The title page of Tre duetti per flauto e violino, composed by Alessandro Rolla

The newest digital collection of Special Collections materials features a binder’s collection of sheet music dating to the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Sheet Music of Flute and Violin Duets, 1790s-1850s features a  binder’s collection containing 27 duets for flute and violin.

Binder’s collections of sheet music were common in the 19th and early 20th centuries, providing the means to social entertainment in homes and other informal settings beyond concert venues. While often unorganized, some collections are ordered according to genre, instrumentation, composer or chronology.

The works of a number of composers are included in the collection, including composer and flautist François Devienne. Other composers include Friedrich Ludwig Dulon, Franz Alexander Pössinger, and Eugène Walckiers.

Part 2 Violin, page 1, of Don Juan (de Mozart), composed by Charles de Bériot

The sheet music also includes operatic transcriptions arranged by violinist Charles de Bériot, including a selection from Don Juan by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

While the printed music is bound in two separate volumes, one for each instrument, the pieces have been combined in the digital collection so that both parts can be seen together.

Music lovers and anyone interested in this unique collection should spend some time with the digital collection, or visit Special Collections to see the original volumes.

A sign telling visitors about the gypsy wagon

Wandering Book Artists Donna and Peter Thomas visited the University of Houston Libraries today for a lecture, meet and greet, and tours of their Gypsy Wagon Bookmobile.

The Thomas’s gypsy wagon

The artists, who have been making artists’ books together for more than 30 years, entertained and educated those in attendance with stories, songs and demonstrations of their many handmade books, including miniature books, books made of wood, and books made with unusual items, including a can, a ukulele, and an accordion. They also answered questions about their creative process and the craft of bookmaking.

Donna Thomas at the door of the gypsy wagon

Attendees were also able to get a look at the  Gypsy Wagon Bookmobile that the Thomases use as they travel across the country. The bookmobile, built on a 16-foot flat bed trailer, provides a place to sleep, dine, and conduct business. Influenced by vintage pictures, it is painted in bright bold colors and uses reclaimed wood, wrought iron, and stained glass.

For more information about the Thomas’s books and wagon, visit their blog and website.

To experience a Peter and Donna Thomas book yourself, come to the Special Collections reading room and ask to view Cannery row: A book in a tin or one of these titles.

The exhibit Sacra et Profana: Music in Medieval Manuscripts is now open to the public on the first floor of the MD Anderson Library at the University of Houston.

This exhibit encompasses the sacred and secular music of Christian, Jewish, and Islamic peoples as well as the while considering manuscripts’ physical nature, their production by hand and development to print. In addition to materials from UH Special Collections, the exhibit includes items from other major Houston collections, including the Woodson Research Center at Rice University and the Houston Metropolitan Research Center.

For more information about the exhibit, visit the exhibit web page, which also includes audio and video related to the exhibit. The short slideshow below offers a sneak peek at the exhibit, including a copy of a book of hours which can also be viewed in the UH Digital Library. The exhibit is open to the public through Feb. 1 and can be visited during the library’s regular hours.

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Sacra et Profana: Music in Medieval Manuscripts

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New Exhibit Coming Soon

Folio 130 verso

An exciting new Special Collections digital collection is now available in the UH Digital Library. This collection features a fifteenth century manuscript, the Book of Hours, Use of Reims.

Created in Northern France, this book of hours contains beautifully illustrated and handwritten pages. The text, written on parchment, is in both Latin and Old French, and the scribe is identifed as Paulinus de Sorcy.

From folio 64 recto

While many medieval manuscripts feature images that are closely related to their text, this one is primarily illustrated with marginalia. These whimsical images enliven the borders of various pages and contain both humans and animals. In one illustration, a man plays a harp. In another, a monkey or ape inspects a vial of urine in a satire of medieval medicine.

The digital collection is organized into three objects — one contains the complete manuscript of almost 200 leaves, one highlights the illuminated pages, and the third shows the binding and edges. This beautiful manuscript is an exciting addition to our digital collections, so be sure to check it out soon!

Special Collections is excited to announce the publication of a new digital collection, Theodor de Bry’s America. This collection of copper plate engravings depicts the arrival of the Spaniards in the New World. The engravings are taken from the 16th century book Americae, volume IV of Theodor de Bry‘s Grandes Voyages series, a collection of 30 books documenting the new age of exploration.

Plate 9: "Columbus, as he first arrives in India, is received by the inhabitants and honored with the bestowing of many gifts"

The illustrations in this collection depict a variety of scenes related to Spanish exploration. Christopher Columbus is featured in many of illustrations, both in Spain and in the New World. Violence perpetrated on both the Spaniards and the Native Americans is also depicted in detail.

Plate 18: "Some Indians are killed, some perish in a fire"

The engravings are in very good condition and can be examined in detail in the UH Digital Library. While only the engravings have been digitized as part of this effort, Special Collections holds a near-complete first edition of the volume. This edition is printed in German, with the exception of the title page, which comes from a first edition printed in Latin. This copy is missing plates 2, 3, 19, 21, and 23, along with an original map.

Detail from Plate 24: "The religious ceremony of the Indians"

Take some time to examine these 22 images! Not only do they represent some of the earliest depictions of the exploration of the New World, but the details in the engravings are fantastic. If you’d like to learn a little more about Theodor de Bry and his Grande Voyages, check out Episode 893 of Dr. John Leinhard’s “Engines of Our Ingenuity” radio program.