 | A Volvelle pig that aids in learning to spell is among the items on display in a new exhibition from the Yale Library's archives. |
"From Intent to Serendipity: Origins of Special Collections at Yale," an exhibition featuring a unique array of items selected from the University's archives, will be on view May 10-July 21 in the exhibit corridor of Sterling Memorial Library.
Yale's special collections, which are housed in various locations around the campus, contain millions of manuscripts, diaries, books, maps, photographs, illustrations, sound and video recordings, music scores, artworks, coins, clay tablets and artifacts. These materials came to Yale in a variety of ways. Every object and collection has a story behind it, note the organizers, and this exhibit shares a few of those stories.
Among the items on display are Volvelles from the Arts of the Book Collection, which is housed in Sterling Memorial Library. Volvelles are a format that uses a moving dial to present information. Because Volvelles are efficient tools for collating a large amount of information into a compact delivery device, they are often found in books, but have also been used purely for novelty.
Jessica Helfand '89 M.F.A., a graduate of the School of Art's Graphic Design Program and a noted critic of visual culture, collected over 400 examples of the Volvelle format, which she has donated to the Arts Library. This collection has a range of materials including pop culture and fashion; educational tools such as a pig that aids in learning to spell; and more technical and scientific application, such as a star chart.
The Drama Library is displaying selections from its Yale Rockefeller Theatrical Prints Collection. The collection -- consisting of approximately 80,000 items, primarily prints and photographs -- was partially funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.
Professor Allardyce Nicoll, the second chair of the Department of Drama within Yale's School of Fine Arts, began collecting various items to document the history of early theatrical design in 1934. He was interested in establishing this collection in order to support the study of the history of the stage and to provide visual resources for students and others designing new productions. Nicoll and other faculty and graduate students traveled throughout the United States and abroad to libraries, archives and private collections to photograph rare publications, prints and drawings containing pertinent material. Initially, the focus of the collection was 17th- and 18th-century European performance, but through the years additional original prints and photographs from later periods and geographic locations were added.
The Yale Art Gallery will be displaying selections from its Dura-Europos Collection and Archives.
Between 1928 and 1937, Yale partnered with the French Academy of Inscriptions and Letters in excavating the ancient city of Dura-Europos in Syria. The excavations were directed jointly by Belgian scholar Franz Cumont and Yale professor Michael I. Rostovtzeff. In the process of unearthing the long-abandoned site, the excavators discovered a wealth of architectural and material remains, mostly dating to the second and third centuries A.D. As a result of Yale's participation in the excavations and with the permission of the Syrian Antiquities Service, roughly half of the artifacts recovered at Dura-Europos -- more than 10,000 objects -- came to New Haven and ultimately found a home in the Yale Art Gallery.
This collection encompasses a range of materials, including painting, sculpture, coins, ceramic and glass vessels, textiles, jewelry, tools and implements, arms and armor, inscriptions and graffiti. In addition, the Yale Art Gallery also houses the excavation archives, consisting of field records, correspondence, original drawings, and photographs. The library exhibition will draw primarily on the latter.
The Gilmore Music Library will be displaying selections from the Opochinsky Collection, MSS 77, which contains about 300 letters, musical fragments, and other documents written by prominent musicians.
These materials were assembled by David Opochinsky, a Polish-born engineer whose company, Titra Film, was a pioneer in subtitles and dubbing for the movie industry. Opochinsky was also a violinist and pianist who had studied at the Moscow Conservatory; he owned violins by Stradivari and Guarneri. Opochinsky moved to the United States in 1942, and he began collecting musical autographs in 1950. He decorated his apartment with his holdings, which were framed along with portraits of each musician. Opochinsky died in 1974, and in 1986 his heirs donated his collection to Yale.
Among the other items featured in the exhibit will be Charles Ives materials from the Oral History, American Music collection; majolica plates and ceramic items from the Lewis Walpole Library; and selections from the Medical Historical Library and the Map Collection. The Manuscripts and Archives collection, housed in Sterling Library, will show selected materials from its World War II Collection, including examples of war propaganda. Selections from the archives of the World Student Christian Federation in the Divinity Library section of the exhibit are intended to illustrate how unlikely and unexpected materials are sometimes found in a larger collection. The Babylonian Collection will exhibit objects from the Nies Babylonian Collection. James Buchanan Nies, who died in 1922, left his collection of Babylonian tablets and antiquities (well over 12,000 objects) as well as his library of Oriental books to Yale.
Sterling Memorial Library is located at 120 High St. Through May 10, the library will be open 8:30 a.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday; 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday; and 1 p.m.-midnight Sunday. From May 11 to Aug. 30, library hours are 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and Friday; 8:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday; and closed on Sunday.
T H I S
'From Intent to Serendipity' features
unique items from Yale's archives
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