sculptures, pop-ups, and movable books, these carefully curated materials comprised a visual feast representing the strong connection between books and makers past and present. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exhibition <\/em>was curated by Eric Ensley, curator of rare books and maps at the Special Collections and Archives, and Emily Martin, adjunct assistant professor of bookbinding and book arts at the University of Iowa Center for the Book<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the exhibit is now closed, it lives on virtually. An interactive online tour<\/a> is available to explore at lib.uiowa.edu\/gallery<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fall 2024 preview<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

And be sure to visit the Main Library Gallery in fall 2024 to explore Hawkeye Histories | Sporting Stories. The exhibit examines the role of sports in shaping life at Iowa, and catalogs how sports at the university have been influenced by broader national organizations and movements. From the early establishment of men\u2019s and women\u2019s sports at the turn of the 20th century to burgeoning big-time men\u2019s sports of the mid-1900s, the elevation of women\u2019s sports post-1970s, and the tumultuous and triumphant 2000s, the exhibit invites you to revisit familiar and explore unfamiliar Hawkeye sport histories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lingvarvm duodecim characteribyus<\/em> […] Guillaume Postel. Parisiis: Prostant Apud Dionysium Lescuier, 1538. x-Collection [VAULT P213 .P6].<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this 1538 printing, Guillaume Postel became one of the first people to experiment with printing in non-western typefaces. Printing in languages like Arabic was a challenge for early printers due to its being written in a cursive script in which letterforms must connect. As a polyglot with a keen interest in representing language, Postel worked with printers to try to tackle this problem\u2014this \u2018printing in twelve characters\u2019 is the product of that attempt. Our copy in Special Collections and Archives is notable, as it was heavily annotated by a person, possibly a 16th-century scholar, eager to learn these languages.
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The Star Gazer<\/em>. Monica Ong. Trumbull, Connecticut: Proxima Vera, 2021. Letterpress printing: Boxcar Press, Syracuse, NY. x-Collection [N7433.4 O546 S73 2021].<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monica Ong is a talented book artist who works with unusual forms. Here she uses the planisphere, an object used to find constellations in the night sky, to showcase a poem she wrote. One can turn the dial and slowly move through her poetry as the stars travel through the night sky as seen from China.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Asian and Indo-Islamic Collection; A Portfolio of Leaves Taken from Rare and Notable Books and Manuscripts.<\/em> New York: Society of Foliophiles, 1928. Typography Lab [FLAT FOLIO Z6605.O7 B7].<\/strong>

Special Collections and Archives has a rich collection of early manuscripts, including those from beyond Western Europe. While today it would be considered unethical, decades ago large portfolios of manuscripts were cut up into individual pages and were sold to universities and private collectors. Though these portfolios are testament to longtime interest in early manuscripts\u2014even if misguided\u2014today we are still able to use these portfolios to instruct in the history of books and manuscripts across many locations and cultures.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Deep Time<\/em><\/strong>. Radha Pandey. Iowa City: Radha Pandey, 2017. x-Collection [N7433.4.P2544 D44 2017].<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


University of Iowa Center for the Book MFA graduate Radha Pandey is a talented book artist who moves from the serious to wryly funny in her works. In this, one of her more serious works, Pandey considers \u2018deep time,\u2019 or the accreted layers of history as told through her hand-carved and layered pages that resemble the layered landscapes on which humans dwell.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Books have the extraordinary power to turn their stewards into time travelers. A roughly sewn leather cover on a medieval book or a centuries-old doodle can reveal a lot about a book\u2019s owner and its use. Minuscule notes scribbled in the margins of a plague-year calendar can hold weightier sway over today\u2019s post-pandemic imaginations. AContinue reading “Making the Book, Past and Present places the centuries in conversation”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":272,"featured_media":6827,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"syndication":[75,33,80],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6806"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6806"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6975,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6806\/revisions\/6975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6806"},{"taxonomy":"syndication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/syndication?post=6806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}