David Gray’s Travel Journal

Gray’s Travel Diary, 1866-1868

A recent acquisition in the Grosvenor Rare Book Room is the manuscript travel diary of David Gray (1836-1888), an editor of the Buffalo Courier and friend of Mark Twain.  Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in November 1836, Gray’s family would emigrate to the United States thirteen years later and settle on a farm in Wisconsin.  Gray would move to Buffalo in 1856 when offered a job by his uncle William to serve as secretary and librarian to the Young Men’s Christian Union, and by 1859 would become associate editor of the Courier, the rival of Twain’s newspaper, the Buffalo Express.  In 1865, Gray was offered a temporary position as guardian and tutor of the 19-year-old son of William G. Fargo, President of the American Express Company in Buffalo.  As part of his duties, Gray would accompany the lad on a trip around the world, beginning with Liverpool in June of 1865. As a journalist he would publish 58 of his travel letters in the Courier until April of 1868, but he was also a noted poet.

Page from Gray's Travel Diary

This unassuming little book contains two years of Gray’s descriptions and observations while traveling abroad, and most would be published in a two-volume posthumous collection in 1888 that would include his poems and prose writings.  While in need of some tender loving care and conservation, this journal has found an appreciative home among the other local and international treasures of the Rare Book Room.

George Alfred Townsend, Mark Twain and David Gray, 1871

 

Footnote:  Gray’s journal has been returned from our bookbinder, and after carefully subtle repair is ready for cataloging.

After Conservation

 

Rip Van Winkle Collection

 

Title Page

Since the short story “Rip Van Winkle” was first published by Washington Irving in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., 1819, numerous adaptations have appeared.  Among the first American authors to achieve international acclaim, Irving would argue for stronger copyright laws as his early works were often pirated for European consumption. 

Fine Bindings

The late author and librarian, Edward F. Ellis, would leave several book collections to the BECPL in his will, products of over forty years of book collecting. Perhaps the most unique collection of items are the books and other materials inspired by “Rip Van Winkle.”  Included among the many editions are fine bindings, such as the Roycroft printing of 1905, as well as editions by important illustrators such as N. C. Wyeth, Arthur Rackham and Barry Moser. 

Classics Illustrated

Prints and figurines are also part of the collection, including a 1954 Royal Doulton mug.

Rip Van Winkle Figurines

Farewell, Peggy and Best of Luck!

The Grosvenor Room of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library is sad to announce the retirement of the first Deputy Administrator of Special Collections, Peggy Skotnicki.   After 26 years of public service, with many years spent as reference and children’s librarian, Peggy spent her final years promoting and advocating for the improvement of policies and procedures in the Special Collections department.  She will be greatly missed.

Antiphonaries

Antiphonarium de tempore et de sanctis choir, 1653

The antiphonary is a liturgical book of sacred vocal music used by the Catholic Church that generally consists of the antiphons, or responsory chants, sung by the cantor, congregation, and choirs of the Divine Mass.  The first of these collections of plainsong melodies can be attributed to Gregory the Great (590-604), and would often contain decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations on parchment or vellum to accompany the music and text. 

Title page

The Antiphonarium de tempore et de sanctis choir, 1653, is one of several illuminated antiphonaries in the Rare Book Room’s Manuscripts and Music collections.  Gregorian chant notes can be found in black, with musical staves in red.  

Interior pages

Atlas for the Blind, 1837

Map of New York

 

In 1837, the New England Institution for the Education of the Blind, now the Perkins School, published its Atlas of the United States: printed for the use of the blind.  The first institute of its kind in the U.S., Perkins was soon publishing books under the leadership of its director, Samuel Gridley Howe, using a method of embossing text and lines on the page.  Louis Braille’s method, an improvement upon the technique known as sonography, was first seen in a published work in 1829 but would not become widely used until after his death in 1852.  British author Charles Dickens would be impressed enough to have the Perkins printing department publish an edition of his book, The Old Curiosity Shop, and, after visiting the institution, he would write about it in another work, American Notes.  It would be this book that gave hope to Kate Adams Keller that her blind and deaf daughter could be educated, and by 1887 Perkins would send graduate Anne Sullivan to begin the process of teaching the young Helen Keller.

 

Detail of Lake Erie

 The B&ECPL’s copy of the Atlas resides in the Rare Book Room after an unknown amount of years spent at the Lancaster Public Library.  Shown are images of the maps depicting New York State and Lake Erie.

 

Schwanekamp and Lankes visit Burchfield-Penney

 

Keep Alley, 1925

Among the original works of art held in the Rare Book Room of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library are items by local artists William J. Schwanekamp (1893-1970) and J. J. Lankes (1884-1960).  Their masterful prints are held in institutions around the globe and they maintain stellar reputations in the art world today.

New Hampshire title page

The Rare Book Room recently loaned out several items from its collection, including copies of the Robert Frost book, New Hampshire, illustrated by Lankes, and prints from the ‘Buffalo Alley’ series of etchings by Schwanekamp, to the Burchfield-Penney Art Center on the Buffalo State campus.  The informative and well-designed exhibit runs through October 2nd, and is a must-see for fans of local art and culture.

Frost's New Hampshire on display

Schwanekamp prints on display

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

More information about the exhibit can be found at the Burchfield-Penney web site at: http://www.burchfieldpenney.org/?select=exhibitions&data=exhibitions

Lafayette Square: Then and Now Exhibit is Open for Viewing!

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Lafayette Square: Then and Now is the Rare Book Room’s latest exhibit and it is open now through January 2012. The Square was part of the original 1804 design by Joseph Ellicott for Buffalo, then known as the Village of New Amsterdam. Come see and learn about the town square once known as Court House Park that Lafayette Square was and the urban park that it has become. Read about the buildings surrounding the Square and what was there before–each building has its own story to tell.

Catlin’s Images of Buffalo

Buffalo from the Lighthouse, 1825

 George Catlin (1796-1872) is best known for his nineteenth-century portraits of Native Americans, but his early work includes engravings of natural sites along the Erie Canal in New York State.  Cadwallader Colden’s 1825 book, Memoir, prepared at the request of a committee of the Common council of the city of New York : and presented to the mayor of the city, at the celebration of the completion of the New York canals, contains several early images of Buffalo reproduced by the process of lithography, a method for printing using stones or metal plates invented in 1796 by Bavarian author, Alois Senefelder.

Buffalo Harbor from the Village, 1825

The first lithograph to appear in the United States was in the July, 1819 issue of The Analectic Magazine, vol.XIV, no.2.  The print, known as “Mill on a stream,” was created by American Bass Otis (1784-1861) and accompanies a brief article on the lithographic process.  While simple, this image represents a milestone in American art technique and printing.

 

"Mill on a Stream" 1819

Civil War Maps Move to RBR

Map showing the operations of the national forces under the Command of Maj. Gen. W.T. Sherman during the campaign resulting in the capture of Atlanta, Georgia, Sept. 1, 1864

Civil War maps presented to the Young Men’s Association by Major General William Farquhar Barry were recently re-discovered in our stacks and transferred to the Rare Book Room. Thanks to the diligence of our map volunteer, Marie Hanrahan, these five uncataloged maps have been rescued from obscurity.

After serving bravely in several of the War’s campaigns, Barry would become chief of artillery for General William T. Sherman, and later, was chosen to command troops in the Northern frontier during the Fenian raids.

Born in 1818, Barry was married to Katherine McKnight, a member of a prominent Buffalo family. Gen. Barry died on active duty at Fort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 18, 1879, of the ignoble intestinal disorder, “bilious dysentery.”  He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Audubon!

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 Audubon, John James.  The Birds of America: from original drawings by John James Audubon.  London, Published by the author, 1827-38.

On this day we celebrate John James Audubon and his marvelous achievement, The Birds of America. Of the many treasures that can be found in the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Rare Book Room, John James Audubon’s Birds of America is one which is difficult to overlook.  This famous 19^th century set of 4 double elephant folio volumes features magnificent hand colored plates of American birds.  What makes these volumes such a sight is the fact that each page measures two by three feet – how else could Aububon have drawn all of the birds life-sized?

Although the plates were originally issued in 87 parts, they were collected into 4 volumes, each one weighing approximately 50 pounds.  This set is one of about only 150 complete sets in existence.  Originally owned by Charles Howard Williams, it was presented to the Grosvenor Library by his daughter, Mrs. Frederick L. Pratt, in 1931.