Eric Ensley – News & Announcements

Oct 11 2021

Art to Eat By: Cookbooks as Record and Expression

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Elizabeth Riordan

The following Top 10 List is written by graduate student worker Diane Ray, with introduction by Curator Eric Ensley. Images, unless otherwise noted, are also from Diane. Eric and Diane co-curated the exhibit “Art to Eat By: Cookbooks as Record and Expression” which is on display in the Special Collections & Archives reading room September 2021.

If one takes art to mean a creative application of human skill, food and dining have long been canvases for the expression of art. Ancient frescoes and mosaics from Greece and Rome allow glimpses of tables laden with decorative plates and glasses alongside dishes that are celebrated for their beauty. Though the details and dishes may have changed, food and dining have continued to be a space for artistic output. From medieval coronation banquets with elaborate sugar sculptures known as subtleties to the technicolor party food of the 1960s, food as art has long been tied to the enjoyable and meaningful experience of dining.

Food and its ties to art are not, however, without tensions. This exhibit focuses on one of the central tensions of displays of food in cookbooks and adjacent publications: the sometimes-blurry lines between public and private space and experience. Through materials taken primarily from the Szathmary Culinary Collection donated by Chef Louis Szathmary, we show that books about food have often attempted to navigate the personal, familial, and domestic spaces of dining while displaying a public-facing image of those experiences. At question in these images is who or what should be on public display. A repeated focus of the items on display is how visible women should be and how their role should be presented in public-facing images of food and dining. Further, alongside issues of gender, these items trace the contours of the art of food and its political, artistic, and communal impact.

It was hard to choose, but here are 10 favorite things from this exhibit, in no particular order! There are many more to see if you visit us on the Third Floor of the Man Library.

Woodblock image of medieval dressed people — Woodblock image at the start of the book

1. Le Quadragesimal Spirituel (BX2170.L4 Q33 1521)

Printed in Paris around 1521, this book is unusual and fascinating on many levels. The description from the seller sums this book up as “an illustrated work of cookery, mnemonics and mysticism for women.” It goes over different food, along with that food’s spiritual meaning to guide meditation during lent. It also discusses expectations for pilgrims, with instructions about buying different religious print from street venders.

The woodblock prints are also quite unusual, including the one included here, showing the Devil offering meat to seated nobles. One could imagine the blank scrolls as speech bubbles. But probably most intriguing about this book is that it was printed by a woman under her own name. A printers widow, Jeanne Trepperel was only active under her own name for nine months– 29 September 1520 to early June 1521. While female printers were not unheard of, they were rarely named on the text.

Two Alice B. Toklas Cookbooks — 1954 and 1960 copies of Alice B. Toklas Cookbooks

2. Alice Toklas Cook Book (TX719 .T6 1960 , TX719 .T6 1954)

We have two copies of this cook book by Alice B. Toklas (writer, artist, partner to Gertrude Stein). This book as both a recipe book and a sort of autobiography, as it tells of her time in France during World War I, such as the hardships getting certain foods, or the different cooks and housekeepers that worked for them. The most well known aspect of this book is the famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) ‘Haschich Fudge’ recipe. The archives has two copies of this item- the recipe is only included in the 1960 UK version.

Images of Betty Crocker through time — Accordion-style artists’ book featuring Betty Crocker

3. Crocked, or, will the real Betty Crocker please stand up? Written by Maryann Riker (N7433.4.R556 C76 2011)

The image of the perfectly put-together, white-middle class woman, effortlessly providing for her family was presented in many cookbooks for sale back in the day, a stereotype that many artists push against now. Some, like Crocked, or, Will the real Betty Crocker please stand up? focus directly on deconstructing the personalities promoted by brands. Crocked folds up to form a house structure, and includes commentary on the history of the Betty Crocker charter, along with images of her many depictions over the years.

Bright yellow cover with a drawing of a man riding a pic — Izaak Walton League Cookbook cover

4. Izaak Walton League Cook Book, Des Moines Iowa (TX715.2.M53 I93 1970)

Community cookbooks are always a joy to look through because there is such a creative variety to the local collections of recipes. This character that appears throughout a cook book from Des Moines caught my eye in particular. The Izaak Walton League, sometimes shortened to “Ike”, is a conservation organization that “takes a common-sense approach toward protecting our country’s natural heritage and improving outdoor recreation opportunities for all Americans”, according to their website. This includes responsible hunting and fishing, (similar to Ducks Unlimited) and providing recipes to that end. (desmoines-ikes.com)

Inside culinary manuscript with cursive handwriting — Inside look of East Hartford recipe book

5. Handwritten cookbook, East Hartford (Msc 0533 US 80)

Louis Szathmary collected several hundred handwritten or personal cookbooks that are included in the Szathmary Culinary Collection at Special Collections & Archives. Most of what is on exhibit comes from this collection, and this particular item from 1818 is one of my favorites. Not only does it show how recipe books can also be outlets for creative expression, it is also unfinished (notice that some titles are only outlined, and some capitals are missing, while others are fully filled in and beautifully embellished) which is a very relatable trait.

Manuscript with text "Mrs. Samuel Leeds" written on page — Inside cover to the manuscript

6. Mrs. Samuel Leeds Cookbook & Travel Journal (Msc 0533 US 33)

This book includes both recipes and a short travel journal, in which Mrs. Samuel Leeds took a ship to England from Brooklyn in 1856, and was quite unimpressed for much of the trip. Highly recommended for fans of reading zero star Yelp reviews. (images from the Iowa Digital Library)

Spicy Corn and image of corn with flame — Broadside featuring Spicy corn

7. Funeral Food, written by Sandra Trugillo (unprocessed)

This collection of broadsides includes colorful images and text on one side, with the accompanying stories on the other. Each one talks about some aspect of food or funeral culture, in the US or Mexico. The artist describes it as “a marriage between traditional cookbooks and artists’ portfolios about material culture.”

Decorative page from cookbook in black and white for salads — Decorative page for salad recipes

8. Llyewelyn’s Pub, by Pat and Jack Brangle (Msc 0533, US 83)

This item is one of a collection of 7 cookbooks that were handwritten and illustrated by Pat Brangle who, along with her husband Jack, owned Llyewelyn’s Pub in St. Louis. The illustrations are very distinctive, with wonderful detail and colors.

Recipe for Strawberry ice — Broadside featuring woodcut and recipe for Strawberry Ice

9. Thirty Recipes Suitable for Framing, compiled by Alice Louise Waters, with illustrations by David L. Goines (FOLIO TX715 .W3315 1970)

Containing 30 different sized broadsides, each item features a beautiful colored illustration in a classic European woodblock style and a written recipe. Recipes range from orange chicken, to watercress salad, to even yogurt. But each one is tied together by the same style of illustration and calligraphy font.

Bright orange and black box with a chocolate manual inside — Candy Manual from Iridor Business

10. The Iridor Complete Candy Making Course, written by Iris F. Leonard and Dorit K. Weigert. (TX791 .L38)

This collection of 6 books in a matching box from 1931 offers instructions and tips for making and selling candies. It is geared towards women looking for a job outside of being a homemaker. As the introduction says “Welcome into the nation-wide group of ambitious women who are following the Iridor Plan to win financial independence and happiness.”

Apr 21 2021

Iowa’s Medieval Manuscripts Collection Goes to the Dogs

Posted on April 21, 2021May 12, 2021 by Elizabeth Riordan

The following was written by Curator of Books and Maps, Eric Ensley

Iowa’s Medieval Manuscripts Collection has gone to the dogs, or at least to a new book with dog-themed decoration.

Just in time for the tulips blooming across Iowa, our newest medieval book, a beautifully decorated book of hours, comes to us from late medieval Holland. In short, a book of hours is a collection of prayers and liturgical offices that may have been owned by a layperson or a member of the clergy. Books of hours are among our most popular requests for classes and one glance will tell you why— these books are often elaborately decorated with flora and fauna drawings, gold leaf, and even donor portraits in some deluxe copies.

Calendar page found in the book of hours that helps localize the book

Yet our new book of hours is a bit more restrained than other fifteenth-century examples. There’s no gold leaf and major decoration is limited to only four pages, where elaborate penwork and coloration lends the book an almost cartoon-like quality. The relative restraint of this book and its localization to the Netherlands—more on that in a moment—suggest it may be emblematic of the Devotio moderna, a late medieval movement in Northern Europe that emphasized piety and asceticism in lifestyle and possessions.

Books of hours are fascinating testaments to the growth of book ownership among laypeople in the later Middle Ages. Though still owned by a very small and wealthy subset of society, books were often prized possessions used to showcase wealth and piety. Despite being prized possessions, many books made at this time lack exact dates and location of production. However, we can still “localize” or try to get an idea of where a book of hours is from by looking at several clues. For example,. books of hours typically include calendars that may call for veneration of local saints. Likewise, every book of hours has a “Use” that subtly shifts the wording and order of liturgical office based on the diocese in which it was used. Books of hours from late medieval England, for example, can be either Sarum Use—the Use of Salisbury—or the less common Use of York.

Ownership mark from a later owner of the book of hours

Our book of hours can be localized to Holland based on some of the saints that appear in the calendar, e.g. Saint Pontianus, patron saint of Ultrecht, in January and the Feast of the Translation of Saint Martin in July both point to the Use of Utrecht. Then, the cartoon-like decoration is unique among books of hours that comes almost exclusively from the city of Delft. Finally, our book of hours contains several ownership marks, including “Jan Kerstants” and “Robert Ghilet, 1629,” both of which are Dutch names.

But what about all the dogs? This book of hours has a full-page decorative ensemble depicting dogs with foliage extending from their mouths. Likewise, the contemporary panel-stamped binding depicts the story of Saint Roch, who cared for plague victims and contracted the plague himself. According to the story, Roch flees to the forest after becoming ill, where he is brought food and has his wounds licked by hounds, perhaps suggesting that the canine motif of the binding is also present in the decorative program within the book. Saint Roch is also the patron saint of pilgrims, and one might contemplate a diminutive book of hours such as this accompanying a pilgrim as he or she traveled—perhaps with a canine companion of his or her own!

Many thanks to Dr. Scott Gwara and Dr. Ed van der Vlist, Curator of Medieval Manuscripts at the National Library of the Netherlands for their aid in identifying this book of hours.

Once cataloged, the call number for this lovely little book will be xMMS.Bo11.

Mar 10 2021

Djuna Barnes’ Ladies Almanack: An almanac like no other

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Elizabeth Riordan

The following is written by Curator of Books and Maps Eric Ensley

March is women’s history month, and it feels appropriate to turn towards the work of a great writer from the early twentieth century, Djuna Barnes.

Barnes is well known to students of gender and sexuality, particularly for her literary work that broached the topic of homosexuality in ways that ran afoul of censorship laws in the United States in the early half of the 20th century. Born in New York in 1892, she spent most of the 1920s in Paris, where she befriended author James Joyce and enjoyed some success as an author herself, though her now-celebrated novel Nightwood did poorly at the time.

Title page with crossed out printer’s name

UI Libraries Special Collections & Archives has recently acquired a first edition copy of Barnes 1928 roman à clef, Ladies Almanack. The first edition had a run of 1,050 copies, which it appears the author and her friends handed out on the streets of Paris. They even smuggled it into the United States, where the book’s overt description of lesbian relationships defied decency laws. Even the book’s printer, Edward Titus, blocked out his name on the novel’s title page, either to protect himself from the possibility of legal reprisal for the previous reason, or in fear of legal reprisal by members of the elite lesbian circle surrounding Natalie Clifford Barney that the book obliquely describes.

The novel is told through the genre of an almanac, with careful attention to time and seasons and their relationship to the female body. The illustrations, all created by Barnes herself, are meant to resemble the woodblock prints of early almanacs. Likewise, the illustrations often depict the labors of the month, tying them to a long tradition of guidance books showing the appropriate actions at a given moment—such a use of illustrations goes back to books of hours and their miniatures of the labors of the month. Author Lindsay Starck, in the summer 2019 issue of Modern Fiction Studies, argued that this attention to the rhythms of the year serves to highlight early twentieth-century sexologists arguing that homosexuals were out of step with the appropriate rhythms of nature.

Barnes and her work did not enjoy widespread success during her lifetime or enter the mainstream of literary conversation —this is in large part due to the repression of her work and bigotry against her due to her homosexuality. The first edition of Ladies Almanack has an important story to tell in its reminding us that book history often takes center stage in the history of censorship and repression. I hope as you look at this book you’ll imagine Barnes surreptitiously and illegally carrying this little volume with its covered printing statement, full of “dangerous” ideas, across the border into the United States.

Feb 25 2021

Ida Bogue’s Handmade Adventure

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Elizabeth Riordan

The following was written by Curator of Books and Maps Eric Ensley

As the snow begins to melt away in Iowa City, happily we begin to think of nature and adventures along the hills and riverbanks of the countryside. This desire for spring is felt all the more as we live through times of loss and global catastrophe. I suggest that it is this same yearning for bucolic settings that drove English author and artist Ida Bogue to make our newest edition to the collection, The Loiterers, at the height of World War II.

19th century service card from Hong Kong found in the pages of the book

I should first say that no words I can write can quite do this manuscript justice—it is a stunning work of art, from its over 800 handwritten pages, 30 handmade watercolors, and the decorative binding made by Bogue herself. The book tells the story of two young boys who go on adventures through the English countryside and meet a cast of characters, many of whom are illustrated in the watercolors. Also included are a number of objects pertinent to the story tucked into the binding, including a leaf and several nineteenth-century washing service cards from Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Bogue may have intended the book as a gift for her young nephews, no doubt suffering through the war. It’s difficult to say, however, as Bogue was a reclusive figure, having never reached authorial fame, having no children of her own, or any sustained relationships as far as can be see. In her lifetime she apparently wrote six different manuscripts stories like this. One, a fairy story called Child-Hazel, is still owned by the family and appeared on an episode of Antiques Roadshow in the early 2000s. It is likely that Bogue’s family also has another one of these manuscripts stories as well. A third story was sent by Bogue as a gift for the young princesses Margaret and Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace. The other three were assumed lost—though our manuscript is believed to be one of these three.

“Remember Me” written at the beginning of the story

Bogue’s life is difficult to research, and she no doubt did not achieve the acclaim she deserved in her lifetime. One of the pages of her book is inscribed with a haunting command: “Remember Me.”

Though it comes too late, we invite you to witness Bogue’s masterful art and remember her among the numerous women whose art has gone unwitnessed and undiscussed.

We hope to have this work digitized so that all may enjoy Bogue’s craft and will notify our readers when we do. If you have any information that might aid in reaching the family of Ida Bogue, please contact the curator of rare books, Eric Ensley: eric-ensley@uiowa.edu

Feb 02 2021

A New Processional, from Poissy to the Prairie

Posted on February 2, 2021February 2, 2021 by Elizabeth Riordan

The following comes from Book and Maps Curator, Eric Ensley

A perennial question for students of the Middle Ages is how and what did women read. The newest addition to our collection of medieval manuscripts answers this question at least in one place and moment. This diminutive book from the first half of the sixteenth century was designed to be carried by the nuns of the royal and aristocratic Dominican Abbey of Poissy, just outside of Paris. Small books of music and prayer like this comprise a genre known as the “Poissy Processional,” of which around thirty are known to exist. University of Iowa’s volume is a previously unknown addition to these thirty.

Small book that fits in the palm of your hand

Processionals are a type of book that contain the music and words necessary to chant the complicated and varying processions that accompany the Catholic Mass and the repeating daily prayers known as the Office. The nuns of Poissy would have need for books like these as a large portion of their day was given over to prayer—nearly around the clock as the Matins prayers occurred at around 2am and Lauds around dawn. Nuns would make processions with these books, singing from them as they went. Each sister had her own book and it is perhaps unsurprising then that they would be passed down to family members and friends as heirlooms.

The Abbey of Poissy was built starting in 1304 on the birthplace of the king and saint, King Louis IX. It was originally opened to only aristocratic families, allowing the abbey to enjoy strong connections with the royal court and become one of the wealthiest abbeys in France. Life for the nuns at Poissy, however, was austere and sheltered, living entirely in the walled abbey where their daily schedule consisted of prayer, silence, more prayer and more silence. Despite the seclusion, the abbey still captured the literary imagination of authors. Famed medieval poet Christine de Pizan placed her daughter in the abbey and even wrote a major poem about it, Le Dit de Poissy. The abbey’s library and books remained intact until the French Revolution, when the group was disbanded and the books sold off or stolen.

University of Iowa’s Processional is fascinating on several levels beyond that it escaped inclusion in Joan Naughton’s 1995 dissertation on the books, which is held at the authoritative source on the topic. This copy went unnoticed likely because the great majority of the thirty other copies are in institutional hands, while ours appears to have come from the library of Jacques Laget, a well-known French bibliophile who retired in the 2000s.

Books were not cheap in the later Middle Ages and even into the early modern period, but the abbey’s connection to France’s wealthier families allowed their library to grow. The book easily fools a viewer with its medieval appearance. Even in the early 1500s, the makers of these books were copying exemplar manuscripts that retained the appearance of fourteenth century books—a real throwback! Some have even argued that the nuns themselves made their own books for the abbey, though this argument is contentious since the books have a look similar to those produced in Paris workshops. Indeed, our little volume includes attractive initials in gold leaf with interior decoration in red and blue pigment and more elaborate penwork initials throughout.

Book open to book plate — Book plate of Jacques Laget

Somewhat unusually, our Processional includes many of the texts and offices that center around the death of a nun and the proper care of soul and body as the end approaches, including: the Office of the Dead, Anointing of the Sick for a Nun, Litany for the Dying, the Office for Burial, and the Commendation for the Dying. Many of the texts include gendered Latin endings suggesting the book should be used by a woman. Likewise, many include rubrics or instructions on what one should do and think while dying or while burying the body of a sister.

We hope the Iowa Processional inspires you to contemplation or singing in the classroom or reading room…quietly. It will be available soon for use under the call number: MSC0542, xMMS.Po1.

Dec 17 2020

Dr. Eric Ensley joins Special Collections

Posted on December 17, 2020 by Elizabeth Riordan

Picture of Eric Ensley outside — Dr. Eric Ensley

On December 28^th, 2020, Dr. Eric Ensley will join Special Collections as Curator of Books and Maps. Ensley earned his MSLS from UNC before going on to earn an MA in English from NCSU, then an MA, M.Phil., and PhD in English from Yale. While at Yale, he worked in the Beinecke Library as a Curatorial Assistant to the Curator of Early Books and as a Medieval Manuscripts Cataloging Assistant from 2016-2020, served as Program Director for the Digital Editing & the Medieval Manuscript TEI/XML Workshop starting in 2017, and in addition to other classes, served as Instructor of Record for “What is a book?”. His research interests cover the History of the Book, Librarianship, Manuscript Studies, Early Modern Print Culture, Digital Humanities, and Appalachian Studies.

“I’m most looking forward to welcoming students from a variety of backgrounds to work with our special collections,” says Ensley. “I believe that we can tell powerful stories about who we are through the history of books and manuscripts, and I look forward to hearing what stories students, faculty, and colleagues will tell with our collections. I’m particularly thrilled to learn how our collections speak to the lived experiences and histories of students from Iowa and further afield. Our collections allow us to talk about and even touch history, from pre-modern materials to our contemporary moment, and I can’t wait to help to make these collections accessible.”

In his spare time you can find him in the kitchen cooking or baking. “I grew up working alongside my grandmother in the kitchen, and she taught me the foundations of Appalachian cooking, which has sparked a lifelong love of food.” Just wait till he gets a hold of the Szathmary Culinary Collection here at the University of Iowa. This is Ensley’s first time living in the Midwest and he has expressed excitement in learning more about the local foodways and recipe traditions in Iowa.*

*His new coworkers are wondering how long to wait before they tell him all about the Butter Cow and the wonders of the Iowa State Fair.

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