May 24, 2019 is the bicentennial of the birth of Alexandrina Victoria, who became Queen of Great Britain and Ireland in 1837. For 63 years, she ruled an empire that grew to span a quarter of the globe and include some 450 million people. Her reign coincided with a period of extraordinary social and technological change that affected every aspect of daily life. When Victoria acceded to the throne, most British people lived in the countryside and cooked their meals over open fireplaces. Few would ever travel more than ten miles from their birthplace.

 Lewis Neisner and Ruth Missal were both local Rochester figures who shared a passion for all things Sherlock Holmes. Recently, I had the opportunity to explore some of the ephemera and literature that they had each donated to Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation (RBSCP).

ecember first marks the thirtieth anniversary of the first World AIDS Day, which was held on December 1, 1988. The earliest recognized global health day, World AIDS day continues to serve as a day to raise awareness of the issues that surround the AIDS epidemic and to commemorate those affected by it.

“That’s surprising!”

Pardon the cliché, but you never know what will come up each day in RBSCP, and personally, I enjoy when researchers share stories with me in the reading room. It is one of the most satisfying parts of my position as Public Services Senior Library Assistant in RBSCP.

Outreach Librarians Kristen Totleben and Alan Unsworth with Phillip Koyoumjian, instructor for HIS198: Science, Sex and Society in Victorian Britain, approached Liz Call, Outreach Librarian for Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation (RBSCP) about having students engage with rare books to compliment what they were learning in the classroom. The students "speed-dated" with a selection of mostly Victorian-era books that deal with love in some way and selected one that appealed to them. They then were tasked with carefully analyzing their book and writing a brief blog post.

Joan Bondurant hailed from Great Bend, Kansas, studied the musical arts in college, and became an international spy all before turning 30 years old. For Women’s History Month, we are profiling this compelling historical figure and the unique trajectory of her life. From a young age, her curiosity for knowledge led her to queries relating to fields as rich and varied as anatomy, astronomy, and music.

Currier & Ives was an internationally known New York printmaking company that operated between 1857 and 1907. They were prolific printers of political lithographs that were mass-produced for the public. They tried to remain nonpartisan, producing satirical political cartoons critical of all of those in politics, government, and journalism.

Irreverent? I sure am. No, I can’t be reverent to tradition when tradition represents those things that I am totally opposed to”

Margaret “Midge” Costanza was an outspoken feminist, activist, trailblazer, and native Rochesterian. Over the past few months, I have been processing the collection of her papers donated to us by her biographer Doreen Mattingly. The collection contains material spanning much of Costanza’s life, from her early political involvement in Rochester to her time in the White House and her work in California. 

      THE WORLD IS MY COUNTRY- TO DO GOOD IS MY RELIGION  - Isabella Beecher Hooker

Over the last few decades, the study of material culture has blossomed as a means to explore not only the evolution of specific technologies and their usage but also the histories of women, minorities, tradespeople, and others. Nineteenth century publishers’ bindings can be key to these studies: they are vital to researching the history of the book, the rise of literacy, the impact of technological change, the development of the decorative arts, and more. By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, publishers’ bindings had become (as they remain) marketing tools.