Last Thursday, July 19th, the Rare Book & Manuscript Library and the University Library participated in the first ever Illini Fest in Chicago. The gathering lasted 3 hours and was a celebration of the University and its alumni. The event was a huge success: hundreds of people stopped by to participate and learn, and enjoy […]
Non Solus Blog
RBML Rocks at the Illini Fest in Chicago
July 30, 2019
From “The First Men in the Moon” to the first man on the Moon
July 19, 2019
A major lunar landmark in its own right, The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells was first published in 1901. This fictional lunar voyage tells the story of Bedford, an Englishman who moved to the countryside for some peace and quiet while he writes a play, in an attempt to make it rich. […]
Reading the Rainbow: A Pop-Up Exhibit Celebrating LGBTQ Pride Month
June 21, 2019
2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a series of uprisings at Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. Now considered the first major event of the LGBT equality movement in the United States, the clash between law enforcement and members of the LGBT community at Stonewall sparked outspoken queer activism across […]
Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tales from Around the World
May 16, 2019
Fairy tales are short, fantastical stories of folklore that were told orally for hundreds of years before being recorded. As works of folklore, fairy tales do not usually have a single author but rather are attributed to the groups of people from which the stories are believed to originate. A fairy tale typically begins with […]
Punny Pick-me-ups: Humor as a Social Medicine Prescribed by Professional Punsters
April 19, 2019
by Kellie Clinton April Fool’s Day seems like it happened years ago, but we are carrying on the humor with our current pop-up exhibit, “Punny Pick-me-ups: Humor as a Social Medicine Prescribed by Professional Punsters,” curated by GA Kellie Clinton. On display are a series of joke books, also referred to as wits, witticisms, jests, […]
Wynkyn de Worde’s “The boke of Chaucer named Caunterbury tales”
April 5, 2019
written by Katie Funderburg Although less momentous than William Caxton’s first edition and certainly less ornate than the later Kelmscott Chaucer, Wynkyn de Worde’s The boke of Chaucer named Caunterbury tales (Incunabula Q. 821 C39c 1498) provides valuable insight into early English print history. As one of the most prolific English printers at the turn […]
Rosa Lee Ingram and Black Feminist Organizing
March 28, 2019
In November of 1947, a death in Ellaville, Georgia, led to a court case that caused national outrage and protests for the rights of black women in the Jim Crow South. At the center of the court case was Rosa Lee Ingram, a black sharecropper who, along with her three oldest sons, was accused of […]
German Myths & Fairy Tales
March 20, 2019
Written by Taylor Fisk Henning Myths and fairy tales are two different types of stories that share a tradition of being passed down orally through many generations. Because of this oral tradition and the diffusion of tales throughout time, there are countless variants of the same stories in many different lands and cultures. In most […]
A Woman’s Place in Anarchy: Lucy E. Parsons and the Haymarket Riots
February 28, 2019
Currently on display in our pop-up exhibit cases are items relating to the life of Lucy E. Parsons, an anarchist and activist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Lucy Parsons, born in approximately 1853, was the child of enslaved parents. She grew up in Texas and while working she met and married Confederate […]
Making Mr. Darcy: Cultural Context for the Regency Gentleman
February 21, 2019
Curated by Lynne M. Thomas Feb 21 – May 24, 2019 On display in the Ellen and Nirmal Chatterjee Exhibition Gallery Join us in The Rare Book & Manuscript Library for our spring exhibition, “Making Mr. Darcy: Cultural Context for the Regency Gentleman,” curated by Lynne M. Thomas, Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Rare Book […]