Almanacchi Italiani

Almanacchi Italiani A  pop-up exhibit at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library Spring 2018 Curated by Gabriella Stuardi & Chloe Ottenhoff Just in time for the spring planting season, this exhibition presents some of the most curious and unique Italian almanacs held in the Cavagna Sangiuliani Collection, acquired by the University of Illinois in 1921. […]

Color Onstage

The colors that costumers and set designers use can really influence the way that an audience perceives something they see on stage. Color can make a certain character the center of attention, suggest a particular mood for the scene, or signify change of some kind or another. The swatches above show the color schemes Motley […]

A Birthday Card for Albert Camus

Albert Camus, the French novelist, playwright, journalist, philosopher and Nobel Prize winner was born on this day, November 7, one hundred years ago. This is a good occasion to highlight a small manuscript fragment from Camus’s 1951 essay L’Homme révolté (Paris: Gallimard, translated in English as The Rebel) which was recently re-discovered on the shelves […]

Histoire des Ballons from the Library of Amelia Earhart (Q. 629.13322 T52h)

 This two-volume set detailing the history of ballooning in Europe from 1783-1890 was written by balloonist Gaston Tissandier. Tissandier was a prolific author of books on balloons and patented the method of application of the electric motor in balloon flight. His work followed that of Henri Giffard who invented the first engine-powered airship. Although Tissandier […]