Rare Book Room allows student interaction with charming collection
EvaClaire Albion Wright
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Arts
Hidden deep within Neilson Library is a Smith gem: the Mortimer Rare Book Room. Stored within this beautiful wood-paneled reading room are author collections from greats such as William Faulkner, Virginia Woolf and Charles Dickens. It also contains rare objects like English political pamphlets from the reign of Queen Anne and a plethora of manuscripts - and these are only a few of the prizes awaiting curious students.
Fortunately, the rare book collection is not only for scholars, and the school invites students to interact with the texts. Very few undergraduate institutions give this type of opportunity.
In fact, the New York Times recognized Smith as one of the few institutions that do allow this level of interaction.
Institutions like Smith are changing the way we see rare books and who they belong to.
"This represents a new way of thinking: Rare books should be a hands-on experience," Robert Mummert wrote in the Times. In addition to offering students these hands-on experiences, the Rare Book Room organizes exhibits to highlight parts of its collection.
"Unconquered by Flames: The Literary Lights of Yaddo," for example, has been on display on the first and third floors of Neilson since August. The exhibit is one of over 15 nationwide this year to showcase Yaddo, a prestigious writers' retreat in upstate New York. The exhibit was held first at the New York Public Library, where the Yaddo archives live.
Yaddo started as a home where space was provided for artists to practice their creativity and became an official retreat in 1926.
Today, Yaddo is still functions as an artist colony where artists usually stay for two months at a time. It houses artists from various artistic fields, such as writing, visual art, performance and media art, music and film.
The exhibit includes works by famous poets such as Lola Ridge, Constance Carrier '29, Sylvia Plath '55 and Ted Hughes. The exhibit documents the work they composed during their stays at Yaddo, including their diary entries and letters.
Two particularly special displays include six drafts of Sylvia Plath's famous poem "Lady Lazarus" and correspondence between Newton Alvin - a former Smith professor - and writer Truman Capote.
The bulk of the exhibit is devoted to the work of Plath and her husband Hughes. Plath's dairies, manuscripts and published work are all shown. Also on display are photographs of Plath and Hughes, who separated in the early 1960s, just before Plath's untimely death.
Unfortunately, the exhibit will be taken down this week, but all of the papers on display are permanently housed as Smith. So if you can't catch a last glimpse of it, then make the trip to the Mortimer Rare Book Room to discover the other literary treasures that Smith possesses.
The Mortimer Rare Book Room is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and again from 1 to 5 p.m.
Fortunately, the rare book collection is not only for scholars, and the school invites students to interact with the texts. Very few undergraduate institutions give this type of opportunity.
In fact, the New York Times recognized Smith as one of the few institutions that do allow this level of interaction.
Institutions like Smith are changing the way we see rare books and who they belong to.
"This represents a new way of thinking: Rare books should be a hands-on experience," Robert Mummert wrote in the Times. In addition to offering students these hands-on experiences, the Rare Book Room organizes exhibits to highlight parts of its collection.
"Unconquered by Flames: The Literary Lights of Yaddo," for example, has been on display on the first and third floors of Neilson since August. The exhibit is one of over 15 nationwide this year to showcase Yaddo, a prestigious writers' retreat in upstate New York. The exhibit was held first at the New York Public Library, where the Yaddo archives live.
Yaddo started as a home where space was provided for artists to practice their creativity and became an official retreat in 1926.
Today, Yaddo is still functions as an artist colony where artists usually stay for two months at a time. It houses artists from various artistic fields, such as writing, visual art, performance and media art, music and film.
The exhibit includes works by famous poets such as Lola Ridge, Constance Carrier '29, Sylvia Plath '55 and Ted Hughes. The exhibit documents the work they composed during their stays at Yaddo, including their diary entries and letters.
Two particularly special displays include six drafts of Sylvia Plath's famous poem "Lady Lazarus" and correspondence between Newton Alvin - a former Smith professor - and writer Truman Capote.
The bulk of the exhibit is devoted to the work of Plath and her husband Hughes. Plath's dairies, manuscripts and published work are all shown. Also on display are photographs of Plath and Hughes, who separated in the early 1960s, just before Plath's untimely death.
Unfortunately, the exhibit will be taken down this week, but all of the papers on display are permanently housed as Smith. So if you can't catch a last glimpse of it, then make the trip to the Mortimer Rare Book Room to discover the other literary treasures that Smith possesses.
The Mortimer Rare Book Room is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and again from 1 to 5 p.m.
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