Illustration of Tartuffe, from The Dramatic Works of Molière. Rendered into English by Henri Van Laun. Edinburgh, 1875–76. Philbrick Library of Theatre History, Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library.
Last Fall, for the first time, I asked Carrie Marsh, Special Collections Librarian, to introduce some of Honnold/Mudd’s special collections to students in my first-year academic writing classes. Most simply, I wanted to expose the students to some of our library’s treasures that they might not otherwise learn about during their undergraduate careers. As I had hoped, they seemed enthusiastic about putting their hands on a second folio of Shakespeare, Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrated version of Lysistrata, and early English translations of Tartuffe. These rare editions added another dimension to the students’ learning, simultaneously making the canonical texts both more accessible and respectable to students.
Detail from The Lysistrata of Aristophanes. Illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley. London, 1896. Aubrey Beardsley Collection, Denison Library, Scripps College.
Beyond this exposure to “a world of cool stuff,” as one student put it, our class visit was designed to extend the boundaries of what undergraduates often consider academic research. I wanted to disclose possibilities of looking beyond web browsing, electronic databases, and secondary sources. And in fact, two of my students worked directly with materials they were shown during the special collections session for their research projects. Students continued to rely predominantly on the library’s main holdings, of course, but their visit gave them a fuller sense of professional scholarship.
Detail from The Lysistrata of Aristophanes. Illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley. London, 1896. Aubrey Beardsley Collection, Denison Library, Scripps College.
To stimulate their thinking about the practical academic applications of the special collections, I asked students to write a short research proposal which would incorporate one of the items Carrie had discussed. I hope this exercise, and the excitement of their introductory session, will help them to remember that the special collections are available to them for all their research projects throughout college.
