Library Blogs

We have recently purchased an extremely rare illustrated history of Spain. It consists of just twenty-four oblong leaves (152 x 262 mm), each of them containing six illustrations with their respective descriptive narratives below. Each of these pairs highlights important events in Spanish history from Antiquity until the reign of Philip V (1700-1746). There is no letterpress involved in the making of this book. The rectos of the pages have been entirely designed and printed by using the process of copperplate engraving.

The open source software Hydra is, by its name and nature, modular and complex. Using this technology gives the University of Michigan the opportunity to participate in the development of an increasingly-adopted suite of tools with the flexibility to accommodate a host of needs and engage in the spirit and philosophy of open source software development. With open source, we must concern ourselves not just with our own institution’s needs and priorities, but those of a broader community.

Signora da Vinci is an imaginative retelling, more fantasy than historical fiction, of the life of Leonardo da Vinci's mother, Caterina. In Robin Maxwell's novel, Caterina is the daughter of an alchemist/apothecary in a small town near Florence. After a brief romance with Piero da Vinci, a young man from a much wealthier family, she gives birth to Leonardo, who is taken away by his father's family the day after his birth. In order to be near her son, Caterina disguises herself as a man and goes to Florence, where she has many adventures and takes delight in her brilliant son's art and inventions.

"Estévez’s handmade book arts are not only storied in out Special Collections and displayed in his newest exhibit, but have been passed down to eager students. Continuing in that tradition, which he helped begin, Estévez led a workshop for Michigan students on the art of bookmaking."
Read more of this guest blog post by students in Prof. Ruth Behar's course, "Cuba and Its Diaspora." Professor Behar is Victor Haim Parera Collegiate Professor of Anthropology.

In Roman Blood, the first of a mystery series by Steven Saylor, Gordianus the Finder, an ancient Roman detective, helps Cicero defend a man accused of killing his father. But he finds evidence that might lead to trouble with a cruel dictator. The series is rich with details of the daily life, the political intrigues, and the legal system of Rome.

"Reading about Ediciones Vigía and Rolando Estévez was amazing, but actually getting to touch and hold and interact with the books added a whole new element of emotion and experience." Read more of this guest blog post by students in Prof. Ruth Behar's course, "Cuba and Its Diaspora." Professor Behar is Victor Haim Parera Collegiate Professor of Anthropology.

We recently acquired access to several game add-ons of note, and thought we'd share them here in case you'd like to check them out in the CVGA. Which ones do you recognize/remember playing when they first came out? We'd love to hear in the comments.

On display at the AADL Downtown Library in the Lower Level Display cases from December 2, 2015-January 15, 2016, this exhibit invites visitors to explore a wealth of illustrated animal rhymes from the Special Collections Library. Join members of the Ann Arbor Storytellers Guild from 1-2pm on Saturday, December 5, 2015 in the AADL Multipurpose Room for animal stories for the Pre-K and early elementary crowd.

November was definitely dominated by FIFA players. Though we got several new games (including Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, Mad Max, The Phantom Pain, Forza 6, etc.), the classics won our top 10 list for this month, including Guitar Hero, Smash and Call of Duty.
To find out what other new games have been added to our collection, check out the new games feed on our website here.