March 2014 – The Chapel Hill Rare Book Blog

Reception in Peacock Atrium of the FedEx Global Education Center

A week ago, on Thursday March 20, some two hundred Library supporters gathered in the FedEx Global Education Center’s Peacock Atrium for a reception and viewing of UNC-Chapel Hill’s seven millionth volume, Juan Latino’s first book, the first book of poetry in a Western language published by an individual of Sub-Saharan African descent.

Food for the mind. The first literary work of the African Diaspora in the West. Juan Latino, Ad Catholicum, pariter et invictissimum Philippum . . . (Granada, 1573) / PA8540 .L615 A65 1573 supv’d

Professors Frank Domínguez, Bill Andrews, and Rosa Perelmutter — Professors Frank Domínguez, Bill Andrews, and Rosa Perelmuter

Food of the more common kind to sustain the evening's intellectual activity — Food of the more common kind, to sustain the evening’s intellectual activity

Teresa Chapa, Latin American and Iberian Studies Librarian — Teresa Chapa, Latin American, Iberian, and Latina/o Studies Librarian

Professors Genna Rae McNeil and Bereket Selassie, foreground

After much joyous socializing, the crowd moved into the Nelson Mandela Auditorium, where University Librarian Sarah Michalak welcomed the audience and spoke about the significance of Latino’s book for UNC-Chapel Hill. And then Borden Hanes formally presented the volume to Chancellor Carol Folt as the gift of the Hanes Foundation in memory of his father, University benefactor Frank Borden Hanes, Sr.

Borden Hanes and Chancellor Carol Folt and the book, with Carolina blue ribbon

Following Chancellor Folt’s acceptance on behalf of the University, Curator of Rare Books Claudia Funke had the great pleasure of introducing the evening’s speaker, Professor Michael A. Gómez, who gave a masterful address, “Juan Latino and the Dawn of Modernity.”

Michael Gomez and Juan Latino's first book — Michael Gómez, Professor of History and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University, with Juan Latino’s book

The public program concluded with closing remarks from Sarah Michalak and the distribution of a beautifully printed keepsake edition of Professor Gómez’s lecture.

Curator of Rare Books Claudia Funke with a printed copy of Michael Gómez's lecture — Curator of Rare Books Claudia Funke with a copy of Michael Gómez’s lecture

Sarah Michalak and Borden Hanes — Sarah Michalak, University Librarian, and Borden Hanes, Chairman, John Wesley and Anna Hodgin Hanes Foundation

There were further festivities at Wilson Library, where the book will be on public view through April 17 and live thereafter in perpetuity in the Rare Book Collection. Seven is indeed a lucky number!

Daphne Bissette and Alia Wegner of the Rare Book Collection with Juan Latino's book — Daphne Bissette and Alia Wegner of the Rare Book Collection with Juan Latino’s book at Wilson Library

RBC's Tori Darden finishes an exciting evening's work with a smile — RBC’s Tori Darden finishes an exciting evening’s work with a smile

This past week was UNC’s Spring break, and most of our students have been away, at their families’ homes or traveling. No doubt, they’ve all had with them electronic devices: smartphones, iPads, laptops, and Kindles. And maybe some made their journeys with a paperback or two.

Bibliotheque portative / Leslie Weil Memorial Fund — Bibliothèque portative du voyageur (Paris, 1802-1815) / Leslie Weil Memorial Fund

Well, if they’d lived two centuries earlier, their portable reading matter might have had more style. The traveling library above, which the Rare Book Collection acquired last fall, is an early example of its kind, the volumes bearing dates from 1802 to 1815. The whole is complete, with all 49 miniature books present, corresponding to the engraved contents list (above left), pasted to the inside of the original book-shaped box.

Demoustier's Lettres à Emiie (1813) — Demoustier’s Lettres à Emiie (1813)

Each volume is 3-1/2 inches high, the pages comparable in size to a smartphone’s screen. Titles include classics by French authors such as Molière, Racine, and Voltaire, as well as the works of other writers less known to Anglophones today.

Certainly, this traveling library is limited in content and more cumbersome than recent inventions, but what an elegant way to read on the go. Lore has it Napoleon even owned one.

Month: March 2014

Celebrating the Seven Millionth

On the Road: Spring Break & Kindles Past