 

Burling vault boasts literary treasure chest

By Ann Desmond

Where would you consider a good place
to be during a nuclear holocaust". How
about in the vault of a small college library
in a small town in Iowa‘.7 Dr. George Pinne
apparently thought so because he gave his
collection of rare books to the Grinnell
library for that reason. His donation
makes up the largest part of the old and
rare books that are stored in the Burling
Library vault.

The vault is located in the basement of
the library and is the repository of aged
and valuable books and those in poor
condition. It contains about six hundred
volumes already catalogued and another
six hundred waiting to be listed. There is
an elaborate system of guidelines that
determine whether a book is valuable, and
these are taken into account because of the
limited amount of space in the vault.

COLLEGE librarian Christopher McKee
remarked that the books in the vault
consist mainly of those donated and those
that have been at the college so long that
they have become rarities. The library is
not interested in acouiring valuable books
except when they can be used by the
students and teachers on campus,

The collection of books donated by Pinne
includes first editions of classics, such as
the Works of Dickens, and examples of fine
printing. The college acquired these texts
in who when Pinne approached the college,
expressing a daire to see his books in a
safer place than his home town of Omaha,
Another donor is an alumni of Grinnell,
Elizabeth l-lart Bennett,.'26, She gave the
library many books by and about English
poet and artist William Blake.

MCKEE listed some examples of books
that have Spent a long time in the stacks of
Grinnell's libraries. Among these are an
early edition at The Book oi Mormon and
bound volumes of the magazine Weekly
Reminder published between 1310 and
1840. There are also original portions of
Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend by
Dickens,

$3 ioddiﬁ'ﬂﬁéSSﬂﬁ &

Purchases which the college has made to
encourage scholarship include an art book
containing prints of paintings destroyed in

The library tries to buy first editions of
books written by alumni of the college and
some of these are kept in the vault, though

World War II
edition

This is an
original page
from Shakes-
peare's First
Folio, a lacsimile
oi which is among
t h e m a n y
treasures in the
Burling Library
vault. The library
a l s o h o I d 5
two original
11623) portions.
out of which this
page came. The
folio is the lirst
compilation of
Shakespeare's ac-
complishments.

3

£65 Sﬂﬁhm Rﬁﬁﬁidbﬂd

$2? {BQQAE

3361451259

CHEESE & CHEESE 8. CHEESE &
CHEESE 8r CHEESE & CHEESE 8r
CHEESE 8r CHEESE 8r CHEESE 8.

Hours Sun. to p.In.—3 «.m.

and a partvoriginal
of Shakespeare’s First Folio.

Mill“ prim/4i.

a... or...» m .44...

Orlal.
r l ”mama.“ wi..,..i.n.i.nlhu.
trqiriihrimrsyuul tn roovratnoufmd
Crownrl_:lldsitlvo n,ilvslgedmybrhr
innit... hunt; is bind nlrrwrll . nu

.hnrbegimynimn ii,smith/quintam

homo, :ndlrrorr fyuku pound twain

mm, min krrprl .iiiiilirilly..h....,uh. not

unurvniprnyyto...“intuihmevuq. folull

y... lharkrrpmg in. Mun". «(my huh. an it

frtinnlfromlhrmlllngoflloni hu hnrfrnlebud

better, n. unoruhu (My h. on. mu. ii... frail",

.iryimu i. in... mung“ nuisui...itrd.u

amt, M‘ .tiii (hinmiuigimnhug "he,

hm in gram. or in. who in own. in h.

dunghllurcaimurhl-oundloll-nunl month“...

uni,unlurayuiniiu,sunm,ihrr...hhn;ihu

.nuqurnrr. inrommm urnnminoim

in tenniuenrimimn. niobium. mile

plurals train, and .. min. .i i. huh... mm my
gunluyuih it, do...” in. i. n “on nu

Show....iuiirzmianh) his.“ “hm lllmlr

”durum... n.humminini.month.

ruillnilinsnntu.‘ ,i, .liiighyn I lllownowlf’

unriysiwuiiniu,
him mun.
4.4.... yin-nmanyMinnyiutmuu

on... cumin 41..., .auiuhinniniuw .

nhinumnh

oi. Munch...mush...”

on mini; niacin...mowing.

oi. “virtuous...” l

on. so. linlrmhrl .. ”unwind...
canal C’Pm ”millionth .t ,m i
dunno.

oi... yr... imam"... nonhuman
swhllr ) P >

on... shrill owning, headland-i.
m... in... with ”a...” nu. r,.......~...i min
Winnimiw

oi, Km». ”nonhuman-

0r: onyiymu i.....i.,...o..nu.

ulr. rinumnuvm ﬁll

at]. is“... .i... hinderinimmm , I

l..wyn.n,.u.is...is, “autumn“... -

luminary...horroiiwmmmiuhzkr
"dunno... .i on... innings. v
t.m.,s..n.nli..1'.'i..... ulrr momma,
unmiumsndimtm. humor-ml.

 

 

most can be found in the Gl‘innell Room.
Also, books famous for their illustrations,

5mm 'lfumr.

willllufullkuoﬂ'rndyowllrnbssornn hi.

iii 5.. “who“, ”and.”

.itm Jilingmy’miu min“, in...
oim,uni...Waivecondominium»
in». and in. on. his . uni. mm M.

at in“...tum.,....g,..v.,..mnitn
ruin. ,oi, mm, in ,n nonunion
humans“.tuna...

r... 0....

vi... Quantum...

at his... rum. it. on.. wiininim. ..
outwith

m Murdochi.......i.n..u...rim
rmdiamond...

oi. chum... ”hump.“autumn...
ammonium.

rm. my...
cl. e..m....... month;

I: "tuv. lhrnrwntwri

rnIledtr n bxn‘llhrdbyhllanL
bin, .ni rhycrnrfallzlonlng

 

such as Aubrey Beardsley‘s La Morte
D'Arthur and N.C. Wyeth’s The Idylls of
the Kings, are stored in the vault.

MCKEE explained that a humidifer in
the vault, which keeps the humidity below
50 per cent, protects the books from the
threat of dampness. The leather bindings
of some of the books are treated with a
potassium-lactate solution which keeps
them from drying out and cracking. Many
of the books, however, are encased in
protective boxes because their bindings
are very weak. Some of the books which
are valuable only because of the in-
formation they contain will be photocopied
on paper that is acidrfree and guaranteed
to last 250 years.

Although most of the money for
acquisition goes for the texts in the stacks,
some is used to obtain old books, pam~
phlets, and maps of Iowa. Recognizing its
duty to preserve state heritage, the library
presently holds many books on county
history. Others, like the First Laws of the
Territory of Iowa published in Dubuque in
1339, give a more comprehensive View of
early life and are invaluable and
necessary for studying the history and
culture of this State.

A PROJECT is underway to assemble
the old books Still present in the library
that were part of the original library
before the destructive cyclone of 1882.
These volumes can be identified because
their numbers on the cover are under
7000 and they have “Iowa College
Library” written on the inside cover. This
project will enable students to discover a
bit of history about Grinnell through the
same books that were used when the
college began, thus using the past to learn
about the past.

Approximately one half at the works in
the vault are listed in the card catalogue.
McKee remarked that persons interested
in using these books are welcome to do so

as long as a library staii member is
present,

STOPIT

 

 

The Scarlet & Black

editor
Assoriate dito.‘
News Editor
Feature Editor

srinnell, Ia. sum

Tom Arenberg

Elaine Ashbaush Sports Editor ,
Advertising ManagerSue wellchko

van Ysagaris
Circulation Manader Carl ODPedahl

Bot: Mitchell
Kathv Vuner
Photography Editor Chris Lower
Published weekly except during holidays and vacation periods by Grinnell
College student Publications and Radio Committee, Gnnnell, Iowa, soilz.
Postmasters: send form 3579 to The

copy Editor

Business Manager

John Strauss
Bob Meyer

Scarlet a Black, Grinnell college,
Second class postage paid at Grinnell, la. 50m

(Contiltuedfron'thl _ .
college is moving in
the wrong direction. Other cultures
are being phased out. In areas
where there could be a diversity of
opinion, there is none. This is both
unfair and dangerous to the liberal
arts tradition."

According to Davis, the ad-
ministration's commitment to

 

While They lost

Yougurf Bars 30‘
Yogurt Flips 35‘

FORUM GRILL

Besides our infamous 2nd hand clothing, we ALSO

have a large selection of hand crafted gift items.

Stop 8. see us before you go home. We may not

be here when you return. (Just kidding.)

Thanks for your patronage!

GRAQQ ROOTQ GALLERY

Downtown above Penney's
Mom—Sui. 10—5

Affirmative Action is not the
biggest concern for srori'r, He
thinks the policies of various
academic departments have kept
Grinnell’s faculty from becoming
more integrated. But he added,
“Already STOPIT has caused
some departments to be more
Affirmative Action minded."

Corrections: In last week‘s
tuition article, it was incorrectly
stated that next year's utilities

budget will be $424,000. It will be

$474000.

Also, in the article on Georgia
Dentel's salary question, At-
firmative Action advisory com-
mittee chairman Roberta Atwell
‘was quoted as saying, “We’d be
‘very remiss under the cir-
‘cumstances to pursue the issue
because of a letter from NOW."
The quote was taken out of context.
‘Atwell meant the advisory com-

pursue the matter also because it
has a duty to investigate all
possible salary discrepancies.

Eyes Examined
Phone 236-7502

JENSEN
OPTOMETRISTS
Earl J. Jensen, 0.D.
Clark J. Jensen, 0.D.

Across from Post Office
Closed Thursday p.m.
and Sat. p.m.

 

