Weekly Spotlight on
Special Collections

Featuring selections from Special Collections, a new book, photograph, or other artifact will be added each week to this exhibition throughout the fall 2006 semester. Contact Dale Stieber, Special Collections Librarian, ext 2852, or visit in the Special Collections Dept, 3^rd Floor New Wing, for more information about featured items or collections.

WEEK ONE- History of Railroads
WEEK TWO- Upton Sinclair
WEEK THREE- History of Coca
WEEK FOUR- Ezra Pound
WEEK FIVE- Ten Bamboo Hall
WEEK SIX- Christopher Isherwood
WEEK SEVEN- Thrift Store
WEEK EIGHT- World War II 
WEEK NINE- Peru Expedition
WEEK TEN- Los Angeles 
WEEK ELEVEN- William Jennings Bryan
WEEK TWELVE- Yosemite
WEEK THIRTEEN-Stereoscopic Photographs

Order and selections subject to change!

WEEK ONE-History of Railroads
Nicholas Wood's 1854 Traite Pratique des Chemis de Fer (Practical Treatise of the Railroads) exemplifies the rare books in the Railroadiana Collection. One of a two volume edition, the volume displayed is devoted to illustrations, containing technical drawings of engines, rails, and various devices. Also on display are a scrapbook on the Southern Pacific Railroad Co. and a handbook and notice for the Kansas Pacific Railway. The John Lloyd-Butler Railroadiana Collection is made up of over 1000 books, 37 boxes of reports, periodicals, realia and artifacts.

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WEEK TWO-Upton Sinclair: The Jungle
This handsomely bound book is a first edition of writer and social activist Upton Sinclair’s revolutionary novel, The Jungle.  Upon its publication in 1906, the book sparked a movement to reform the meat packing industry, though not the socialist revolt that Sinclair intended. The Upton Sinclair Collection includes books by and about Sinclair, the author’s correspondence, reviews and foreign translations. A caricature of Sinclair drawn by former Occidental College President Remsen Bird in 1930 is also featured. 

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WEEK THREE-William Golden Mortimer: Peru. History of Coca, the "Divine Plant" of the Incas
A medical practitioner from New York, Mortimer wrote this large volume on the History of Coca.  It is much more than that, however, encompassing the history of Peru and its people, and a more scientific treatment of cocaine.  It contains nearly 200 illustrations of the place, the people, and the plant.  The book is part of the Robert Glass Cleland Collection on Latin America, which contains 1,200 scholarly and reference books from the early 19th to mid-20th century, including books in Spanish, French, and German on the region. Cleland was associated with Occidental College his whole life, as a student, professor, dean, and vice president.

WEEK FOUR-Ezra Pound: Ripostes
This is one of Pound’s earliest volumes of poetry, published in 1915 by Elkin Matthews.  It is a first edition, and this issue is the only to feature the cover print by Dorothy Pound.  The print is done in the Vorticist style, made popular by Pound’s associate Wyndham Lewis.  The book also contains the work of poet T.E. Hulme (said to be the first imagist poet) in an appendix.

WEEK FIVE-Jan Tschichold: Chinese poetry paper by the Master of the Ten Bamboo Hall
This book contains examples of the work of Chinese master printer Cheng-yen Hu.  The artist made prints of watercolors that he and his friends painted and became extremely well known for it.  He pioneered several printing techniques in his Ten Bamboo Studio.  The book includes commentary by notable art scholar and typographer Jan Tschichold and is bound in the Chinese style.

WEEK SIX-Gloria Stuart: Christopher Isherwood's Commonplace Book
Christopher Ishwerwood was one of the central cultural figures of Los Angeles in the 1940’s, and author of the stories that later became Cabaret.  This fine book contains some of his favorite quotations, along with a portrait by his partner Don Bachardy.  It was made by Imprenta Glorias, the fine press owned and operated by actress and artist Gloria Stuart, one of the many small presses represented in Special Collections.  The book was published in 1993, in an edition of 20.

WEEK SEVEN-Emily Larned: Thrift Store: The Past and Future Secret Lives of Things
One of 150 items in the Artist Books Collection, this  is the work of Emily Larned, vice president of the Booklyn Artist’s Collective, and first class observer and epistemologist.  It features photographs of New York and Connecticut thrift stores and short writings probing deep in to the metaphysics of these places and the objects they contain.  This is 38 in an edition of 50, bound with aluminum screw posts.

WEEK EIGHT-WWII News Maps: Poster on the Japanese Ground Forces
Representative of Occidental’s substantial holdings of WWII posters, public information documents  and propaganda this Department of War News Map is a profile on Japanese ground forces and features the image of a soldier with a netted helmet to ward off mosquitoes.  The other side of the poster includes a large map and several articles. The news map is 3' x 4' in size...it is on display in the Special Collections Reading Room, 3rd Floor!

WEEK NINE-Osgood Hardy: Journal from Peru Expedition
Former Occidental Professor Osgood Hardy was part of the Yale expedition to excavate Machu Picchu in Peru.  Hardy’s main interest seems to have been Contemporary Peru, such as it was in 1912.  He donated his papers from this trip, as well as other correspondence and work, to Occidental.  This particular journal entry describes a run-in with the locals.  Also featured here is an article Hardy wrote for American Anthropologist with several photographs.

WEEK TEN-Los Angeles City Directory: 1888
This is a directory of Los Angeles from 1888, the first item in the collection of city directories.  This was the second issue and includes a directory of Pasadena.  A unique piece of Los Angeles history and an excellent primary resource, it includes advertisements, private listings, and street guides for use in finding individuals, businesses, or just learning the history of our city.

WEEK ELEVEN-William Jennings Bryan: Letter of Resignation
William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925), famous lawyer and statesman, was appointed Secretary of State by Woodrow Wilson in 1913.  However, the two often strongly disagreed on American intervention in the European war, leading Bryan to write and send his letter of resignation on June 9, 1915. A facsimile of the letter as well as that of a portrait of Wilson’s cabinet are displayed. The actual letter and full size portrait can be seen in Special Collections by request. The Bryan Collection of approximately twenty-four boxes includes letters and papers of Bryan and his wife Mary, as well as documents related to Nebraska history and presidential campaigns.

WEEK TWELVE-Albertype Co.: Yosemite National Park
The Max and Virginia Hayward Californiana collection features books, photos, brochures and more from the early days of California.  Many of the items pertain to travel and tourism.  Featured here is a book containing striking photographs of Yosemite from the early 20^th century.  Also shown is an issue of Land of Sunshine magazine, a journal of the West.

WEEK THIRTEEN-Klamm Collection: Stereoscopic Photographs
Klamm Collection is home to many stereoscopic photographs from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  The many thousands of photographs include images from all over the world and feature landscapes, people, and scenes from historically important events.  Of particular note are photographs of California, Egypt, cemeteries, the Civil War, and the San Francisco earthquake.

This exhibition was conceived by Chris Bullock, Summer 2006 Mellon Grant Intern, a program made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Recruitment to the Library Grant.

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