This class has given me invaluable insight into the history of books and how digital public humanities seek to share knowledge with a wider audience. As we learned about the history of the book, we had corresponding books and artifacts we examined which were housed in the Rare Book Room. We were able to see cuneiform tablets, medieval manuscripts, and incunabula, which provided a tangible way to build upon our knowledge. The admiration I found for these artifacts and texts turned into admiration for the Rare Book Room as a whole. It is a repository of knowledge that contains truly beautiful and important texts that deserve to be shared. 

My work with the rare book room this semester has been a journey with many interesting stops. The first surprise was the sheer number of texts housed in the Rare Book Room. The room is in an unremarkable basement corner at a small college. I did not expect to see such amazing texts come from such a humble location. I was instantly drawn to the older objects, specifically the materiality of the older texts. However, these older objects come with increased complications. With some texts, the spines seemed to disintegrate on contact. For others, age had brought along tears and tape which limited visible information. For me, I found joy throughout these difficulties. One of my favorite memories in this class is when I sat under a desk using a blacklight to decipher a signature.

The two interests which drove my selection for this product were age and topic. Atlas Designed to Illustrate Burrit's Geography of the Heavens by Hiram Mattison is a text from 1856 is a beautifully illustrated text that applies concepts of geography to the sky. While my interest was initially in maps of the earth, I thought the concept of this text was especially novel. I had never heard of an atlas being used to depict anything but terrestrial features, so this text instantly interested me. Another thing that interested me was the sheer size of the text, with the width measuring almost 17 inches. My second text differs significantly. Histoire Des Plantes Qui Naissent Aux Environs De Paris, Avec Leur Usage Dans La Medecine by M. Pitton Tournefort, is a fascinating text published in Paris in 1698. This text details plants found around the Paris area and their various uses. Due to my limited French, I was instantly drawn to the woodblock prints rather than the text itself. These images were of beautiful flower designs which made me further appreciate the craftsmanship of the era. Both texts not only had engaging subjects but also beautiful images and decor.

I hope my work in this project can help people appreciate the unique beauty of all texts. Whether or not one is able to read the language or fully comprehend the subject, texts can still be of interest and add value to the reader's life. While I might not be able to read French, my analysis of Histoire Des Plantes allowed me to gain a greater appreciation and understanding of 17th-century printing techniques. And while I might not have a background in astronomy, I can appreciate the beauty of the images.

Abigail Kawalec 
Environmental Studies & History Major, Global Environmental Policy Concentration
Anthropology Minor
Class of 2025