Beyond the Reading Room

Anecdotes and other notes from the U-M Special Collections Research Center.
Detailed illustration from Audubon's Birds of North America of a nest in a tree with birds sitting around it.

Posts in Beyond the Reading Room

Showing 1 - 10 of 383 items
floral vegetal designs in bold layered colors arranged in geometric borders
  • Jamie Lausch Vander Broek
Join us this Thursday, September 18th, between 4-6p for our first Third Thursdays at the Library event of the semester!
A collection of historical models made by Anna Embre.
  • Pablo Alvarez
We are delighted to announce the upcoming opening of a new exhibit highlighting a selection of rare books from the University of Michigan's collections, each of which illustrates binding topics featured in "Suave Mechanicals," the acclaimed nine-volume series dedicated to the study of the art and history of bookbinding.
A greenish beverage garnished with mint, sits on a table next to a vase of flowers
  • Juli McLoone
Popular culture depictions of the “roaring twenties” often focus on speakeasies and illicit cocktail consumption. However, as prohibition (1920-1933) pushed alcoholic beverages into shadowy corners, soft drinks took center stage in cookbooks for home cooks and party hostesses. This month’s recipe comes from Add-a-Leaf Hostess Book (1926) by Betty Beldon, in collaboration with Ida Bailey Allen.
Title page of John Baskerville's Virgil (1757)
  • Martha O'Hara Conway
In this video, Dr. Cathleen A. Baker (U-M Conservation Librarian Emerita) takes us through her years-long research into the earliest Western-made wove paper, including papermaking experiments to replicate the paper that first appeared in John Baskerville’s Virgil, published in Birmingham, England, in 1757.
array of blocks of colored fabric with caption between in french
  • Jamie Lausch Vander Broek
Read a bit about curator Jamie Vander Broek's journey toward developing the exhibit Behind the Curve: Rainbows and the Science and Culture of Color, on view through 4 September in the Hatcher Gallery Exhibit Room!
Title page of Doctor Iohanns Reuchlins' Missiue (1505)
  • Gabriel Mordoch
Curated by Helmut Puff and Pablo Alvarez in 2017, the exhibit "Reforming the Word: Martin Luther in Context" prompted an intriguing discovery: the presence in our collection of twelve books that once belonged to the Jewish Community Library of Berlin. This blog post delves into the circumstances that brought these books to our library.
bucolic scene of a river with trees, shrubs and stately rows of houses at varying distances and caption "BATH WITH FERRY"
  • Juli McLoone
Join us next Thursday, 20 March, between 4-6p for our next "Third Thursdays at the Library" event of the semester!
Three books in a row: a pale brown 19th c. booklet; a 21st century booklet with a picture of the first book on its cover, and a newly-published black and white paperback.
  • Juli McLoone
In 1866, Malinda Russell published "A Domestic Cook Book" in Paw Paw, Michigan. As the oldest known cookbook by an African American woman, this slim volume is a landmark in American culinary history. Join us for a reception and panel discussion celebrating a new edition released by the University of Michigan Press. The reception will begin at 5:15pm, with the conversation to follow at 5:45pm.
bucolic scene of cattle among trees by the edge of a stream
  • Juli McLoone
Join us next Thursday, 20 February, between 4-6p for our next Third Thursdays at the Library event of the semester!
lines of handwritten latin script on parchment folio
  • Pablo Alvarez
Join us next Thursday, 16 January between 4-6p for our first Third Thursdays at the Library event of the semester!