“There remains nothing more, but to shew that there are some necessary Qualifications to be acquir’d, some good Improvements to be made by Ingenious Gentlemen in the Company of our Sex. Of this number are Complacence, Gallantry, Good Humour, Invention, and an Art…” An Essay in...

The Rare Books Department invites you to view its most recent virtual lecture, Historyes of English. Das Buch von Lindisfarne Lucerne: Faksimile Verlag Luzern, 2002 ND3359 L5 L56 2002 Early manuscripts from western Europe can help us trace the histories of the English language. From these illuminated pages, we can...

O Wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being, Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing, Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red, Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou, Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed The winged seeds, where they lie cold...

“Don’t fancy I attempt dancing—no, no. I am well content to look on.” -- Elizabeth Gould The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle… Charles Darwin (1809-1882) London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1839-43 First edition Zoology was first published as a five-volume unbound book in nineteen parts as they were...

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there Which seek thro' the world, is ne'er met elsewhere Home! Home! Sweet, sweet home! There's no place like home There's no place like home! An...

My wide hips raised two warriors from sweat & clay, blood sonata & birth cry. I said anger & avarice, & they called themselves Cain & Abel. I said gold, & they opened up the earth. I said love, & they ventured east & west, south & north. I said evil, &...

“…King Montecuma accompanied with his Nobles, and those of the most distinguished Rank in his Court, entertain’d the Spaniards with all sorts of Divertisements, to testify how mightily they were pleased with their Arrival. The King’s Brother came to meet ’em with a splendid Retinue;...

Virescit vulnere virtus (Virtue grows stronger from being wounded) Orontii finei delphinatis, regii mathematicarvm professoris, de solaribus horologiis… Oronce Fine (1494-1555) Parisiis: apud Gulielmum Cauellat, 1560 First edition QB215 F55 1560 Oronce Fine was the son of a physician who drew, in part, upon astrology for his medicine, as was the...