Dec 20, 2024 2024 – ONE FOR THE BOOKS!

2024 was one for the books, as they say…

As the year comes to a close, the Rare Books Department has been reflecting on all the wonderful opportunities and experiences the last twelve months have brought. In addition to the time spent with students, faculty, and community researchers, we have been fortunate to collaborate with many amazing colleagues within Special Collections, the Marriott Library, and across the country. We move into the New Year grateful for the community of bibliophiles that have supported us along the way. Books are important to our understanding of history, and to ensure that our history reflects all kinds of voices, we will continue to tell their stories and emphasize how important it is to hold history in your hands.

The Marriott Library will be closed for the holiday break from December 21-January 1.

Before we go, we wanted to tell you about some of our favorite rare books of 2024…

The Emigrants’ Guide to Oregon and California…
Lansford Warren Hastings (1819-1870)
Cincinnati, OH: George Conclin, Stereotyped by Shepard and Co., 1845
F864 H345

From Lyuba Basin, Rare Books Librarian: “Working with the rare books collection means immersing myself in a long and expansive history that includes both tales of triumph and tribulation. There are more than 80,000 titles on the shelves in the rare books vault, and the best part of my job is I get to tell their stories. Not just the stories inside the pages, but the stories of how these books came to be and how they influenced the world, for better or for worse. In August, I got to tell the story of Lansford Warren Hastings’ Emigrants Guide to Oregon and California — a book whose reputation is often overshadowed by the tragic story of the Donner Party.

I have been living among the ghosts of the Donner Party for some time now. Less than three miles from my home in Emigration Canyon is a two-hundred-foot-high ridge called Donner Hill, named after the group who descended the canyon in the summer of 1846. From my house to the Marriott Library is a six-mile journey — one that I sometimes take by bike. The top of Donner Hill has been leveled to make room for condominiums, while the limestone outcrop at the mouth of the canyon is gone, with only faint remnants of its existence. A monument to the Donner-Reed Party can be found near Emigration Creek, where willow and scrub oak still edge along the path. With a little imagination, I can easily envision what the canyon would have looked like in 1846.”

Deseret First and Second Book
Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory: 1868
PE1152 S35; PE1152 S352

From Alexander Jolley, Rare Books Assistant: “In 2024, I looked at our extensive collection of over two-thousand Deseret Alphabet Primary Readers, both the Deseret First and Second books, that we had in storage. Books from this era are already a rarity, but to have such an abundance of examples gives a unique look into the variations of the nineteenth century book manufacturing process. The books, especially their spines, came in many different colors and textures, totaling over thirty-seven unique variants of Deseret Alphabet Primers. There are also variations in print quality, with covers sometimes offset as much as an inch, and some missing the inlaid page. My favorite examples include a 1 of 1 unique red polka dotted spine Deseret First Book, and 1 of 8 known “missing-cover” manufacturing errors of the Deseret Second Book.”

Stay tuned as next year the Rare Books Department will be highlighting more details about the Deseret Alphabet in a special presentation with the Church History Library and Brigham Young University.

Wilderness Letter
Wallace Stegner (1909-1993)
Salt Lake City, UT: Red Butte Press, 1995
PS3537 T316 W54 1995

From Savanna Barlow, Rare Books Assistant: “I chose Wilderness Letter by Wallace Stegner as my favorite book of 2024. The essay was covered by Dr. Anne Palmer in my Management Responsibilities class and really resonated with me because of my interest in conservation, especially in Utah. Issues like the Great Salt Lake and the Cottonwood Canyon Gondola hit close to home, and Stegner’s letter beautifully illustrates why protecting these places matters. This edition, printed locally at the Red Butte Press, adds an extra layer of connection to Utah’s landscape and heritage. Printed in 1995, the Wilderness Letter is accompanied by woodcuts on handmade paper.”

The Rare Books Department recently acquired some four hundred titles from Wallace Stegner’s personal library, most of which are annotated by Stegner himself. Combined with the Wallace Stegner Papers, this selection of books will provide incredible research value for years to come.

A Last Cloud: For Ruth Stone…
Chard deNiord
San Diego, CA: Brighton Press, 2013
N7433.4 B868 L37 2013

From Jonathan Sandberg, Rare Books Assistant: “I recently helped select Brighton Press books to use for our blog commemorating Michele Burgess. Scanning these works reminded me how much I love A last cloud: for Ruth Stone. The book is light in the hand and squishes like a cloud. It is a memorial to a poet who experienced a great deal of pain and loss and whose work was grounded, witty, precise, and bold. The book has two poems dedicated to Stone and one written by her and encased in Burgess’s dark, flowing lithographs. The book presents its thoughtful, emotive, and complex subject matter in an equally thoughtful, emotive, and complex book.”

~ Happy Holidays from all of us in the Rare Books Department ~
William, Alexander, Savanna, Lyuba, Jonathan, and John

[Photo credit: Gina Giang, Manuscript Archivist]