International Visitor Leadership Program Tours Wilson

On June 7, the Rare Book Collection was pleased to host five librarians from Portugal who were visiting UNC Chapel Hill under the auspices of the U.S. State Department. They were here to learn about U.S. library management and collection development, and special collections at Wilson was part of the tour.

NA5831 B27 S68 / Plans, Elevations, Sections and Views of the Church of Batalha

Their visit gave the RBC the opportunity to pull some of its Portuguese-related rarities, including plays from its vast Iberian drama holdings, as well as Richard Fanshaw’s translation of Luís de Camões’ The Lusiad, or, Portugals Historicall Poem (London, 1655). The greatest exclamations were elicited, however, by the large plate book Plans, Elevations, Sections and Views of the Church of Batalha: in the Province of Estremadura in Portugal (London, 1795), a classic work on the great Gothic monastery complex.

That is, until they were shown the RBC’s most recent acquisition, The Canticle of Jack Kerouac: Lowell Notebook, March 21, 1987 (Accession 129008), a sketchbook with early versions of the poem and original drawings by Lawrence Ferlinghetti (UNC A.B., 1941). They delighted in this beautiful object and were fascinated to learn of the UNC connection to the Beat Movement.

The range of taste and appreciation that our international colleagues demonstrated made the afternoon a true pleasure. The RBC – All Worlds, All Time