William L. Clements Library
William L. Clements Library | |
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The William L. Clements Library is a rare book and
The Clements Library is visited by over 450 researchers yearly. Patrons include undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and scholars from around the world, such as Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian, David McCullough, who used the library's collections for the book 1776.[2] The library building was designed by architect Albert Kahn.
History
In addition to giving his collection, Clements donated funds to build the current library building. Detroit architect Albert Kahn designed the building "in the Italian Renaissance style, based on Vignola's casino for the Villa Farnese, ca. 1587, in Caprarola, Italy."[6]
Among the restrictions Clements placed upon the library was that it should remain separate from the university's greater library system and be governed by an independent board of trustees. Today, this distinct governing structure remains in place, but the library's holdings are integrated into the University Library's Mirlyn catalog.[7]
From 1935 to 1945 Howard Henry Peckham was manuscript curator, during which time Clements Library was acquiring collections that established an international reputation for itself as an institution for the study of the Revolutionary War and British Colonial America.[8]
Collections
The library's collections are spread across five divisions: the Book Division, the Manuscripts Division, the Graphics Division and the Map Division. The
Exhibits showcasing the library's collection are on public display on weekday afternoons.
Book Division
The Book Division contains approximately 80,000 books, pamphlets, broadsides, and periodicals.
Manuscripts Division
The Manuscripts Division cares for approximately 2,600 collections of letters, documents, diaries, financial records, and other materials, with an emphasis on 18th- and 19th-century North America. The division's strengths include
William L. Clements began to collect manuscripts in the early 1920s and, with the library's first director
Map Division
The
The Map Division holds some 30,000 maps and plans, about 1,500 of which are manuscripts. Many of the latter came to the library with manuscript collections such as the
Graphics Division
The Graphics Division holds prints, photographs, printed ephemera, original artwork, illustrated and non-illustrated sheet music, and realia.
William L. Clements had a modest collection of portrait prints and a few
The subjects represented by the division mirror the subjects of the other Clements divisions with strengths in
The library has recently acquired the David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography, representing over 100,000 photographs taken from ca. 1845 -1980 in the state.
Approximate numbers for the division holdings:
Clements Library Associates
Clements Library Associates support the library through membership dues and can contribute at several levels, beginning at "Student" with a $5 membership fee. The Associates program was created in 1947; and it is estimated that the members have helped purchase "$5,000,000 worth of historical material that today has a monetary value many times that amount."[17] Associates are invited to attend Clements Library programs, lectures, and exhibits free of cost. Members are regularly informed of happenings and new acquisitions at the Clements through the library's magazine, The Quarto.[18]
See also
- William Wright Abbot—archivist who did extensive work editing and publishing The Washington Papers
- Archive and Archival research
- Peter Force, early American archivist, credited with the biggest collection of archival material from colonial American and the American Revolution
- James Kendall Hosmer American history professor and librarian
References
- ^ Books Retrieved July 25, 2012
- ^ Baskaran, Gracelin."Off the Beaten Path: William L. Clements Library.". The Michigan Daily. 21 September 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ "History of the William L. Clements Library". Retrieved July 16, 2012
- ^ Clements, William L. . Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 1923. The William L. Clements Library of Americana At the University of Michigan
- ^ "A Review by Lawrence C. Wroth "Americana for Americans"". New York Times. Jul 22, 1923. p. BR3 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "History of the William L. Clements Library". Retrieved July 16, 2012.
- ^ MLibrary: Mirlyn
- ^ University of Michigan Faculty History Project
- ^ "Exhibits and Events" Retrieved August 15, 2012
- ^ "Books" Retrieved August 13, 2012
- ^ "Startling and thrilling narratives of dark and terrible deeds." The Quarto no. 2, September 1994: pp. 1–3, 8.
- ^ "Reading the Civil War." . The Quarto no. 34, Fall-Winter 2010, pp. 10–11.
- ^ "Manuscripts Division" Retrieved August 13, 2012.
- ^ William L. Clements Library; Marshall, Douglas W, ed. Research Catalog of Maps of America to 1860 in the William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Boston, G. K. Hall, 1972.
- ^ Klarecki, Carolyn. "Navigating the University's Treasured Maps". The Michigan Daily. 19 September 2010. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
- ^ "Photographs | William L. Clements Library". clements.umich.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- ^ "Become a Clements Library Associate" Retrieved August 16, 2012
- ^ "The Quarto" Retrieved August 16, 2012
External links
- The William L. Clements Library – Official site
- Clements Library Chronicles – Official Blog
- Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive at the Hatcher Library