By Adrienne Rusinko
December is the time for hot cocoa, celebrating with loved ones, and cramming for finals! If you need a little gift for yourself, a limited run of stickers are now available at Special Collections Firestone and Special Collections Mudd.
V stranu vechnykh lʹdov, 13439 Pams / NR 20 / Cyrillic / Box 15, Cotsen Children’s Library
В Страну Вечных Льдов, or, In the Land of Everlasting Ice, is a 1930 Soviet children’s book about the polar regions that describes the climatology, meteorology, and exploratory history of the Arctic. This image is captioned “The ships of brave explorers who often perished in the ice” and while it doesn’t specify which ship it is, the text mentions the failed expeditions of the Dutchman Wilhelm Barents (1596), the Ganza (1869), the Polaris (1872), the Tegetthof (1874), and the Jeannette (1881).
It goes on to explain the difficulties travelers face trying to cross the ice without a ship, that traveling by sled dogs or reindeer is impossible because of the lack of food, that ice piles upright when pushed by storms, and that it can get so cold as to cause paralysis. Frequent cases of scurvy from lack of sunlight are another difficulty, leading to bloody gums, tooth loss, and the lack of energy to move arms and legs. It goes on to discuss the starvation experienced by many explorers, and that in some expeditions, “starvation gave rise to stories of explorers eaten by their comrades.”
Recuyell of the historyes of Troye, 43.10, William H. Scheide Library
With finals approaching, it seemed fitting to include this piece of marginalia reminding us to “thynke.” Scheide Librarian Dr. Eric White, who first spotted the annotation, writes:
The first book printed in English, Raoul Le Fèvre’s Recuyell of the Histories of Troy, was translated from the French by William Caxton and published by him at Bruges ca. 1473. Caxton, an English merchant active in Cologne and Bruges, engaged in this recueil (collection) of tales of ancient heroes, including Hercules, Achilles, and Helen of Troy, knowing that its popularity among the nobility at the Burgundian court would translate well within the English-speaking circles of his patroness and dedicatee, the Duchess of Burgundy, Margaret of York.
Caxton later (1476) established the first printing shop in England, within the precinct of Westminster Abbey, where he printed the first edition of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
Fewer than twenty copies of the Recuyell survive, and like the Scheide Library’s copy, most of them are incomplete. But just thynke, how great is it to have the first book printed in English?
Snow at Kameyama, Station 47, GA 2009.00719, Graphic Arts
This scenic snowy scene is one of 53 stations of the Tōkaidō, an Edo-period route along Japan’s southern coast that connected Edo, modern-day Tokyo, and the capital of the military shōgunate, with Kyoto, the imperial capital. In 1832, Ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Hiroshige was sent by the Shōgun to transport an annual gift of horses to the imperial court. He was inspired by the scenic path and sketched landscapes during his journey and back, and began working on the designs as soon as he returned home. Hiroshige created several editions of this work with various publishers. This particular print of Kameyama comes from the 1843-47 Aritaya Seiemon publication.
Decalcomania is a limited monthly release of stickers made available at Special Collections Firestone, Special Collections Mudd, and the PUL Makerspace. All images are selected from materials held by Special Collections. Check out the Special Collections website for information about visiting our reading rooms.
Did we run out of your favorite sticker? Do you want to make your own? Head over to the PUL Makerspace! Design your own or reprint a Decalcomania sticker using the cutting machines.
Digital images of some of the materials in Special Collections can be found in the catalog and finding aids. Our blogs and Digital PUL have collection highlights.
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