“What’s So Special about Special Collections” is an age-old question that has been asked with increasing frequency in recent years as more and more institutions rediscover and place greater emphasis on primary source research.

As areas of emphasis, these collections are being repurposed and reinvented to meet the needs of an ever-evolving scholarly community of faculty, students, and life-long learners. Lehigh’s Special Collections in Linderman is no exception, and use has increased in the last few years.

The English Department, as anticipated, has continued to attract faculty and students whose literary research spans the ages and the continents. The majority of these classes touched on various aspects of the history of the book, most commonly focusing on printing and publishing history.

For example, Professor Kate Crasson’s British Literature I gave students an opportunity to examine a portion of Lehigh’s collection of Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts. In this class, students were introduced to medieval book production, with a look at the manufacture of paper, or vellum, inks, handwriting, and early printing type.

Another English Department class, Professor Barbara Traister’s introduction to Shakespeare, was treated to a glimpse of the first edition of the collected works of William Shakespeare (1623).

Students who also saw the second (1632) and third editions (1663) of this important work were fascinated to learn that the third edition is rather uncommon as many copies were lost in the Great Fire of London (1666) before they had a chance to be dispersed worldwide.

The Victorian Period is well-represented in Special Collections, and literature classes taught by Professors Rosemary Mundhenk and Edward Whitley are testimony to this fact. Students in “Victorian Fiction and Work”, who viewed Charles Dickens’ novels in parts in paper wrappers, were intrigued by the fact early purchasers needed subscriptions to ensure that they didn’t miss a chapter.

The University Archives has been recently discovered by historians. Several courses, including one taught by Professor John Smith and known familiarly as “Lehigh Hall of Fame,” drew extensively upon traditional university archival resources, including the Brown and White, the Epitome, the Alumni Bulletin, course catalogs, and reunion books.

Students each selected a late nineteenth century or early twentieth century Lehigh alumnus, who they researched extensively. Projects required members of the class to research from where the students originated, what they studied, in which activities they were involved, and what careers they ultimately pursued following their graduation from Lehigh.

Holly Kent, a doctoral candidate in the History Department,
visited with students from her course “The Bestseller in American
History: Books, Readers, and Writers in the Nineteenth Century United
States. ” Students took a look at editions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin held by
Special Collections. The varied translations and early printings of this piece of Americana stimulated students to pursue further research.

Special Collections also presented a session to an “Introduction to Public History”, a subject near and dear to the hearts of archivists and librarians. Professor Kim Carrell-Smith collaborated with staff to ensure that a wide range of genres were represented in this introduction to archives and archival resources.

Lehigh’s yearbooks, course catalogs, student newspaper, and other internal publications were discussed, and students were educated as to the use of these titles beyond university research. Independent study courses, offered as “Techniques in Public History,” have been offered by Lois Black, Curator of Special Collections, who challenges participants to consider potential problems in archives administration through the use of case studies.

A not too distant cousin of Special Collections, Museum Studies, also took advantage of the resources offered by the department, as Gallery Curator Ricardo Viera brought several of his museum studies classes to Linderman for a close examination of rare books, manuscripts, archives, and artifacts. These courses conveyed to student participants that archives, libraries and museums intersect on many levels.

Special Collections has also been rediscovered by classes in the sciences, including Physics. Professor Virginia McSwain, who taught the first year seminar, “Galileo in Science and Culture,” brought students to Linderman Library to examine early editions of several classic texts in the history of science. Resulting projects included research into the importance of illustrations in early scientific texts.

This year, Professor Gordon Bearn taught “Lewis Carroll: Beyond Sense and Nonsense.” Students consulted early editions of Carroll’s writings in literature, including Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, and those in logic, including The Game of Logic. Nineteenth century printing processes were discussed as participants had the opportunity to peruse these artifacts.

Students of anthropology were newly welcomed into Special Collections, as Professor Nicola Tannenbaum worked with Archives and Special Collections Librarian Ilhan Citak to forge new paths into archival material.

Projects called for students to answer questions about the Lehigh community from the perspective of anthropologists: inquiries included athletics, the Greek system, the Marching 97, and other cultural phenomena unique to Lehigh and other college campuses.

Individual research projects have been equally as varied, as students undertake research into herpetology, civil engineering history, and trade routes. Special Collections encourages faculty, staff, and students to explore the wealth of resources available for study.

Please contact us if you would like to plan a class session using historical collections in Linderman Library or would like to undertake a research project. We can be reached via email at inspc@lehigh.edu, or telephone  (610-758-4506).

-- Lois Fischer Black

Article posted March, 2011

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