Medieval Manuscripts Online

I have written in prior blogs on the many advances in digitizing old media. This movement continues to make available hidden treasures to a much wider audience. Yes, actually being in the presence of these materials will always be the ultimate goal. Still though, getting the chance to actually see these documents from afar is a triumph of modern technology.

I fully understand that this is nothing new, but still I marvel at the images when I see them. What I have for you today is the Medieval Document Collection of Western Michigan University. I really love when these gems find their way to me. There are a good number of documents online, but what I found most fascinating was prayer book written by and for nuns.

The Luna Imaging technology is amazing on how they brought the book to life. Note, for those of you who know of my antipathy for ebooks, this is the exception to the rule. This is a book which obviously one cannot take home and add to your personal library without doing time in Sam Quinton (Yes, I know it is San Quentin! I call it Sam Quinton!!).

The book is a beautiful document. Should you be highly skilled in Latin and Flemish you can actually read it too. Sorry, Sir Kate, my Latin is just not that good; however, I fully appreciated the book's presence. This is medieval art and literature and, oh, how I love it.

A funny thing, one often thinks of monks and fraternal orders performing scrivener's work - and not nuns. This was an interesting discovery to see that, at least in the 1500's, women had a role in the making of books. I wonder if they bound the book as well? Interesting.

Here is the book which I invite you to enjoy. Prayer Book for Nuns

And here is a screen shot I captured of the book... enjoy!

It is a dream I have...

Books and food - a winning combination.

Every now and again there comes a perfect gem of an opportunity. This opening of chance grabs you out of the audience like Monty Hall and offers with an extended hand. You stand there and ponder. Sometimes you are in the correct position and are willing give whatever you can to take it. Other times you must simply be content with the pleasant dreams. The hope girding you that one day will come the day that you can grab it with both hands.

A bookstore is for sale in Britain - very cool in itself. Wait, it gets better. The Loch Croispol Bookshop is a bit off the beaten path. So no, it is not in London. Not in Manchester either. Edinburgh? Aberdeen? Inverness? Try a little further north. Try Durness, Scotland. It is probably an easier commute to Norway than London. Yes, Vikings probably landed nearby. This place is for sale.

Now sadly it is not in the cards at the moment for me pounce on said opportunity. Oh, how I would love to run a bookstore in the northern sticks of Britain. To get lost in the bountiful myth and history of the landscape, to enjoy the peace and quiet of the night air of the loch, to be away from the indelicacies of urban living - they all call to me. I would love to run that place though I fear I would be more the kid in the candy store.

Though she be but little, she is fierce! This bookstore run by partners Kevin Crowe and Simon Long is a success story. This endeavor of 14 years took a pottery shop in the middle of nowhere and made it into bookstore / restaurant / art shop. In its peak season it was a tourist destination for the heartier bibliophiles. All year round they ran a tidy business over the internet. Crowe and Long also went the extra mile and researched books for customers. They made it work.

Now they want to retire and hand the reins over to a new owner. From the BBC newsclip I watched it certainly was a labor of love. Their dedication made the place a success. As you are all well aware running a bookstore is not the easiest thing in these modern days. They proved that anything is possible. I hope that they find a buyer who will continue the dream and make it their own.

I tried to access the Loch Croispol Bookshop's website to dig a little deeper, but unfortunately the server was non-responsive.

So if you have at least £120,000 in Scots Legal Form burning a hole in your pocket and a real love for books then maybe this offer is just for you.

Here is the PDF file of the actual sale Loch Croispol from Ewan, Harris & Company. Great photos and some interesting reading.
Here is a link to the BBC article. For sale: Britain's most remote bookshop
Here is the actual link to the Loch Croispol Bookshop. It didn't work when I tried, but maybe you are just a little bit luckier.

Just imagine those rolling fields and mountains... beautiful!

On Facebook!

Hello my friends! Just a quick note to let you all know that this blog does have a presence on Facebook. Feel free to stop on over for a visit. I've actually had the page up for some time now, but never really did anything with it. However, I intend to change that and give it some new life.

And thank you all for your patience in my recent hiatus. I intend to get back to blogging regularly again. My various projects have settled down a bit allowing me the time to bring you the quality posts you have come to expect from A Day In The Lyceum.

Happy Saint Valentine's Day!

I hope that you, my friends, are having a great day out there. Might I suggest that a trip to a local museum is a wonderful way to show a loved one that you appreciate them in your life. If you don't mind traveling or happen to live near Virginia then perhaps a trip to the Valentine Richmond History Center is a lovely idea - after all 'Virginia is for lovers'. 

President Washington presented with a fasces.

Taken from their website:

The mission of the Richmond History Center is to engage, educate, and challenge a diverse audience by collecting, preserving, and interpreting Richmond's history.

The history of the institution begins with Mann S. Valentine, Jr., the museum’s founder, who made his fortune with the creation and production of Valentine’s Meat Juice, a health tonic made from pure beef juice. As did many men of his era, Mann collected artifacts. His collection may have begun, as rumored, with a cigar box filled with arrowheads, but it soon grew to comprise hundreds of objects.

Mann shared his love of history with his brother, renowned sculptor Edward V. Valentine. Mann laid the foundation for the museum in 1892; when he died in 1893, he provided the original bequest for the Valentine Museum, leaving his personal collection of art and artifacts and the 1812 Wickham House.

The Valentine Museum, the first private museum in the City of Richmond, opened in 1898; Edward Valentine served as its first president from its opening until his death in 1930. In his own will, he left an incredible collection of his sculpture, papers, furniture and memorabilia to the museum that still bears his family name.

Over time, the institution has evolved from a general art and history museum to one focusing on the life and history of Richmond, Virginia. For more than 100 years, the Richmond History Center has collected, preserved and interpreted the materials of Richmond's life and history. Through its collections, exhibitions and programs it reflects and interprets the broad issues and diverse communities which define the history of Richmond and its surrounding counties. The History Center is the only institution in the city committed solely to this mission.

The Richmond History Center offers major changing exhibitions, which focus on American urban and social history, costumes, decorative arts and architecture. The History Center includes the stately 1812 Wickham House, a National Historic Landmark and outstanding example of neoclassical architecture featuring rare wall paintings.

The museum does host some fascinating exhibits: 

• Edward V. Valentine Sculpture Studio
• Wickham House and Collections [This exhibit depicts life in the early 19th Century.]
• Settlement to Streetcar Suburbs: Richmond and Its People
• Creating History: The Valentine Family and Museum
• Signs of the Times [This exhibit depicts vintage neon signs.]

The museum also hosts an online service for those who can't make it to the museum itself. The current exhibit is: History, Ink: The Tattoo Archive Project. While I have my personal issues with the tattoo fad they do have some fantastic designs on display. 

So if you are in the Richmond area be sure and check this place out. And... I have feeling that I am going to be visiting Richmond again in a future blog... but where shall I be going then?

Crazy Bookshelves!!

I've been seeing more and more of some very unique bookshelves appearing on Facebook and other social media sights that I visit. What do you think of them? Would you use one of these to showcase your collection? Perhaps in a spare room? In your man-cave in the basement? Kids' room? We certainly live in interesting times, but I think this development is a positive if not a little wacky spin in the mix. 

I found all these on Bing image search. There are many more. What are your favorites?

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The tree is pretty cool. I can see this in a child's room. Something a little offbeat, but still it has room for plenty of books, maybe a plushy or two. I like it. 

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This one is definitely more for a den, not a bedroom. Downstairs back wall with a few comfy chairs nearby. Works.

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This one is a certainly nice for the living room. It is small and unobtrusive. It is not screaming that, "Yes, you have entered the house of a seriously demented individual." It is a good conversation piece.

This one is for the bedroom. Oh... yes it is. It has that manly swagger to it. Something that I am quite familiar with. It is one where I look at it and say "Yes sir, it is great being a man - I concur. What shall we read today?"

With Regret We Must Inform You That...

The Snow Library has been closed today due to... snow.

It is total Snowmageddon here in lovely Wintery White Western Mass. Nemo has dumped a good two feet plus in areas. Today is a great day to find a good book, curl up with some hot chocolate and relax for awhile.

Funny thing, while I was reading the history tab on this library the original library was destroyed by fire during a blizzard back in '52. Snow is not friendly to this poor place. While outside of my stated area being a library out on the cape it still looks like a cool place to visit.

Anyway, stay well-read my friends.

Tax Forms @ The Library

For we in the United Stated it is now tax season. Joy... Yeah, I know. Now many of you do your taxes online. Some go to a tax preparer. If you are like me and like to do your taxes yourself then obviously you need a few of the hundred million forms available. I used to go to a preparer and did them online for a few years, but honestly it was an unnecessary expense. The question is... where do you get the forms? For years the Post Office used to have all the forms available. Now that has been pretty much phased out (as I found out last year - I brought that one on myself). Sure, you could request the forms, but why wait. And maybe it just me, but I have no desire for any interaction with the IRS. I had to go to them for some old records a few years ago and it was creepy. It was like they are judging you and making notes which are going into a secret file. No... let's leave the IRS out of this equation.

What other public service institution can you go to for help? Of course, it is your local library. You would be surprised at the people who don't know this. Now it is important not to get to them too late in the season. As they say in the commercials - supplies are limited. Last year, I waited a little too long to get my forms and we'll I was making some phone calls, but I tracked down what I needed.

So be sure to push this little point to your friends who like to do their taxes on their own. There are people out there who just think that libraries are just books and no idea of the other services which are available to them.

Libraries Need To Stay Out Of The Opinion Business

Last week I saw an article which did not sit well with me. It was written on the subject of The Manly Library's [of Sydney, Australia] reaction to Lance Armstrong finally admitting to illegal doping. The library reacted by saying that they were going to move all of Lance Armstrong's books to the fiction section. The story made a little splash in the world media as it went through its cycle.

I agree with the sentiment that Lance Armstrong deserves what he gets for the doping, playing on the world's sympathies and his cutthroat reactions towards his critics. I was an initial supporter of Lance Armstrong against his critics because I felt that they were ginned up by the French for dominating 'their' event. However, it turns out that Lance was the bad guy and I feel betrayed. Not that I am really into cycling or the Tour de France, but it was just one of those stories you get drawn into.

However justified The Manly Library [love that name] feels in their proposed action it really is the wrong choice. There is plenty of fiction sitting in the non-fiction section. We all have our own opinions of just what that is. I have my list of books that I would love to see moved to the fiction section. You see where I am going with this? This is the kindling that fires up people into making really stupid decisions. We all may feel justified in saying yes the Lance Armstrong junk is fiction, but that may empower people towards attacking another book. The defenders of that book retaliate by saying another book is fiction. This just begs to spiral out of control.

This is only one angle.This is a matter which can also be politicized. Many of those books would also be of a political nature. When you bring politics into the fray then it all goes to pot. The library needs to remain above the fray. It can't be seen as opinionated or political. That makes people angry. Angry people don't fund libraries. So please, libraries, maintain the high ground that you have with the people. They are one of the few institutions remaining which garners a high level of respect with the people.

Here is a link to the New York Post article which I read:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/lance_tall_tales_shifted_7QbJmcoutCSY3qur2ceDYL

A Trip To Indian Orchard

So the plan for this weekend was to go to the bookfair held in Suffield to support the Kent Memorial Library. Alas that did not come to be due to tornado warnings in the area. With our recent history here concerning tornadoes I decided that driving a few towns away was not in my best interest (and yours my faithful following). On the positive side though this was the 42nd Annual Book Sale so I feel that there will probably be another next year.

That doesn't look like its in Springfield! A plus!

So then, how in the world did I end up in Indian Orchard of all places???? I am sure that you deduced from the title that is where I went. Well it was a long and arduous journey, I finally arrived there to claim my prize! Yes, the Springfield Public Library had run a little contest on Facebook asking people to associate various fantasy locales with their parent books and stories. Well I added my two bits to the list of answers and I won. It was a moment of heartfelt joy. They said that they would contact me when my book was available and they did! It was good.

My Precious!

This little trip I have been planning for... oh.. two years I think. I tell you that it was well worth it. This branch in the Springfield Public Library System is a nice comfortable place to visit. That is what I looking for in a branch. Is it a comfy place to relax and read a book. Obviously, in these days of inter-library loans and statewide library collectives you aren't really going to judge it by selection. However, even in saying that I was very impressed by the media available there.

I am glad that they kept the old CCs.

The parking is on-street so that can be a little dicey, but on an average day I would say that you would be fine. It is located in a nice area of Indian Orchard. There are some nice shops nearby if you want to run out and get a coffee or grab some lunch.

I love paper lanterns!!

My only critique would be to get some larger reading chairs. Now I know the joke, haha, fat, lazy American can't fit in a chair. No, these chairs are small for an Asian middle-school girl. They are small. Move those over to the children's reading area and get a good man-sized man couch in there. That is my only critique. Aside from that the building is a lovely revival style building. It has modern amenities and is replete with artwork. It is a good, quiet reading environment.

Nice quaint atmosphere! I like it! I don't have a pic of the chairs though. Next time!

The building construction itself was funded by a grant from that evil, greedy industrialist Andrew Carnegie. The branch was opened in March 18, 1909 and has stood at that same location for more than a century. I could feel the history when I walked in. The grant paid for the Library Proper and three branches. The first of which was Indian Orchard. The second was the Forest Park branch. Now the third I can't seem to locate in my little bit of researching here. I sense another blog post coming out of this mystery.

Classy!

Here is nice link detailing the branch's 100th Anniversary !!

A Sunny Day In Suffield [Kent Memorial Library]

Not my photo, but nice too!

So I found myself in Suffield yesterday. Now if there is one thing that you should know about Western Mass it is this - if you ever find yourself off the beaten path there is some beautiful driving around here. Farms, pastures and Victorian and colonial houses abound. It was on that lovely drive down that way that I said to myself - you know this would be a great day to stop into the library here and visit for a blog. It has been far too long. The Sun was out. That muggy Summer air was being pushed out by a cool front rolling down from Canada. Yes it was hot, but the shade and shelter of a friendly setting would be nice. So after I completed what I had to do I swung back that way.

Now I know what you are thinking. Eric, isn't Suffield in Connecticut and thus not a part of your original blog mission? Yes, you are correct. It is in Connecticut, but it used to be a part of Massachusetts - Western Mass to be precise. So the former Southfield which at one point (aside from the Cape) was the southernmost point in Massachusetts (at least to the Sprinfieldians, thus its name). In my ultimate wisdom I have granted it an honorary status and once again claim that land for Massachusetts. Looking back, Connecticut did have a point why not just run the damn line straight across. Mass still had Maine at this point, so yeah taking advantage of a surveyor's error really was a land grab.

Ye Olde Behemoth

Now the history of how that town's original border came to be is pretty humorous. It reads like two cranky neighbors arguing over where the property line is to put up a fence (border disputes are nothing new, but it is still pretty entertaining to read). The fence is eventually put up and Suffield - daughter of Agawam, Grandaughter of Springfield is born in 1674. Settled by a Pynchon. Reading the histories of how many local towns spun off from other larger towns is a fascinating read. [Actually, as I was driving around I also saw the building for the Suffield Historical Society. I am going to have to stop in there and visit one of these days as well.]

Well over the years of colorful New England history, border wars, the King's Phillip War and such, Suffield is eventually annexed by Connecticut in 1749. The factional back and forth raged in the town for generations. Until the point where the pro-Connecticut 'dissenters' took power at the town meeting made their application to the court of Connecticut. And they were pretty serious about it too because they were going to right to the King to settle it once and for all. An excerpt from the town history detailed in History of Suffield, IN THE COLONY AND PROVINCE OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY, NEW ENGLAND COLLECTED, TRANSCRIBED AND PUBLISHED BY HEZEKIAH SPENCER SHELDON. 1879:

"Voted that Lewt Aseph Leavitt Be Joyned as an agent with Capt Lyman to Prosecute the affair of Geeting of to Connecticut; who are joyntly & severly Impowered to make application to ye General Court at Connecticut to Receive us under their Jurisdtion and Protect us, and to mack application to ye Great and General Court of this Provinc to Be Relesed from thair Judisdiction, and with ye agents of Woodstock, Somers, & Enfield, to Do any thing Necessary to Prepair the Case for a tryall att ye Court att Greate Brittain, if we cant obtain our Right without, and to be at our Preportionable parte of ye Cost with sd Towns acording to the Respective List of each Town, allowing the major Parte of the agents upon good advice shall govern the affair."

It was fun reading because the name family name Kent came up often and lo' I went to The Kent Memorial Library. Which is a very nice library - a good town-sized library. Modern by architectural standards. Parking was great! There's a small grocery store and plaza out behind it.

A little Zen with your read?

When I walked into the building it screamed 70's and I was right. Those buildings always evoke a strange feeling in me for some reason. The present building was constructed in 1972 after the original building erected in 1899 outgrew its confines. The original building was purchased by the Suffield Academy and the library moved across the street. They recently had an upgrade just last year which I read on their Facebook page. It is very open to the outside with much by ways of atria and glass walls. So that sunny day really gave the building an uplifting feeling.What I truly loved about this building is that it had a glass-enclosed, open-sky rock garden reading area in the middle of the library - very clever and a nice touch.

There was a small art gallery downstairs which I poked around a bit, but it looked closed so I didn't want to pry. I looks as if they hold small public meetings, readings, meet the author type deals in there. A stately grandfather stood across from the counter. They also have a bust of Mark Twain, but unfortunately it is at the town clerk's office for the time being - Sad panda.

The staff there was very cordial to talk to as I found out. There were some boxes of books at the door so quite naturally I poked in and took a look. I had seen some signs on the Green advertising a book sale. I thought that those were for sale. But alas, they were not ready to be sold as was explained to me. They were taking book donations there for the major 'on the town Green' book fair that they do every year. Hmmm... interesting. It is the weekend after labor day. So mark that on your calendars. She saved my book to be priced when they were ready. She also ran off to find a flier for me after my request.

What to choose? What to choose?

It is easy to get to being right on Rt. 75 which is picked up easily enough in Agawam. I had a great little visit there. I look forward to going back later next week to get my book.

(Disambiguation note - There is another Kent Memorial Library in Kent, CT)

Here are some great links about the article:

History of Suffield

The Kent Memorial Library