Fisher Library / en Open book: U of T-Aga Khan exhibit explores secrets within ancient texts /news/open-book-u-t-aga-khan-exhibit-explores-secrets-within-ancient-texts <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Open book: U of T-Aga Khan exhibit explores secrets within ancient texts</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/scroll-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=jEWsyIdI 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/scroll-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ofjwgS9a 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/scroll-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=cF1Ieyb_ 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/scroll-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=jEWsyIdI" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>geoff.vendeville</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2021-10-25T14:15:15-04:00" title="Monday, October 25, 2021 - 14:15" class="datetime">Mon, 10/25/2021 - 14:15</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Researchers used MicroCT scans to reveal fascinating stories about the history of ancient books. Their findings are included in an Aga Khan Museum exhibit 'Hidden Stories: Books Along the Silk Roads.' </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/kristy-strauss" hreflang="en">Kristy Strauss</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/fisher-library" hreflang="en">Fisher Library</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-libraries" hreflang="en">U of T Libraries</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-mississauga" hreflang="en">U of T Mississauga</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>An ancient book can tell a story in more ways than one.</p> <p>A wooden cover can offer clues about the&nbsp;climate when the book was made.&nbsp;Its paper and ink can tell us about&nbsp;technologies that were used at that point in history.</p> <p>Until Feb.&nbsp;27,&nbsp;the Ƶ and Aga Khan Museum will reveal these stories and more in the&nbsp;collaborative exhibit, <a href="https://agakhanmuseum.org/exhibitions/hidden-stories">“Hidden Stories: Books Along the Silk Roads.”</a></p> <p>“It’s truly a feast for the eyes,” says <strong>Alexandra Gillespie</strong>, vice-president and principal of U of T Mississauga. “When you go into the exhibit, you immediately start seeing objects that begin telling you a story about the transnational nature of the production of books in the pre-modern period.”</p> <p>The exhibit is the fruit of a partnership between the Aga Khan Museum; the <a href="https://booksilkroads.library.utoronto.ca/about-the-project">Book and the Silk Roads project</a>, an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-funded initiative driven by the <a href="https://oldbooksnewscience.com/">Old Books New Science (OBNS) Lab</a> at U of T Mississauga;&nbsp;the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, N.J.; and Ƶ Libraries’&nbsp;Information Technology Services (ITS), which is hosting <a href="https://hiddenstories.library.utoronto.ca/exhibits/show/hidden-stories-books/introduction">a digital companion site for the exhibit.</a></p> <p>Gillespie,&nbsp;the principal investigator with The Book and the Silk Roads project and director of the OBNS, says the&nbsp;ancient artifacts included in the exhibit –&nbsp;books, robes, scrolls&nbsp;and textiles –&nbsp;reveal how these objects shaped&nbsp;life surrounding&nbsp;one of history’s most important trade networks.</p> <p>“We use the word ‘book’ to mean any kind of text-bearing object,” Gillespie explains, adding that the exhibit shows “conversations that are occurring between these objects.”</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="media_embed" height="422px" width="750px"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="422px" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/98xZnBrJwvQ" title="YouTube video player" width="750px"></iframe></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>In addition to the artifacts, Gillespie says the exhibit will show visitors 3D MicroCT scans of books under non-destructive X-ray, which were conducted by U of T and Western University in collaboration with the Ontario Museum of Archaeology and St. Joseph’s Health Centre in London, Ont.</p> <p>Gillespie says the MicroCT scans can reveal fascinating stories about a manuscript’s history&nbsp;– for example, craft technologies of the past.</p> <p><strong>Rachel Di Cresce</strong>, digital project librarian at the ITS department and the project librarian for U of T’s The Book and the Silk Roads project, says the exhibit’s digital companion site also includes MicroCT scans of some of the artifacts that are on display in-person.</p> <p><span id="cke_bm_453S" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/Thomas%20Fisher%20Rare%20Book%20Library%2C%20MS%2001106%2C%20sagittal%20view.%20Micro-CT_Grasselli%27s%20Geomechanics%20Group_2020-crop.jpg" alt></p> <p><em>Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, MS 01106, sagittal view. Micro-CT: Grasselli's Geomechanics Group, 2020.</em></p> <p>One of those artifacts is a Book of Hours known as Canon Grandel’s Prayer Book, which was made in 15th century France and was added to the exhibition by Western University's Archives and Special Collections. Scans of the book reveal empty sewing holes and other traces of the original medieval binding, which was removed more than 300 years ago when the book was rebound with its current cover.</p> <p>“We know at some point the book was taken apart. We have kind of lovingly referred to it as a ‘ghost binding’ because when it visually pops up in a scan, it looks a little ominous. And you can see that there's traces that the bookmakers have actually left behind. There’s some greater story to be told there that we don't fully know yet,” Di Cresce says.</p> <p>She adds that the digital exhibit will also have multimedia features including an interactive map, videos exploring key exhibition objects, an audio track of a chant song from a 16th century Spanish choir book, and a zoom-in function to view intricately&nbsp;detailed manuscript paintings.</p> <p>Online exhibit visitors will also be able to see some of the same items on display at the museum in a digital format, including items from U of T’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Western University’s Archives and Special Collections, the Aga Khan Museum, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)&nbsp;and the Marshall and Marilyn Wolf Collection.</p> <p>U of T's Fisher library has loaned a diverse selection of historical codices, pothi books&nbsp;and scrolls from Turkey, Ethiopia, Egypt, Tibet&nbsp;and Nepal, and ranging in date from the 11th to the 20th centuries.&nbsp;</p> <p>“It’s quite an extensive collection,” Di Cresce says.</p> <p>Whether visitors attend the exhibit online or in-person, Gillespie says they will be surprised by the beauty of these objects – including a 17th-19th century manuscript containing the Hindu Bhagavad Gita, on loan from the Fisher library.</p> <p>“The beauty really shines from them,” Gillespie says. “We often think of books as utilitarian objects designed to carry a text ... but these are also objects of extraordinarily exquisite craft, of amazing human ingenuity.”</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="media_embed" height="422px" width="750px"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="422px" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Gsm7L6tuSZs" title="YouTube video player" width="750px"></iframe></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 25 Oct 2021 18:15:15 +0000 geoff.vendeville 171020 at Explore Canada’s culinary history at U of T library exhibit and Doors Open event /news/explore-canada-s-culinary-history-u-t-library-exhibit-and-doors-open-event <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Explore Canada’s culinary history at U of T library exhibit and Doors Open event</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/MAIN%20Massey-children-1140-x-760.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=8iIQDkza 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/MAIN%20Massey-children-1140-x-760.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=M2iGZaRr 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/MAIN%20Massey-children-1140-x-760.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=LOV26n45 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/MAIN%20Massey-children-1140-x-760.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=8iIQDkza" alt="Children at the Lillian Massey School of Domestic Science and Art"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Romi Levine</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2018-05-16T00:00:00-04:00" title="Wednesday, May 16, 2018 - 00:00" class="datetime">Wed, 05/16/2018 - 00:00</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Children at the Lillian Massey School of Domestic Science and Art (which later became the Department of Household Science) learning how to prepare food (photo courtesy of U of T Archives) </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/romi-levine" hreflang="en">Romi Levine</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-information" hreflang="en">Faculty of Information</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/fisher-library" hreflang="en">Fisher Library</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/graduate-students" hreflang="en">Graduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/humanities" hreflang="en">Humanities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/jackman-humanities-institute" hreflang="en">Jackman Humanities Institute</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/museum-studies" hreflang="en">Museum Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-libraries" hreflang="en">U of T Libraries</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>If you want to stump a Canadian, ask them to describe their national cuisine.</p> <p>Unlike pasta in Italy or tapas in Spain, Canada’s culinary culture is hard to pin down. But that’s what makes our food culture so unique, says <strong>Irina Mihalache</strong>, assistant professor of museum studies in the Faculty of Information. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Mihalache is co-curating an exhibit at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library that explores Canada’s culinary history through the voices of women from the 1820s to the 1960s using a range of artifacts,&nbsp;including rare cook books, manuscripts, culinary objects and photos.</p> <p><a href="https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/exhibition/current/old/">Mixed Messages: Making and Shaping Culinary Culture in Canada</a> will run from May 22 to Aug. 17.</p> <p><img alt="Curry powder bottle from the 1800s" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__8313 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Curry-bottle-750-x-500.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>The exhibition includes a bottle of curry powder from the 1890s and scent cubes – small museum-grade boxes that contain a scent (like pineapple or curry)&nbsp;that helps to tell the story of Canada’s culinary history. “We thought it was important to give visitors that sensory experience,” says Sadie MacDonald, Master of Museum Studies student and curatorial assistant (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>“We wanted to deconstruct the idea of Canadian identity,” says Mihalache. “What we wanted to do is rather than say this is what Canadian culinary culture looks like, we wanted to show how chaotic and messy and impossible it is to pin down.”</p> <p>Mihalache worked alongside <strong>Elizabeth Ridolfo</strong>, special collections projects librarian at Fisher Library, and <strong>Nathalie Cooke</strong>, professor and associate dean of library rare and special collections at McGill University, on curating the exhibition with the help of Master of Museum Studies students <strong>Cassandra Curtis</strong> and <strong>Sadie MacDonald</strong>.</p> <p>Additional research was done by students <a href="/news/cook-it-s-1817-u-t-students-make-culinary-connections-past-fort-york">as part of the Jackman Humanities Scholars in Residence</a>.</p> <p><img alt="The Female Emigrant's Guide " class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__8314 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Emigrants-guide-750-x-500.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>On display are various editions of Catharine Parr Traill’s Female Emigrant’s Guide. “She could arguably be the first person to create Canadian cookbooks with Canadian people in mind and Canadian ingredients,” says Ridolfo. The book includes advice on what immigrants should bring to Canada from England, what seasonal produce to grow, and observations about Indigenous food (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>The exhibition will touch on a number of themes, including how recipes were adapted during wartime when resources were scarce, how recipes were collected and distributed and who was left out of the conversation about culinary culture.</p> <p>“We want to think about the absences and the forms of marginalization,” says Mihalache.&nbsp;“For example, the fact that you have Chinese recipes in a 1930s <em>Chatelaine </em>but you wouldn't have the voice of the Chinese community.”</p> <p>The same goes for Indigenous recipes, she says. “When the settler Canadians came, they appropriated a lot of dishes Indigenous people were eating and they became Canadian.”</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__8315 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/CCF-cookbook-750-x-500.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>This community cookbook was published by the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, a precursor to the NDP.&nbsp; Recipes are attributed to individual women, says MacDonald. “They crowd-sourced their recipes from a huge variety of people – including immigrant and Indigenous communities – and these recipes are credited" (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>In addition to the Fisher Library exhibition, Curtis and MacDonald will be at Fort York during this year’s Doors Open on the weekend of May 26, running activities using the themes of Mixed Messages.</p> <p>“The idea is to give people a behind-the-scenes look at the Mixed Messages exhibit,” says Curtis.</p> <p>The Fort York programming will include a spotlight on the women behind Canadian cookbooks, an opportunity to try out culinary technology throughout the ages and, of course, a taste test of dishes like&nbsp;a wartime cake and mulligatawny soup.</p> <p>“Learning about the history of culinary culture in Canada has been so eye-opening,” says Curtis. “I had no idea it was so complicated – so many different layers, all these different people coming from different places, contributing different things.”</p> <p><img alt="Cassandra Curtis and Sadie MacDonald" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__8316 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Cassandra-Sadie-750-x-500.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>Curtis and MacDonald will help to tell the stories of women in Canadian culinary culture at Fort York during Doors Open (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 16 May 2018 04:00:00 +0000 Romi Levine 135050 at U of T Libraries’ giant collection of tiny books /news/u-t-libraries-giant-collection-tiny-books <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">U of T Libraries’ giant collection of tiny books</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Galileo%20book%20%28for%20web%20lead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=zy4CI1FX 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/Galileo%20book%20%28for%20web%20lead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=b7FUofZG 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/Galileo%20book%20%28for%20web%20lead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=h-FZe9bt 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Galileo%20book%20%28for%20web%20lead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=zy4CI1FX" alt="photo of Galileo book "> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>geoff.vendeville</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-08-22T06:08:52-04:00" title="Tuesday, August 22, 2017 - 06:08" class="datetime">Tue, 08/22/2017 - 06:08</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Letter from Galileo to the Grand Duchess Cristina, published in Italy in 1897, was probably a collector’s item, with its vellum binding. (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/geoffrey-vendeville" hreflang="en">Geoffrey Vendeville</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Geoffrey Vendeville </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-libraries" hreflang="en">U of T Libraries</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/books" hreflang="en">Books</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/rare-books" hreflang="en">Rare Books</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/fisher-library" hreflang="en">Fisher Library</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Great books in very small packages</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Ƶ Libraries has a few thousand&nbsp;mini titles &nbsp;– some even smaller than a paperclip.</p> <p>The collection spans religious manuscripts from the Middle Ages to a modern edition of <em>Romeo and Juliet </em>that's&nbsp;fit for a doll.</p> <p><em>U of T News&nbsp;</em>visited the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library and librarian&nbsp;<strong>David Fernandez </strong>to<strong>&nbsp;</strong>learn more about seven of these tiny treasures.&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h2><strong>1. Book of hours (France, late 14th century)</strong></h2> <p><img alt="Book of hours" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__5476 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Book%20of%20hours%20on%20red%20%28embed%29.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image"></p> <p>Nowadays, most people don't leave the house without their smartphone. But in the Middles Ages, they carried the book of hours, a prayer guide for the eight canonical hours of the day.&nbsp;</p> <p>“The book was kept close to your body,” Fernandez says.</p> <p>And like an iPhone, it could be personalized.&nbsp;“The binding would have been customized so the person who orders the book of hours, their personality, their religion, even their region and language, were captured in the book."</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2><strong>2. Rules to Examine and Discern the Interior of One's Soul (Mexico, 1635)</strong></h2> <p><img alt="Old book on yellow" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__5481 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Old%20book%20on%20yellow%20with%20ace%20of%20diamonds%20%28web%20embed%29.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image"></p> <p>This is U of T Libraries’ oldest printed book from the Americas, published about a century after the introduction of the printing press to the New World.&nbsp;</p> <p>The book of spiritual exercises and theology is small so readers could easily&nbsp;carry it with them where they went.</p> <p>The black mark across its pages wasn't made by a clumsy library patron. It's a <em>marca de fuego</em>.&nbsp;“This was a tradition popular in Spain, Italy and later the New World," Fernandez explains.&nbsp;“A lot of the libraries of seminaries or churches would mark their books using a firebrand so that way they can identify items in their collection, because books were very valuable at the time.”</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2><strong>3. The Divine Comedy (Italy, 1629)</strong></h2> <p><img alt="Divine comedy in miniature" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__5478 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Divine%20comedy%20%28embed%29.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image"></p> <p>By the 17th century, religious literature wasn't the only material&nbsp;being printed in tiny editions. Hence this <em>Divine Comedy</em>-to-go.</p> <p>“The <em>Divine Comedy</em> is such an important book and one that people have a very personal connection to,” Fernandez says.&nbsp;“They would learn different cantos by memory and recite them, using something like this to practise. ...The size tells you it was used for very personal and maybe constant reading.”</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2><strong>4. The Young Lady</strong>’<strong>s Book of Botany (England, 1838)</strong></h2> <p><img alt="Botany book" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__5482 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Book%20of%20botany%20%28web%20embed%29.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image"></p> <p>The 19th century was the heyday of the mini book. This guidebook on botany for&nbsp;“the young lady” was part of a wider tradition of Victorian books on the natural world, from bugs to seaweed.&nbsp;“A lot of these books have a very pedagogical and also Christian approach to them,” Fernandez says.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2><strong>5. Collection of miniature books from the Borrower</strong>’<strong>s Press (United States, 1974-1987)</strong></h2> <p><img alt="Books and penny" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__5484 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Books%20from%20the%2080s%20on%20yellow%20%28web%20embed%29.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image"></p> <p>Though the era of the tiny book was long past&nbsp;by the late 20th century, it was not forgotten. Tiny-book nostalgia inspired a small press in Winterport, Me. to produce a set of mini marvels. Although they are novelties, all but a few of them contain actual text.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2><strong>6. Two almanacs (England, 1778, and France, 1807)</strong></h2> <p><img alt="Books and paperclips" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__5483 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Book%20and%20case%20and%20paperclips.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image"></p> <p>Showing off is a custom even older than&nbsp;the miniature book.</p> <p>These two almanacs with intricate covers and bindings were early examples of&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption">conspicuous consumption</a>, Fernandez says.&nbsp;“Something like this wasn’t cheap. Readers invested in this because it was something they carry, and when they took it out of their pockets they would be making a statement.”&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2><strong>7. Letter from Galileo to the Grand Duchess Cristina (Italy, 1897)</strong></h2> <p><img alt="Galileo mini copy" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__5479 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Galileo%20%28for%20web%20embed%29.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image"></p> <p>Galileo wrote his friend, Cristina di Lorena, in 1615 about reconciling religion and science&nbsp;–&nbsp;18 years before he was tried for&nbsp;heresy. This mini version could have been a collector’s item, Fernandez says.</p> <p>“In the 19th century with more technologies available, people get more creative. If you look at this one, it’s bound in vellum [fine-grained animal skin] and it tries to imitate the style of the original 17th century letter.”&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 22 Aug 2017 10:08:52 +0000 geoff.vendeville 112002 at U of T’s One Spadina is front and centre at Toronto’s Doors Open /news/u-t-s-one-spadina-front-and-centre-toronto-s-doors-open <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">U of T’s One Spadina is front and centre at Toronto’s Doors Open</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/One%20spadina%201140%20x%20760.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=5nlp3_6F 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/One%20spadina%201140%20x%20760.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=Zzc88XGk 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/One%20spadina%201140%20x%20760.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=A1-pmYRe 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/One%20spadina%201140%20x%20760.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=5nlp3_6F" alt="One Spadina"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Romi Levine</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-05-26T12:25:23-04:00" title="Friday, May 26, 2017 - 12:25" class="datetime">Fri, 05/26/2017 - 12:25</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Take a tour of the new home of U of T's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at Door's Open (photo by Peter MacCallum)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/romi-levine" hreflang="en">Romi Levine</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Romi Levine</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/john-h-daniels-faculty-architecture" hreflang="en">John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">U of T Scarborough</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/munk-school-global-affairs-public-policy" hreflang="en">Munk School of Global Affairs &amp; Public Policy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/fisher-library" hreflang="en">Fisher Library</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>This year’s Doors Open is celebrating 15 decades of Canadian architecture – a fitting theme for the public debut of one of Toronto’s most impressive buildings – <a href="http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=0d0bfa2cd4a64410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&amp;view=tabMap&amp;key=DAF1E7EEA0C3C5C6852580C3006184F0">One Spadina&nbsp;Crescent</a>.</p> <p>The new home of U of T’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design will be showcasing both its preserved heritage and its slick contemporary update at this year’s event.</p> <p>“We are looking forward to welcoming the public –&nbsp;including alumni, industry professionals, prospective students&nbsp;and members of the greater Toronto community –&nbsp;to our almost, but not-yet finished new home,” says Daniels&nbsp;Dean&nbsp;<strong>Richard Sommer</strong>.</p> <h3><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/1-spadina-project-1.4135314">Read more about One Spadina at CBC</a></h3> <p><iframe class="juxtapose" frameborder="0" height="540" src="https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=ede01fe8-4235-11e7-9498-0edaf8f81e27" width="100%"></iframe></p> <p><em>In the 1940s, One Spadina housed the Connaught Laboratories. After the invention of insulin at U of T, medical research and insulin manufacturing took place here. A former lab&nbsp;will&nbsp;now be a&nbsp;classroom and studio space</em></p> <p>Visitors can take self-guided tours and admire the work of graduate students, which will be on display throughout the building.</p> <p>“Doors Open Toronto at One Spadina is the first of many occasions in which we hope to engage the broader public in our quest to address the largest challenges facing architecture, cities and other environments today,” Sommer said. “The Daniels Building at One Spadina was designed to do just that.”</p> <h3><a href="https://www.daniels.utoronto.ca/news/2017/05/16/join-us-public-preview-onespadina-during-doors-open">Read more about One Spadina</a></h3> <p><iframe class="juxtapose" frameborder="0" height="520" src="https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=bd65b832-4217-11e7-bf0f-0edaf8f81e27" width="100%"></iframe></p> <p><em>The Daniels Corporation Atrium at One Spadina doubles as stairs and an amphitheater leading up to the building’s third floor graduate studio</em></p> <p>For a historic perspective on what One Spadina – and other parts of U of T's downtown Toronto campus&nbsp;– once looked like, head to the <a href="http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=0d0bfa2cd4a64410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&amp;view=tabMap&amp;key=EA8F6FB6F7D5B963852580A600704955">Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library</a>.</p> <p>Architectural drawings of One Spadina, University College and Robarts Library will be on display, alongside historic photographs and campus maps.</p> <p>U of T librarians have also uncovered a rare copy of a Toronto photography book, which includes buildings that no longer exist, a collection of photos of the architectural models from a competition to design Toronto’s City Hall&nbsp;and a mini-maquette of the Fisher Library.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__4750 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/fisher%20750%20x%20500.jpg" style="margin: 10px; width: 750px; height: 500px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>Fisher Library is often compared to Hogwarts or a scene from&nbsp;</em>Beauty and the Beast<em>, says Fisher librarian P.J. Carefoote (photo by&nbsp;Dominic Ali)</em></p> <p>But Fisher cataloguer and reference librarian <strong>P.J. Carefoote</strong> knows that it’s the awe-inspiring architecture that really draws people to the library.</p> <p>“What I find fascinating is the reaction of people to the building&nbsp;because a lot of people – their first time here – see the brutalistic architecture on the outside, and they find it, quite frankly, off-putting,” he says. “But then when they walk in the doors and into the exhibition area, it's always the same reaction – you have this gasp and the eye immediately goes up, and it's exactly what the architect intended to do.”</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__4749 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/munk%20750%20x%20500_0.jpg" style="margin: 10px; width: 750px; height: 500px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>Now home to the Munk School of Global Affairs, 315 Bloor St. was once called the&nbsp;Dominion Meteorological Building&nbsp;</em></p> <p><a href="http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=0d0bfa2cd4a64410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&amp;view=tabMap&amp;key=9CC37CB95CAD2B7C852580A3006D2E5F">The observatory at the Munk School of Global Affairs</a> will also be taking part in this year’s Doors Open. The former meteorological observation centre is now home to offices and Munk’s master of global affairs program. It has kept its 20th-century heritage alive, thanks to a restoration-focused renovation in 2012.</p> <p>“We have some wonderful real estate here. We have some amazing buildings, and it's nice to be able to open the doors and allow people to wander through,” says <strong>Samantha Smith</strong>, Munk’s manager of conference facilities and events.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__4751 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/observatory%20utsc%20750%20x%20500.jpg" style="margin: 10px; width: 750px; height: 500px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>U of T Scarborough's observatory dome is located in the science wing (photo by Ken Jones)</em></p> <p>If you're heading outside the city, Doors Open is a great opportunity to check out U of T Scarborough’s state-of-the-art athletic facility – <a href="http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=0d0bfa2cd4a64410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&amp;view=tabMap&amp;key=46805D7D10A7564F852580D90073BB1F">the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre</a> – and the <a href="http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=0d0bfa2cd4a64410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&amp;view=tabMap&amp;key=7A619237C46A8997852580BF005C8489">Andrews Building</a>,&nbsp;where visitors can see a panoramic view of the city at the UTSC Observatory.&nbsp;</p> <p>Students from U of T Scarborough’s arts, culture and media program will also be leading tours at&nbsp;Fool's Paradise, the former residence of Canadian artist and&nbsp;U of T alumna&nbsp;<strong>Doris McCarthy</strong>.</p> <p>“What’s fascinating about the Andrews Building is that it’s made primarily of four materials –&nbsp;concrete, wood, terracotta stone and glass,” says campus architect <strong>Jennifer Adams</strong>.</p> <p>“These materials are strongly connected to the Earth and give a unifying feel to the building, which is what [architect] John Andrews strove to achieve in his design.”</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__4755 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/pan%20am%20centre.jpg" style="margin: 10px; width: 750px; height: 499px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>U of T Scarborough’s Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre is also part of Doors Open this weekend (photo by Ken Jones)&nbsp;</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 26 May 2017 16:25:23 +0000 Romi Levine 107844 at ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Margaret Atwood's handwritten first draft at U of T's Fisher Library /news/handmaid-s-tale-margaret-atwood-s-handwritten-first-draft-u-t-s-fisher-library <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Margaret Atwood's handwritten first draft at U of T's Fisher Library</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/covers%20take%202.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=1_jK4GaG 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/covers%20take%202.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=M8OyyoIF 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/covers%20take%202.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=A8BBIZ7Z 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/covers%20take%202.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=1_jK4GaG" alt> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Romi Levine</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-04-24T16:30:35-04:00" title="Monday, April 24, 2017 - 16:30" class="datetime">Mon, 04/24/2017 - 16:30</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">‘The Handmaid's Tale’ has been translated into numerous languages in countries around the world. Copies of the novel from Iran, Canada, Germany and China (photo by Romi Levine)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/romi-levine" hreflang="en">Romi Levine</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Romi Levine</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/alumni" hreflang="en">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/writer" hreflang="en">Writer</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/margaret-atwood" hreflang="en">Margaret Atwood</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/archives" hreflang="en">Archives</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/fisher-library" hreflang="en">Fisher Library</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/culture" hreflang="en">Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Ahead of the TV adaptation premiere, U of T News looks at rare items in Margaret Atwood's 600-box archive</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The television adaptation of <strong>Margaret Atwood</strong>’s iconic novel <em>The Handmaid’s Tale</em> is set to hit the small screen on Wednesday.</p> <p>Fifteen years before <em>The&nbsp;</em><em>Handmaid's Tale</em> was published, Atwood began providing material – from manuscripts to personal letters – to the Ƶ’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library.</p> <p>The award-winning author and poet has deep roots at the Ƶ – she completed her undergrad at Victoria College and was the writer in residence in 1972. She’ll be returning to her alma mater on Wednesday for a screening of the first episode of <em>The&nbsp;</em><em>Handmaid’s Tale</em>, followed by a Q &amp; A at Innis College.<img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__4369 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/handmiads%20handwritten.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>A page from Atwood's first handwritten draft of </em>The Handmaid's Tale<em>, complete with notes and amendments (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>The 10-episode drama, which begins airing this week,&nbsp;will introduce Atwood’s story of Offred, a handmaiden trapped in a patriarchal dystopia, to a large North American audience. But the 1985 novel has long been&nbsp;considered part of the canon of Canadian literature.</p> <p>The library has over 600 boxes-worth of material spanning almost 50 years,&nbsp;including the first handwritten draft of <em>Handmaid’s Tale</em>, says <strong>Jennifer Toews</strong>, modern manuscripts and reference librarian at Fisher.&nbsp;The collection includes book covers of the novel from all over the world, including in Iran where the book is quite popular,&nbsp;and a draft of the libretto from the Danish opera adaptation of the novel.</p> <p>“She donates almost every year. It keeps growing and growing,” says Toews.</p> <p>Fisher Library also has the playbills Atwood illustrated and printed while at Victoria College and comics she’s drawn over the years under the pseudonym Bart Gerrard – many of which have never been published.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__4370 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/playbills.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>Atwood illustrated these playbills for her peers at Victoria College while she was an undergrad. "She had a little business where she would design and print them and sell them to the college," says Toews&nbsp;(photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>Academics, writers and fans come from all over the world to access Atwood’s archival material, says Toews.</p> <p>“There's a group of scholars, and they're waiting for the next instalment of papers – they're waiting to pounce on the new material, and start writing papers and planning colloquiums,” she says.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__4371 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Atwood%20comic.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>Some of Atwood's comics feature 'Survivalwoman' who Toews says is somewhat autobiographical (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>Anyone can access Atwood’s archive – items&nbsp;listed online can be requested through the <a href="https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/">Fisher Library website</a>.</p> <p>Toews works&nbsp;with Atwood’s assistants to sort through and categorize her archives. She has had the chance to meet with the author several times.</p> <p>“She's very nice, very attentive and very helpful,” she says with a giggle. “I'm laughing because we sat [Atwood]&nbsp;at one of these tables. It was a really horrible one unfortunately with all kinds of dents in it, and she pulled a marker out of her bag and filled them in. She's pretty cool.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 24 Apr 2017 20:30:35 +0000 Romi Levine 106997 at Nobel laureate Derek Walcott dies: U of T's Fisher library has 160 boxes of his drafts, notes and sketches /news/nobel-laureate-derek-walcott-dies-u-t-s-fisher-library-has-160-boxes-his-drafts-notes-and <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Nobel laureate Derek Walcott dies: U of T's Fisher library has 160 boxes of his drafts, notes and sketches</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-20-walcott.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=7x0WVkqv 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-03-20-walcott.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=taw5PFo3 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-03-20-walcott.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=Nc6KLaSK 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-20-walcott.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=7x0WVkqv" alt="photo of Derek Walcott"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-03-20T16:01:00-04:00" title="Monday, March 20, 2017 - 16:01" class="datetime">Mon, 03/20/2017 - 16:01</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">U of T has more than 160 boxes of Derek Walcott's notes and drawings. Walcott in Italy in 2008 (photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/noreen-ahmed-ullah" hreflang="en">Noreen Ahmed-Ullah</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Noreen Ahmed-Ullah</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/fisher-library" hreflang="en">Fisher Library</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/archives" hreflang="en">Archives</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/poetry" hreflang="en">Poetry</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/english" hreflang="en">English</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Archives belonging to Saint Lucian poet and playwright Derek Walcott, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992, are housed at the Ƶ's&nbsp;<a href="https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/">Thomas Fisher Rare Book&nbsp;Library</a>.</p> <p>Walcott, who died Friday, had connections with&nbsp;Toronto's Caribbean community, says Professor<a href="/news/professor-george-elliott-clarke-named-parliamentary-poet-laureate-0"> <strong>George Elliott Clarke</strong></a>,&nbsp;and today U of T is home to more than&nbsp;160 boxes of his&nbsp;material from the 1980s to the present, including drafts and notes for his many poetical, theatrical and prose writings, drawings, sketches, photographs and correspondence.</p> <p>Fisher began acquiring the material in 1996 when <a href="http://www.provost.utoronto.ca/awards/uprofessors/complete/chamberline.htm"><strong>J. Edward Chamberlin</strong></a>, now a <a href="http://www.provost.utoronto.ca/awards/uprofessors.htm">University Professor</a> Emeritus of English and comparative literature at U of T, and his wife, West Indian poet and writer&nbsp;Lorna Goodison, helped the university&nbsp;obtain the collection through fundraising work with the international community, including Toronto’s Caribbean community, says&nbsp;<strong>Jennifer Toews</strong>,&nbsp;modern manuscripts and reference librarian.&nbsp;</p> <p>Best known for his epic poem <em>Omeros</em>, a Caribbean reimagining of <em>The Odyssey</em>, Walcott wrote and directed more than 80 plays.</p> <p><iframe allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/g3IiigZC-F8" width="750"></iframe></p> <p>Clarke, <a href="http://news.artsci.utoronto.ca/all-news/professor-george-elliott-clarke-named-parliamentary-poet-laureate/">Canada's Parliamentary Poet Laureate</a>,&nbsp;not only considers Walcott to be the greatest poet of the 21st and 20th centuries, but says he had immeasurable&nbsp;influence on writers of his generation, especially those exploring decolonization.</p> <p>“Derek Walcott in my opinion was the first non-British born poet of English to remake the English language in his own tongue in a decolonized fashion,” Clarke says,&nbsp;“in other words to take the former imperialist and oppressive language that was forced upon black, brown, yellow and red folks from all over the planet, through the British empire, and to use that language better than the imperialist and the oppressors themselves were able to. He was a symbol for all decolonizing writers of English and other languages. He blazed the trail for all of us.”</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3874 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/obabylon2-embed.jpg" style="width: 465px; height: 827px; margin-left: 142px; margin-right: 142px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Watercolour painting by Walcott for his musical </em>O Baylon!&nbsp;<em>(courtesy of Fisher library)</em></p> <p>Clarke&nbsp;says having Walcott's&nbsp;archives at U of T is “a real feather in our cap.”</p> <p>“He could’ve gone to Oxford or&nbsp;Yale, but he chose U of T,”&nbsp;Clarke says. “That's partly because of the long-standing historical connections – culturally, economically, politically – between Canada and the Caribbean. There's also the fact that there's a sizeable Canadian Caribbean community in the GTA, many of whom are poets are writers. And the fact that Canada doesn't have as much of an imperialist history as Britain or America, certainly they haven't been as obviously aggressive.”&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3875 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/walcott%3Dexhibit-embed.jpg" style="width: 465px; height: 620px; margin-left: 142px; margin-right: 142px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>At a 2011 exhibition&nbsp;featuring his&nbsp;work at Fisher, Walcott (second from left) with his niece (left), his wife Sigrid Nama (standing), and writer Austin Clarke (photo courtesy of Fisher)</em></p> <p>But Walcott never expressed&nbsp;any&nbsp;hatred or dislike in his poetry, Clarke says.</p> <p>“Rather, it was a grand humanitarian embrace of the culture and letters of England, of Britain, of the west in general. He maintained a very powerful,&nbsp;political and aesthetic balance between never forgetting the crimes of imperialism while at the same time,&nbsp;always recognizing the humanity of the victims as well as the humanity of the perpetrators of those crimes.”</p> <p><strong>Neil ten Kortenaar</strong>, professor of comparative literature at U of T Scarborough, says Walcott was the first writer from the Caribbean to win the Nobel Prize.</p> <p>“But he was also one of the most important poets in English of the second half of the 20th&nbsp;century,” he says. “In his lyric poetry, he made his own experience significant for all readers of poetry. In the process, he made the Caribbean into an imaginative centre for the world. He wrote about Caribbean history as world history: its history of conquest and colonization. Great migrations of people&nbsp;and slavery are subjects that became immensely important as the British Empire broke up in the decades after the Second World War.”</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3876 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/walcott-scribble-embed_0.jpg" style="width: 465px; height: 590px; margin-left: 142px; margin-right: 142px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Walcott's original ink drawings for his musical play, </em>Steel&nbsp;<em>(courtesy of Fisher)</em></p> <p>As&nbsp;for Walcott's&nbsp;literary style, Clarke notes Walcott’s ability to interchangeably use <em>patois,</em>&nbsp;vernacular English, cockney English and Trinidadian, Jamaican&nbsp;or Saint Lucian English.</p> <p>“He was very much an Aristotelian poet,”&nbsp;Clarke says. “He wrote lyric poetry, comic plays, tragic plays, and as Aristotle argued that the greatest poets have to write epic poetry, he did that with <em>Omeros</em>.”</p> <p>Walcott’s twin brother also a playwright lived in Toronto. Walcott&nbsp;visited often, and one of the cantos of <em>Omeros</em> is set in Toronto, ten Kortenaar says.</p> <p>“Many West Indian poets have made Toronto their home: Louise Bennett, Lorna Goodison, Olive Senior, Dionne Brand, NourbeSe Philip, Lillian Allen. It is fitting therefore that anyone who wants to study Walcott has to come here, to one of the centres where West Indian poetry is produced,” he says.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3877 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/walcott-drawings-embed.jpg" style="width: 465px; height: 349px; margin-left: 142px; margin-right: 142px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ink drawings by Walcott for his musical play, </em>Steel&nbsp;<em>(courtesy of Fisher library)</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 20 Mar 2017 20:01:00 +0000 ullahnor 105996 at A history of board games comes to U of T’s Fisher Library /news/history-board-games-comes-u-t-s-fisher-library <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">A history of board games comes to U of T’s Fisher Library </span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Games%20MAIN.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=zG1OcafT 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/Games%20MAIN.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=0NSX8qIz 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/Games%20MAIN.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=N7YPCeGj 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Games%20MAIN.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=zG1OcafT" alt="Alice in Wonderland"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Romi Levine</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-02-15T14:32:52-05:00" title="Wednesday, February 15, 2017 - 14:32" class="datetime">Wed, 02/15/2017 - 14:32</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">“The new and diverting game of Alice in Wonderland” is on display at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library (photos by Romi Levine)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/romi-levine" hreflang="en">Romi Levine</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Romi Levine</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/fisher-library" hreflang="en">Fisher Library</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/games" hreflang="en">Games</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/history" hreflang="en">History</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Frigid winter days are a great excuse to stay indoors with good company and a pile of board games.</p> <p>As you roll the dice, reflect on this: you’re participating in a tradition of game-playing that dates back to ancient Mesopotamia.</p> <p>This month, the more recent history of board and card games is being explored in an exhibit at the Ƶ's Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library.</p> <p>Curated by Fisher librarian <strong>Chris Young</strong>, “<a href="https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/exhibitions/monthly">Ludos Ludere: Games to Play</a>” looks at the ways games reflect the culture and values of the time they were created.</p> <p>“One of our mandates with special collections is to try and collect not just a range of diverse cultures in whatever form they come –&nbsp;but also a wide range of printed material,” says Young.</p> <p>&nbsp;<img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3447 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/HG%20Wells.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>A copy of H.G. Wells's 1911 “Floor Games”&nbsp;about children’s games is on display at the exhibit</em></p> <p>While games in different forms have been played for many centuries, board and card games are a relatively recent invention.</p> <p>“Card games and the books about card games were all made from the 17th century onwards when cards were easy to manufacture cheaply because of the printing press,&nbsp;cheaper paper materials, and mass production of ink and presses,” says Young.</p> <p>The popularity of gaming rose to the point where even famed authors like H.G. Wells&nbsp;were keen on writing about the pastime. The science fiction novelist published <em>Floor Games</em> in 1911 about various children’s games – a copy of which is on display in the exhibit.</p> <p>Most of the games on display are no longer played or manufactured but they all have ties to contemporary counterparts, says Young.</p> <p>“You can see how games people tend to play today are derived from other early genres that may no longer exist.</p> <p>Here are some of the games to check out at the exhibit:</p> <h4><u>Lotería: La suerte que habla, 2016</u><br> &nbsp;</h4> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3448 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Loteria.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px; border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;" typeof="foaf:Image"></p> <p>The only contemporary game on display, Loteria<em> </em>is a true reflection of today’s political and cultural landscape.</p> <p>This modern take on a traditional Mexican game uses a board similar to Bingo with images instead of numbers. A riddle is read out loud, corresponding to a specific image – many of which are ripped right from the headlines.</p> <h4><u>The money game: how to play it,&nbsp;1928</u><br> &nbsp;</h4> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3449 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Wall%20Street.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;" typeof="foaf:Image"></p> <p>It was mere&nbsp;coincidence that this economics-based game was released at a time when the world was in financial turmoil.</p> <p>The game looks like a book when closed, but it opens into a detailed set of instructions with a number of game pieces.</p> <p>“You’re trying to gather resources at a cheap cost from other players based on how many of that specific resource they have,” Young says.</p> <h4><u>Myriorama: a collection of many hundred landscapes, 1824</u><br> &nbsp;</h4> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3450 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Myriorama.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;" typeof="foaf:Image"></p> <p>There’s no winning or losing in this game – players can place the hand-coloured panels in any order they wish.</p> <p>They are illustrated in a way that no matter what order they are played, the landscape will look complete.&nbsp;</p> <h4><u>The new and diverting game of Alice in Wonderland, 1898&nbsp;</u></h4> <p>Forty years after Charles Lutwidge Dodgson a.k.a. Lewis Carroll’s whimsical novel was published, this card game was released.&nbsp;</p> <p>The aim of the game is to make complete sets of a certain type of card. Illustrations on each card have been adapted from the book’s original art drawn by John Tenniel.</p> <p>“Cards were easy to be bought, distributed and played in almost any context because they fit in your pocket,” says Young.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 15 Feb 2017 19:32:52 +0000 Romi Levine 104955 at U of T joins global Biodiversity Heritage Library to digitize, archive science literature /news/u-t-joins-global-biodiversity-heritage-library-digitize-archive-science-literature <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">U of T joins global Biodiversity Heritage Library to digitize, archive science literature </span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/biodiversity%20main%20replace.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=SjwDi-LP 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/biodiversity%20main%20replace.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=5HyKEM7R 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/biodiversity%20main%20replace.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=jtO10lSu 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/biodiversity%20main%20replace.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=SjwDi-LP" alt="library books"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Romi Levine</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-01-24T12:19:27-05:00" title="Tuesday, January 24, 2017 - 12:19" class="datetime">Tue, 01/24/2017 - 12:19</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Gerstein Science Information Centre uploaded 2.3 million pages-worth of science literature to the Biodiversity Heritage Library online archive. (Photo by Romi Levine)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/romi-levine" hreflang="en">Romi Levine</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Romi Levine</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-libraries" hreflang="en">U of T Libraries</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/fisher-library" hreflang="en">Fisher Library</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/us-politics-0" hreflang="en">U.S. politics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/science" hreflang="en">Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/international" hreflang="en">International</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/">Ƶ Libraries</a> is the newest and only Canadian member of the <a href="http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/">Biodiversity Heritage Library</a>&nbsp;(BHL), a massive digitization project that provides free online access to scientific literature from prestigious institutions all over the world.</p> <p>Members include the Smithsonian, Harvard University and London’s Natural History Museum.</p> <p>“We're really thrilled to be partnering with&nbsp;Biodiversity Heritage Library and all the other institutions that are part of it,” says <strong>Neil Romanosky</strong>, U of T Libraries’&nbsp;associate chief librarian for science research and information.</p> <p>U of T has the largest academic library system in Canada, ranked fourth in North America by the Association of Research Libraries. It has already contributed 3.3 million pages of literature to BHL from its of collection rare and unique books and journals spanning hundreds of years.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mollusks?src=hash">#Mollusks</a> from our newest <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BHLib?src=hash">#BHLib</a> Member, <a href="https://twitter.com/uoftlibraries">@uoftlibraries</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/GersteinLibrary">@GersteinLibrary</a> for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MolluskMonday?src=hash">#MolluskMonday</a> <a href="https://t.co/XPLlXBBPZO">https://t.co/XPLlXBBPZO</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MolluscMonday?src=hash">#MolluscMonday</a> <a href="https://t.co/92bcWBmhgW">pic.twitter.com/92bcWBmhgW</a></p> — BHL (@BioDivLibrary) <a href="https://twitter.com/BioDivLibrary/status/823594991633186817">January 23, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <p>It’s part of U of T’s massive collection of natural history literature belonging to its 10 science libraries, which includes Gerstein Science Information Centre, Canada’s largest standalone science and health library, as well as the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, which holds a collection that includes original works by Charles Darwin.</p> <p>“We felt Biodiversity Heritage Library's key values really aligned with those of Ƶ Libraries, specifically open access, collaboration among libraries, archives, museums and other kinds of organizations in making collections more freely available,” says Romanosky.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3238 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/anatomy.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>U of T Libraries has contributed books to BHL on everything from anatomy to botany. (Photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>U of T already hosts an<a href="https://archive.org/details/university_of_toronto"> Internet Archive scanning centre</a>, so&nbsp;many of its historic collections are already available online.</p> <p>Archiving material online allows researchers all over the world to gain access to hard-to-find material. &nbsp;</p> <p>It’s the ultimate democratic gesture, says <strong>Vincci Lui</strong>, faculty liaison &amp; instruction librarian at Gerstein.</p> <p>“We're such a global economy now, it's so much easier to share your knowledge with someone across the globe – it's something libraries are huge proponents of,” she says. “Instead of reaching a tiny amount of people, you see thousands and thousands of people having access to these collections – it's a pretty cool thing.”</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3239 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Newton.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London includes Isaac Newton's first mention of the Theory of Light and Colours. U of T contributed editions of this journal from the 1800s and a substantial number from the 1900s to the BHL database. (Photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>Digitizing also provides access to some of U of T’s more well-loved items that are hard to handle.</p> <p>“Some&nbsp;of our books are very brittle so the ability to be able to preserve them and share them is amazing,” says Lui.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3240 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/tiny%20book.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>U of T students and faculty can access Gerstein's large collection of historic medical and scientific books on the bottom floor of the library. (Photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>As a new political era begins in the United States, the country’s commitment to climate, science and environmental issues hangs in the balance, making the BHL more imperative than ever before, Romanosky says.</p> <p>“Open access and furthering the pursuit of knowledge and new knowledge generation around biodiversity is a great way to ensure that in this era of uncertainty, Ƶ has a way to keep the conversation going and to share the great strengths we have in this area more broadly and globally,” he says. “One of the great strengths of the libraries is that we are a crossroads within the institution and we really hold a great spot to further public discourse on these issues.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 24 Jan 2017 17:19:27 +0000 Romi Levine 103543 at Undead or unexplained? Photos, books on the paranormal at U of T's Fisher Library /news/undead-or-unexplained-photos-books-paranormal-u-t-s-fisher-library <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Undead or unexplained? Photos, books on the paranormal at U of T's Fisher Library</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-13-Paranormal%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=wLvVjjYR 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-01-13-Paranormal%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=aNfM3JMi 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-01-13-Paranormal%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=AQhVZwzT 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-13-Paranormal%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=wLvVjjYR" alt="Photo from book showing seance"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-01-12T18:01:35-05:00" title="Thursday, January 12, 2017 - 18:01" class="datetime">Thu, 01/12/2017 - 18:01</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Fisher Library’s collection of paranormal literature explores everything from spirit photography to seances (photo by Romi Levine) </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/romi-levine" hreflang="en">Romi Levine</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Romi Levine </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ghosts" hreflang="en">Ghosts</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/fisher-library" hreflang="en">Fisher Library</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t" hreflang="en">U of T</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/literature" hreflang="en">Literature</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/donation" hreflang="en">Donation</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>While modern science helps us understand the world around us, it’s the unexplained that really captures our imagination.</p> <p>Ƶ’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library is celebrating our fascination with otherworldly beings in an exhibit called “Investigating the Paranormal,” on display until the end of January.&nbsp;</p> <p>Curated by Fisher librarian <strong>Chris Young</strong> and archivist <strong>Natalya Rattan</strong>, the display draws from a collection of more than&nbsp;1,500 items from the 18th century until today. The collection was donated by U of T alumnus <strong>Adam Crabtree</strong>,&nbsp;a former Catholic priest&nbsp;who has been interested for awhile in paranormal experiences.</p> <p>The collection, which also available online, includes illustrated&nbsp;books,&nbsp;fictional pieces, journals and important literature pertaining to psychical research, which is the study of the paranormal.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3123 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/Puysegur.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>This first edition of Puysegur’s work, is signed by the author. It’s of the most valuable books in the collection (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>Crabtree was a Benedictine monk but decided to leave the monastery while studying philosophy at U of T.&nbsp;</p> <p>After finishing his studies, he became a psychotherapist and began to explore paranormal phenomenon.</p> <p>“I used hypnosis or trance states to make the work more effective in exploring the inner life of my clients, and in the process, I became very interested in understanding how hypnosis came to be and how the unusual things that were being revealed about the unconscious life of human beings came to light,” he says.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3117 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/the%20supernatural.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>Crabtree’s collection includes books about the paranormal with interesting illustrated bindings (photo by Romi Levine)&nbsp;</em></p> <p>Crabtree was attracted to the works of psychical research’s forefathers – Franz Anton Mesmer and his pupil Marquis de Puysegur.&nbsp;</p> <p>“Puyesgur explored how people talked and what view of the world they had when they were in a mesmerized state,” says Crabtree.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3120 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/Magnetisme_0.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>This is the first illustration of a séance from the 18th century. It may even depict Mesmer himself (third from left). Patients are grasping iron rods protruding from the water. They applied them to ailing body parts, to&nbsp;transfer&nbsp;therapeutic magnetism to their bodies (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>Though psychical research is considered a fringe science today, that wasn’t always the case, says Young.</p> <p>“When it was starting off in the 19th century, people used contemporary scientific methods for it,” he says. “The problem at the time was there wasn’t enough evidential proof that these paranormal activities were actually happening. That’s why it never took hold as a scientific discipline along the lines of chemistry, biology.”</p> <p>Mainstream fascination in the paranormal also began in the 1800s with social events meant to conjure spirits such as&nbsp;seances and table turning.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3121 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/Table%20turning%20table%20talking_0.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>Spiritualist events like table turning were popular in the 19th century (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>“Table turning is a type of a seance. Allegedly spirits are communicating with you, but somebody was probably turning it with their foot –&nbsp;who knows? It’s kind of like a ouija board,” says Rattan.&nbsp;</p> <p>Early photographers also claimed to have captured paranormal phenomenon –&nbsp;a trend explored in the Fisher exhibit.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3122 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/Ectoplasm.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>Ectoplasm is a substance that is said to be visible on mediums when photographed (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>“Photography was fairly new and involved a lot of chemicals to be able to reproduce the photographs,” says Young. “So people would take photographs, and there would be this mirror image of a face or other types of lighting that had been captured and people couldn’t explain it.”</p> <p>Rattan adds that people at the time thought the likenesses that appeared were people that had died who were important to them.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3125 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/Arthur%20conan%20doyle.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a member of the Society for Psychical Research (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>Psychical research was so popular in the 19th century that well-known figures like Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle embraced it.&nbsp;</p> <p>The topic may not be as readily embraced today, but Crabtree’s collection is beginning to spark interest: U of T scholars and even an American PhD student have looked into it.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3124 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/ghost%20in%20photo.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>Can you see the ghostly faces in this photo? Spirits are alleged to have been captured on camera (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 12 Jan 2017 23:01:35 +0000 ullahnor 103265 at 'Unexpectedly beautiful' angling and fishing collection at U of T's Fisher Library /news/unexpectedly-beautiful-angling-and-fishing-collection-u-t-s-fisher-library <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">'Unexpectedly beautiful' angling and fishing collection at U of T's Fisher Library</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Angling%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=LdSdhwDh 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/Angling%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=_WIi1pkf 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/Angling%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=8Vxl16iu 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Angling%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=LdSdhwDh" alt="Photo of angling book diagram"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Romi Levine</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-01-04T13:06:47-05:00" title="Wednesday, January 4, 2017 - 13:06" class="datetime">Wed, 01/04/2017 - 13:06</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">U of T's Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library has received a massive fishing and angling book collection (photo by Paul Armstrong)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/romi-levine" hreflang="en">Romi Levine</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Romi Levine</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/fisher-library" hreflang="en">Fisher Library</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/canada" hreflang="en">Canada</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-libraries" hreflang="en">U of T Libraries</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/culture" hreflang="en">Culture</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/fishing" hreflang="en">Fishing</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/canadian-cultural-property" hreflang="en">Canadian Cultural Property</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The Ƶ Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library’s new collection is as fishy as it is fascinating.</p> <p>Fisher has just received one of the largest collections on fishing and angling in Canada – a total of 1,145 items including books, pamphlets and catalogues from the 16th to 20th centuries, given to the library by an anonymous donor. &nbsp;</p> <p>“[The donor] gave it to us because of Fisher's reputation,” says <strong>Loryl MacDonald</strong>, archivist and director of the Fisher Library. “[The donor]&nbsp;decided to remain anonymous because his or her concern was not about promoting himself or herself but rather promoting the wonderful collection and the content.”</p> <p>The collection has been certified as Canadian Cultural Property due to its aesthetic qualities, research value and uniqueness. Items in the collection, like a tiny fishing manual from the United Kingdom, were once considered mundane and practical&nbsp;but now provide fascinating insight into life hundreds of years ago. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt="British Angler" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3020 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/British%20Angler.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>A British chapbook from 1838 on angling for pond and river fish was meant to be a helpful guide during&nbsp;fishing trips (photo by Paul Armstrong)</em></p> <p>“Something like that wouldn't have lasted – it's very ephemeral so it's impressive that a little chapbook survived almost 200 years and is in such beautiful condition,”&nbsp;MacDonald says.&nbsp;“It's a typical little book, but it's so exquisite.”</p> <p>A large part of the collection&nbsp;once belonged to French fisherman and bibliophile Albert Petit&nbsp;who amassed material from all over the world.</p> <p>“Petit collected everything. He didn't only collect high-level gems, but he also collected catalogues and trade publications as well,” MacDonald says. “These are things that don't normally last as well. We have some beautiful books here, but we also have little catalogues on fishing tackle that were never meant to survive.”</p> <p>The books provide a window into a time when fishing and angling were popular recreational activities. They can tell us a lot about travel and trade at the time of their publication, MacDonald says.&nbsp;</p> <p>“What is the basis for tourism in Canada in the early 20th century? A lot of it would have been fishing and angling. You have CPR, CNR railway booklets and pamphlets all on fishing,” she says.</p> <p>Book lovers who aren’t keen on fishing can still appreciate the stunning binding on some of the books, including is <em>Les Ruses Innocentes</em>, which dates back to 1660.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3021 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/Ruses%20innocentes%20embed.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>Les Ruses Innocentes has&nbsp;green Morrocco binding with floral gilt corner pieces added in the 19th century (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>“It's odd, but it's also unexpectedly beautiful,” MacDonald says.&nbsp;</p> <p>The collection was&nbsp;certified as Canadian Cultural Property, she says, because “it's so culturally significant that its loss would be a loss to Canadian society and heritage.”&nbsp;</p> <p>Other materials certified as Canadian Cultural Property at the Fisher Library&nbsp;include&nbsp;the archives of &nbsp;the late <a href="/news/legend-dies-u-t-s-fisher-library-home-boxes-leonard-cohen-s-papers">Leonard Cohen</a> and the archives of acclaimed author and U of T alumna &nbsp;<strong>Margaret Atwood</strong>.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 04 Jan 2017 18:06:47 +0000 Romi Levine 102998 at