Croquet anyone?
Posted on June 26, 2017 @2:03 pm by cshriver
At the end of May, UBC Library held its first annual croquet tournament for staff! As part of the contest, there was also a contest to recreate historical croquet images from the Tremaine Arkley Croquet Collection (inspired by these amazing photographs staged by our friends in Digital Initiatives a couple of years ago). As the custodian of the collection, RBSC was asked to put together a panel of “celebrity” faculty judges for the contest. We were delighted to have the artistic and period expertise of Dr. Kathie Shoemaker (Master of Arts in Children’s Literature Program), Dr. Sarika Bose (Department of English), and Dr. Laurie McNeill (Coordinated Arts Program) on the panel. Last week the winning photograph was announced, and the winners are: The Croquet All-Stars, a team made up of Sheldon Armstrong, Allan Bell, and Lea Starr, three of our assistant university librarians. You can see the original photo, as well as the recreation photo below. Congratulations to Sheldon, Allan, and Lea! Thanks for bringing our collections to life!
The Croquet All-Stars (left to right): Allan Bell, Sheldon Armstrong, and Lea Starr
One of more than 1400 digital images available in the Tremaine Arkley Croquet Collection
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Double Exposure: Missionary Photographs of Meiji-Taisho Japan
Posted on March 27, 2017 @10:26 am by cshriver
John Cooper Robinson was an Anglican missionary who lived and worked in Japan in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The Cooper Robinson collection consisting of over 4,600 photographic prints, negatives, glass lantern slides, and postcards is one of the most valuable photographic records of this era.
The exhibition, Double Exposure Japan-Canada: Missionary Photographs of Meiji-Taisho Japan, on display at Rare Books and Special Collections was curated by Professor Allen Hockley and Naoko Kato, Japanese Language Librarian. The exhibit highlights four major themes: Robinson and the Economies of Japanese Photography, Robinson and the M.S.C.C. Mission in Japan, Robinson and Japanese Religions, and Robinson’s Photographic Practices. This exhibit features original photographs as well as glass lantern slides and glass negatives that were used by Robinson.
In addition, the Asian Center at UBC features a selection from The Making of History and Artifacts (1888-1926): The Photographs of John Cooper Robinson from Meiji-Taisho Japan exhibit, curated by Robert Bean with an introduction by Bill Sewell.
Check out the John Cooper Robinson Collection Finding Aid to learn more about this extensive photo collection.
Double Exposure Japan-Canada is on display at UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections on the first floor of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre from March 13–May 31, 2017, and can be viewed Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 12-5 p.m. until April 8. The exhibition is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Naoko Kato at naoko.kato@ubc.ca.
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The ABCs of RBSC
Posted on March 8, 2017 @2:10 pm by cshriver
Rare Books and Special Collections at UBC Library is delighted to announce a new exhibition: From Apple Pies to Astronauts: A Chronology of Alphabet Books with Aphorisms, Amusements, and Anecdotes!
The exhibition, curated by UBC Master of Library and Information Studies candidates Sarah Bagshaw and Laura Quintana, under the supervision of Professor Kathie Shoemaker, offers a selection of English language alphabet books from the late 18th century to the present day. These books illustrate the changes in alphabetic education for young children in England, the United States, and Canada. The authors and illustrators who created these books were influenced by the political and social contexts of their worlds. As both printing and publishing changed and advanced, so too did the alphabet books being produced.
The exhibition, featuring materials from RBSC’s historical children’s literature collections, including the Arkley Collection of Early and Historical Children’s Literature and the B. Roslyn Robertson Collection of Children’s Literature, contains many familiar favourites still enjoyed by children today. As well, there are many that may be unknown treasures that are sure to delight.
From Apple Pies to Astronauts is on display at UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections on the first floor of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre from February 27 through April 30, 2017, and can be viewed Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 12-5 p.m. A complete catalogue of the exhibition can be downloaded here. The exhibition is free and open to the public, and people of all ages are encouraged to attend. For more information, please contact Rare Books and Special Collections at (604) 822-2521 or rare.books@ubc.ca.
We hope to see you there and that you will enjoy learning about alphabet books and those that created them!
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Jane Austen panel discussion
Posted on January 13, 2017 @11:21 am by cshriver
In coordination with our current exhibition Ever Austen: Literary Timelessness in the Regency Period, Rare Books and Special Collections is delighted to host a special Austen-themed panel discussion.
“A Season for Friendly Meetings”: Exploring Jane Austen’s Influences and Legacy
Thursday, March 2, 2017
1-3 p.m.
Lillooet Room (301), Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
We’re delighted to be joined by scholars from both UBC and SFU for this fascinating discussion on and celebration of Jane Austen, in honour of the 200th anniversary of her death.
Jane Austen’s Print Trouble
Michelle Levy
Professor and Graduate Program Chair, Department of English, SFU
Kandice Sharren
Ph.D. candidate, Department of English, SFU
Although today regarded as one of the world’s great novelists, Austen’s success in print did not come during her lifetime. She had trouble finding publishers for her work; several of her works sold poorly; she earned little from them; and received only one major review. Our talk will explore this surprising publishing and printing history, offering insight into the challenges Austen faced in the difficult print marketplace of early nineteenth-century Britain.
Gothic Influences
Scott MacKenzie
Associate Professor, Department of English, UBC
It is tempting to see, in Northanger Abbey, a rejection of the values and conventions that we associate with gothic fiction, but Austen’s investment in gothic fiction is considerably more complex than simply as something to poke fun at. The novels of Ann Radcliffe in particular are among the most important precursors to Austen’s literary triumphs.
Jane Austen as Popular Culture: Then and Now
Tiffany Potter
Senior Instructor, Associate Head (Curriculum & Planning), and First-Year English Coordinator, Department of English, UBC
Jane Austen’s novels are widely read as Important Literature in university curricula, but she was a non-elite, popular writer in her own day, and her place in popular culture has expanded wildly in recent decades. This talk will engage current theories of popular culture to consider Austen’s work in the Regency and in recent popular culture, including film and television versions and novel adaptations that re-tell her stories for new audiences.
The panel will be moderated by UBC’s Professor Emeritus of English Herbert Rosengarten.
The event is free and open to the public. We hope you can join us! For more information, please contact Rare Books and Special Collections at 604 822-2521 or rare.books@ubc.ca.
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Ever Austen
Posted on March 3, 2017 @11:26 am by cshriver
Rare Books and Special Collections at UBC Library is delighted to announce a new exhibition!
2017 marks the bicentennial of Jane Austen’s death, an author who has left an ever-lasting literary legacy that continually influences popular culture across time. In celebration of this legacy, RBSC presents Ever Austen: Literary Timelessness in the Regency Period, curated by UBC undergraduate students Kathryn Ney, Karen Ng, and Karol Pasciano. This exhibition not only honours Austen, but also illuminates the social and material history of her works in the context of the Regency era.
Featuring RBSC’s newly-acquired first editions of Austen’s Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, as well as thematically-diverse displays, Ever Austen invites Austen fans old and new to experience a literary journey through the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Rare Books and Special Collections is grateful to the Vancouver-based Society for the Museum of Original Costume (SMOC) and Mr. Ivan Sayers for the loan of beautiful Regency era clothing and accessories for this exhibition.
Ever Austen: Literary Timelessness in the Regency Period is on display on the second floor of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre from January 3 through February 28, 2017. The exhibition is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Rare Books and Special Collections at (604) 822-2521 or rare.books@ubc.ca.
In addition, two lovely period gowns, courtesy of Ivan Sayers and SMOC, can be viewed in the reading room of Rare Books and Special Collections, on the first floor of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.
A panel discussion on Jane Austen’s influences, work, and legacy will take place on Thursday, March 2. More information about the panel can be found here!
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Holiday hours
Posted on February 28, 2017 @2:24 pm by cshriver
Sequoia tree with Christmas lights in front of old Main Library. UBC 44.1/633-1
Happy holidays from the RBSC family to yours!
Just a reminder that Rare Books and Special Collections will be closed for the holidays from Monday, December 26 through Monday, January 2. We will reopen at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, January 3. More information about RBSC’s hours can be found on the UBC Library website.
We hope to see you in the New Year!
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Remembrance Day speaker series online
Posted on February 28, 2017 @2:24 pm by cshriver
A trench bridge (World War I 1914-1918 British Press photograph collection, BC_1763_0955)
If you weren’t able to join us for RBSC’s Remembrance Day speaker series, you’re in luck! Thanks to the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, the talks are now available to watch online:
Tragic Bravery: Canada and the Battle of Hong Kong
Cameron Cathcart, President of the Royal United Services Institute – Vancouver Society (RUSI) and director of Vancouver’s Remembrance Day ceremonies at Victory Square
When asked if he thought the British Colony of Hong Kong could be defended against an invasion by the Japanese in 1941, Winston Churchill replied, “not the slightest chance”. This prediction forms the background to the fatal decision by Ottawa 75 years ago to send Canadian troops into the maelstrom that became known as the Battle of Hong Kong. As the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Hong Kong approaches, Cameron Cathcart will provide an overview of the battle, its aftermath, and delve into the personal lives of the brave Canadians whose lives were changed forever. Watch the talk here:
http://ikblc.ubc.ca/cameron-cathcart-battle-of-hong-kong-during-wwii/
Canada’s Secret Sailors: Asian Crewmen and Canadian Vessels in the Indo-Pacific Theatre
Clifford J. Pereira, FRGS, Independent researcher, curator, and museum consultant
Based on research gathered over the last two years from national, provincial, and naval archives in Canada, Australia, and the U.K, Clifford J. Pereira will tell the forgotten story of hundreds of non-resident Asian seamen on vessels of the Canadian Pacific Railway deployed by the British Admiralty in the Pacific and Indian Oceans during the First World War. Watch the talk here:
http://ikblc.ubc.ca/clifford-pereira-canadian-secret-sailors/
Remembering the Great War with Canadian Writers and Artists
Sherrill Grace, OC, FRSC, Professor Emerita of English and University Killam Professor
While Canada has been surprisingly low key about commemorating the Great War since 2014, we do have a wealth of artistic material that does important work in reconstructing and remembering the war. Dr. Sherrill Grace will consider how Canada remembers the war, and why it is important to do so, focusing on works by Canadians writing about the war from a late-20th century perspective. Watch the talk here:
http://ikblc.ubc.ca/sherrill-grace-landscapes-of-war-and-memory/
We hope you enjoy these compelling, affecting, and beautifully researched talks as much as we did!
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Petrushka and Beyond
Posted on February 28, 2017 @2:10 pm by cshriver
Rare Books and Special Collections is delighted to host Petrushka and Beyond: An Exhibition of the H. Colin Slim Stravinsky Collection at UBC.
Petrushka and Beyond features a selection of items from UBC Library’s H. Colin Slim Stravinsky Collection including signed musical quotations, personal correspondence between Stravinsky and his acquaintances, a likeness of the composer, and a tracing of his right hand.
Dr. H Colin Slim is a renowned musicologist and Stravinsky scholar who holds a PhD in musicology from Harvard University. He first met Stravinsky while he was an undergraduate student at UBC and went on to become a knowledgeable and enthusiastic collector of Stravinsky’s letters, scores, and memorabilia. In 1999, Dr. Slim donated his fascinating and colourful collection to UBC Library. Every period of Stravinsky’s rich and varied life is represented in the collection, the largest of its kind in Canada.
This display is curated by Marina Gallagher, PhD student in musicology at UBC, in consultation with Dr. Slim.
As an added bonus for music enthusiasts, the reading room at RBSC also currently features a display of materials from the Gatti-Kraus Collection of Musica Sacra. The collection comprises 66 manuscripts of European sacred music scores; many early editions. These scores were originally part of a significantly larger collection of monographs, scores, and musical instruments assembled through the late 19th and early 20th centuries by father and son, Alexander (1820-1904) and Alessandro (1853-1931) Kraus. In 1978, UBC’s Music Library worked with the Baron Giulio and Baroness Mirella Gatti-Kraus, residents of Vancouver, to transfer a selection from the family’s music manuscript holdings to the university.
Petrushka and Beyond and the materials from the Gatti-Kraus Collection of Musica Sacra are on display at UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections on the first floor of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and can be viewed Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The exhibition is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Rare Books and Special Collections at (604) 822-2521 or rare.books@ubc.ca.
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Remembrance Day Speaker Series and Display
Posted on February 28, 2017 @2:15 pm by cshriver
Please join us for a series of talks in honour of Remembrance Day, sponsored by Rare Books and Special Collections at UBC Library.
A trench bridge (World War I 1914-1918 British Press photograph collection, BC_1763_0955)
Tragic Bravery: Canada and the Battle of Hong Kong
November 4, 2016
12:00-1:30 p.m.
Cameron Cathcart, President of the Royal United Services Institute – Vancouver Society (RUSI) and director of Vancouver’s Remembrance Day ceremonies at Victory Square
When asked if he thought the British Colony of Hong Kong could be defended against an invasion by the Japanese in 1941, Winston Churchill replied, “not the slightest chance”. This prediction forms the background to the fatal decision by Ottawa 75 years ago to send Canadian troops into the maelstrom that became known as the Battle of Hong Kong. As the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Hong Kong approaches, Cameron Cathcart will provide an overview of the battle, its aftermath, and delve into the personal lives of the brave Canadians whose lives were changed forever.
Canada’s Secret Sailors: Asian Crewmen and Canadian Vessels in the Indo-Pacific Theatre
November 8, 2016
12:00-1:30 p.m.
Clifford J. Pereira, FRGS, Independent researcher, curator, and museum consultant
Based on research gathered over the last two years from national, provincial, and naval archives in Canada, Australia, and the U.K, Clifford J. Pereira will tell the forgotten story of hundreds of non-resident Asian seamen on vessels of the Canadian Pacific Railway deployed by the British Admiralty in the Pacific and Indian Oceans during the First World War.
Remembering the Great War with Canadian Writers and Artists
November 10, 2016
12:00-1:30 p.m.
Sherrill Grace, OC, FRSC, Professor Emerita of English and University Killam Professor
While Canada has been surprisingly low key about commemorating the Great War since 2014, we do have a wealth of artistic material that does important work in reconstructing and remembering the war. Dr. Sherrill Grace will consider how Canada remembers the war, and why it is important to do so, focusing on works by Canadians writing about the war from a late-20th century perspective.
Sailors and Chinese labourers aboard the C.P. R.M.S. Empress of India (Chung Collection, CC_PH_02426)
All three talks are located in the Lillooet Room (301) of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre on the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus. The talks are free and open to the public.
In conjunction with the talks, a special display, Empires and Empresses at War, will be featured in RBSC’s Chung Collection exhibition room from November 4-November 30, 2016. The display, curated by Clifford J. Pereira, with curatorial assistance from Katie Sloan, showcases the importance of Canadian shipping vessels and the role of Asians and Asian-Canadians serving on Canadian vessels during World War I.
For more information, please contact Rare Books and Special Collections at 604 822-2521 or rare.books@ubc.ca.
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Sui Sin Far and Onoto Watanna
Posted on September 14, 2016 @1:13 pm by cshriver
Edith Eaton
Rare Books and Special Collections is delighted to host a new exhibition: Sui Sin Far and Onoto Watanna: Writing Hybridity on the Cusp of the 20th Century.
Curated by Jennifer Tang, an undergraduate research assistant at UBC; Dr. Mary Chapman, Professor of English at UBC; and Brandy Liên Worrall-Soriano, an author and editor with an MFA from UBC, the exhibition explores the fascinating story of sisters Edith Eaton and Winnifred Eaton.
Chinese-North American authors Edith Eaton (1865-1914) and Winnifred Eaton (1875-1954) were members of a large Chinese Canadian family who settled in Montreal in 1872. Their mother, Achuen Amoy (1843-1921), had been a Chinese slave girl who toured the world with a Chinese acrobatic troupe. Their father, Edward Eaton (1839-1915), was an Englishman from a Cheshire silk manufacturing town but had worked in Asia.
Born during an era of discrimination toward Chinese immigrants in North America and of even greater discrimination toward mixed-race individuals, the sisters devoted much of their writing careers to exploring the little-understood position of the mixed-race (“hapa”) individual.
Winnifred Eaton
Edith published most of her work under the pseudonym “Sui Sin Far,” which is the Cantonese name for a narcissus flower often presented as a gift at Christmas or Chinese New Year. As “Sui Sin Far,” Edith wrote fiction and journalism about the diasporic Chinese community.
Winnifred, by contrast, assumed the pseudo-Japanese name “Onoto Watanna” and wrote novels set in Japan, a land she had never visited. She posed in kimonos for photographers and made frequent public comments about Japanese traditions and politics. Her appropriation of Japanese culture has led some scholars to characterize Winnifred as the “bad” Eaton sister and Edith as the “good” Eaton sister. But is the story that simple?
Sui Sin Far and Onoto Watanna: Writing Hybridity on the Cusp of the 20th Century is on display at UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections on the first floor of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre through October 15, 2016, and can be viewed Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Saturday, October 15, from 12-5 p.m. The exhibition is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Rare Books and Special Collections at (604) 822-2521 or rare.books@ubc.ca.
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