RARE BOOKS
ADDITIONS TO THE ARTISTS’ BOOK COLLECTION
Two Recent Works by Letterpress Printer, Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.
Freshly commissioned for the launch of the Citizen Printer, Sista Said features two sets of 20 inspiring quotations, each accompanied by a unique background. These quotations are reproduced using offset printing and are presented in an elegant keepsake box. The collection includes notable contributions from influential figures such as Ella Baker, Josephine Baker, Mary McLeod Bethune, Ruby Bridges, Fannie Lou Hamer, Zora Neale Hurston, June Jordan, Coretta Scott King, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, Pauli Murray, Rosa Louise Parks, Lucy Parsons, Claudia Rankine, Ntozake Shange, Nina Simone, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, and Phillis Wheatley.
Citizen Printer is an essential monograph that highlights the work of a pioneering contemporary Black artist. It includes over 800 reproductions showcasing the extensive range of Kennedy’s letterpress prints, along with rarely seen artists’ books. The publication features original portraiture of the artist in action, a compelling manifesto, and a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Austin Kleon. All of this content is presented in a vibrant and typographically-focused design created by AIGA medalist Gail Anderson and Joe Newton.
UNCG Faculty Collaboration: This Earthen Door
This eco-feminist collaboration with artist UNCG faculty Leah Sobsey, Kyra Krakos, and Peter Grima, reanimates Emily Dickinson’s herbarium (botanical sampler) in a work of and for our time. The project employs Anthotypes (from the Greek meaning flower), a plant-based photo process invented during Dickinson’s era just as photography was being born. During her life Dickinson was not famous for her poetry, but for her green thumb – she had an extensive garden and was an avid student of botany.
“This Earthen Door considers the current state of the climate crisis, investigating our connection to nature – and asks where Emily would point us today. We partnered with scientists-scholars, Dr. Kyra Krakos and Peter Grima, to expand upon Emily’s flower sampler. The color schemes are “data drawings” constructed from research, made with plant pigments. These abstract color compositions form our own 21st-Century herbarium. Each piece is accompanied by text, stories about Dickinson the poet-gardener, about ethnobotany, and the natural world. This second half of the project is a sumptuous study of color, telling contemporary plant stories through Dickinson’s world of flowers.”
The World is Astonishing with You in It by Amanda Marchand
This book celebrates the cherished bird, fern, and plant species in North America that are at risk of disappearing. The flora and fauna featured in this series are included on the North American endangered species list. Lumen prints are created by exposing black-and-white photographic paper to sunlight, which reveals the latent colors within the paper. Each brand of photographic paper produces a distinct color palette. The book includes a unique lumen print that is unfixed, allowing it to continue changing colors when exposed to light.
Blue
Blue is the third monograph and second self-published book of Heather Evans Smith. She provides the following artist statement:
“Some say my dad’s death was the spark that ignited my depression, but this feeling has been brewing for a while. I started to notice a sadness creep in a few years into my 40s. I searched “depression in women” and stumbled across articles stating women are the most depressed at age 44. I was at that very moment 44.”
Loss during this time in a woman’s life can weigh heavily. Children are getting older and need the comfort of a parent less; the health of one’s own parent(s) is starting to fail, and hormonal shifts begin.
Using the color blue, which for hundreds of years has been associated with melancholy and sadness-these images evoke this period in my life and how it affects those around me. A mid-point, as I am stripping down, taking stock, and finding a new place amongst the loss.
ADDITIONS TO OTHER RARE BOOK COLLECTIONS
A Novel of Intense Power and Intrigue
In 1847, Charlotte Brontë diligently sought to publish her first novel, The Professor, which faced nine rejections before receiving a positive response from the firm of Smith, Elder. Although they declined to publish this particular work, they expressed interest in reviewing any other manuscripts she was developing. Encouraged by this feedback, Brontë swiftly completed Jane Eyre in approximately two weeks, ultimately finding fulfillment in seeing the novel published shortly thereafter. The book garnered instant popularity, and “Currer Bell” swiftly became recognized by the reading public as the author of Jane Eyre.
SCUA is delighted to add the third edition of Jane Eyre, published one year after the first edition and includes the new preface Brontë wrote for the second edition.
A Guide to Stratford-upon-Avon
Robert Bell Wheler (1785-1857) was a Shakespeare scholar and lifelong resident of Stratford. This work abridges his earlier The History and Antiquities of Stratford-upon-Avon (1806) and includes new discoveries about Shakespeare’s life. Shakespeare’s signet ring was discovered in a field near Shakespeare’s church in 1810, and Wheler subsequently purchased it from the laborer who found it. Although he could not find any material proof, Wheler believed it belonged to Shakespeare or one of his relatives; “I cannot discover any apparently respectable person the initials of whose name agree with W.S.”. After his death, Wheler’s collection of books and documents relating to Shakespeare, including a first folio, was passed to the Shakespeare Trust in 1862 by his sister Anne. She presented the ring to the trust in 1868.
SCUA has added the first edition of Wheler’s travel guide to Shakespearean Stratford, containing the first mention of Shakespeare’s ring. There is a contemporary ownership inscription of one John Astley, Coventry, England, to front-free endpaper and short quote in his hand on verso of advertisement leaf, occasional later annotations in pencil throughout. Look for more information about the former owner in our next newsletter.
“The Most Interesting and Faithful Record of This Great Historical Event”
First edition of this superb panorama of the Great Exhibition, giving a complete representation of its breadth and variety.
The Illustrated London News took 150 photographs of the exhibition, which were then engraved in wood for printing – the panorama is consequently a close depiction of the event, rather than an artistic rendition. They advertised the scroll as “This Panorama, the largest ever published, is the most interesting and faithful record of this great historical event” (Illustrated London News, 31 July 1852).
The panorama presents parallel views of both sides of the exhibition hall, with accompanying text below. The front pastedown has colored charts showing varying footfall at the Exhibition.
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
We have expanded our collection of playbills and stage production materials within the Performing Arts Collection. This collection includes resources pertinent to dramatic productions utilized in our instructional sessions.
UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
The University Archives received several artifacts from UNC Greensboro’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, including several team-signed T-shirts from the 1982 and 1983 Division III Men’s Soccer Championships and other items from the 2020-2021 Men’s basketball team that played in the NCAA Tournament. The National #1 ranking foam logo signed by this team was also donated to SCUA’s collections.
School of Nursing Pin Sketch
This framed drawing of a 1966 School of Nursing pin was donated by an emeritus faculty member.
WOMEN VETERANS HISTORICAL PROJECT
Promotional Photograph for WWI U.S. Navy Yeomanettes
Caption reads: “Women’s Navy Recruiting Corps Co. E”
Application materials for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), circa 1942-1943
United States Air Force Flight Surgeon Flight Duty Uniform, circa 1960s-1970s
This uniform was worn by a Lieutenant Colonel USAF flight surgeon. Although we do not know the name of the woman, she was one of the first female flight surgeons!
1953 Women Marines Recruiting Materials
3 ring binder with letter from former USMCWR director Katherine A. Towle and 31 promotional photographs.
1962 Women’s Army Corps (WAC) Stand-up Promotional Sign
This sign was featured in the 1963 indoctrination film “Strictly Personal” made for new WAC Trainees. You can watch the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8Lmt_Y7x04
1944 Army Air Force WAC Detachment Yearbook from Eagle Pass Army Air Field, Texas
