Legacy of Abraham Lincoln in the Clarke

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Thanks from the Clarke Historical Library Staff

Legacy of Abraham Lincoln in the Clarke

by Bryan Whitledge

In honor of Abraham Lincoln's 203rd birthday this Sunday, we have pulled out one of our favorite artifacts, Honest Abe's right hand. The mold for this bronze cast was done by Leonard Volk in May of 1860, the day after Lincoln accepted the nomination to run as the Republican presidential candidate.

According to lore, Lincoln had shaken so many hands on the day that he was nominated, it caused his right hand to swell and prevented him from holding it steady. When Volk arrived to create the casts of Lincoln's hands, he found that the right hand was shaking too much to produce a good piece. It was suggested that Lincoln find something to grasp onto and the story goes that Lincoln found a broom and sawed off the handle to act as a support - this piece of wood is visible in the cast.

Using the mold produced by Volk, bronzesmith Jules Berchem produced the bronze cast that is in the Clarke Historical Library's holdings. Volk's hand casts and his life masks of Lincoln are considered some of the finest of any U. S. president and were used as the basis for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D. C. So in celebration of President Lincoln's 203rd birthday, we share this nugget of history that can be found at the Clarke Historical Library.

Charles Dickens' 200th Birthday

[editor's note] Hello Clarke Historical Library Readers. We have a new way for you to follow our blog via feeds or e-mail. Check out the options on the right side of the page to subscribe via an RSS reader or via e-mail. If you already subscribe via a reader, please take a second and resubscribe using our new options. Remember, when you subscribe you only receive an update or an e-mail when we post something new to the blog.

Thanks from the Clarke Staff

Charles Dickens' 200th Birthday

by Hannah Jenkins

Charles Dickens, a beloved author, was born 200 years ago, on February 7^th, 1812. Many of his novels have reached literary fame, and the Clarke Historical Library is one of the many places in which you can find them. At the Clarke, we have first or early editions of some of Dickens’ works among the nearly 50 volumes of Dickensian literature in our holdings (click on the image for a closer look).

A Child’s History of England is a set of three books, published one a year between 1852 and 1854. Dickens covers English history from 50 BC to 1689. He wrote this set of books for his children in the hopes that they would continue to read about history. Sketches of Boz is a collection of short pieces put together and published in 1836. The book is broken down into sections - the first three comprise of non-fiction stories while the fourth section is fictional stories.

The Dickens’ Christmas stories began with A Christmas Carol in 1843. It is one of Dickens’ most widely-known novels. It tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge who is visited by the three spirits of Christmas. Through encountering these ghosts, Scrooge makes a miraculous transformation and gains new value for his fellow man. Dickens wrote the story by drawing on his own personal experiences from his childhood as well as his sympathy for the poor class. The Chimes (1844) is a short novel that follows a young man who loses his faith in mankind’s ability to improve and strive for better. One evening he climbs the bell chamber at the local church and is met by goblins, the keepers of the bells, who show him visions of what will happen to his friends if he does not show them that they can make something better of their lives. Written after the success of A Christmas Carol, The Chimes gained a great deal of interest and remained quite popular for a time, but it paled in comparison to the success of A Christmas Carol. In 1845, after The Chimes, Dickens wrote The Cricket on the Hearth and it is the third book in Dickens’ Christmas stories. It is a story of love and a small cricket who acts as a guardian angel of a home. The Battle of Life written in 1846 is another of Dickens’ Christmas stories. This is the only Christmas story that does not have supernatural involvement or an extreme religious component. The story takes place in a village that sits on the site of a historic battle and focuses on the lives of the people that live and struggle there. The Battle of Life never received much fame, and neither did the final Christmas story, The Haunted Man (1848). The Haunted Man follows a chemistry teacher who wishes to forget the past wrongs that have been done to him. A spirit appears and grants his wish, but afterwards the teacher becomes constantly enraged due to an unknown cause, which then spreads to all those around him. The moral of the story is that it is important to remember the pain of the past because it helps people mature.

On this day, 200 years after the birth of Charles Dickens, the Clarke Historical Library looks back and honors this great author and we remind you that these and other wonderful literary offerings can be found in the Clarke Historical Library.

Boyce descendant visits our Boyce manuscript collection

by Marian Matyn

Kathy Klok, a descendant of one of Jonathan Boyce's brothers, visited the Clarke on January 26^th. She was surprised at the size of the collection and realized how much work nine students and I had put into it to organize, folder, box, inventory, create finding aids (one for each student's labors), understand what we read, make sense of it all, and catalog it. Two processing students visited to meet Kathy and check out the completed collection. Rarely does this happen that we complete such an arduous year-long project and someone directly related comes and is thrilled to conduct research in it. We are all very happy and feel validated. Here's a photo of Kathy with her family's papers. She's returning in the future to conduct further research. I hope some of the other students who worked hard on this collection will be able to meet her in the future. Her own genealogical research on her family is quite well done and extensive. Perhaps, we'll be able to share information and shed some more light on the Boyce family and businesses. Lumberman Boyce owned a wide variety of businesses, several steamers and schooners, a wide swath of property, notably in Roscommon, property in Grand Rapids, Essexville, and Muskegon, as well as a large farm in England.

One of his sons moved west where lumbering continued after it died down in Michigan. His collection consists of 67 cubic ft. (in 97 boxes, 6 oversize folders, 78 oversize volumes). It will be awhile before I get the extensive findings aids encoded, so for now, for more information check out the catalog record HERE or contact me, Marian at the Clarke.

2012 is a year of numerous momentous anniversaries in Michigan - Today, January 26, Michigan celebrates its 175th birthday. This year also marks the 120th anniversary of the founding of Central Michigan University, and the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. This announcement about the latter event comes to us from Mary Graham of the Michigan Historical Review.

In recognition of the conflict’s 200th anniversary, The Michigan Historical Review’s spring 2012 issue will be a themed issue devoted to the War of 1812. Essays will examine the war from many different perspectives. Planning for this issue began under the guidance of the Review’s former editor, Dr. David Macleod of CMU’s History Department, and the project continues under the guidance of the journal’s new editor, Dr. Jennifer R. Green, who is also a member of that department. The publication date for this issue should be early June 2012.

We at the Clarke Historical Library have returned from the winter break and, along with the entire CMU community, are back at it. During the spring semester of 2012, our hours will be will be Mon. to Fri. 8 am - 5 pm and Sat. 9 am - 1 pm. Note that we will be closed on Sat., March 3 and Sat., March 10 for spring break. And to start the new year off right, we have a post relating to cataloging in the Clarke. Have a great 2012 from the staff of the Clarke Historical Library.

Cataloging at the Clarke
by Tanya Fox

I am very lucky to be the catalog database specialist at the Clarke Historical Library. My position allows me to work with a large majority of the acquisitions of our library. I have the privilege of holding the items in my hands, whether they are recently published or are decades old. My job affords me the opportunity to look through each item and discern minute details about it. Who wrote it? Where was it published? When was it printed? Did it win any awards? Did the author or illustrator sign it? I have to match an exact record with the item, if one exists. If not, I do original cataloging of the item.

I marvel at the variety of items we acquire. Some books are fragile with torn pages or loose bindings. Some are brand new with beautiful illustrations and funny stories. Some smell old and musty after being boxed up sitting in basements or attics. Others are fresh off the printing press with a wonderful new book smell.

There is a uniqueness to each item. They are tangible reminders of thoughts, people, events, places, and history. My job allows me to wonder about the authors and their motives in writing. It allows me to glimpse photographs or artwork and imagine myself within the idyllic scenes. Each item has a story to tell, not just literally but in its very existence. Cataloging the items gives me the opportunity to briefly touch that existence. How lucky I am!