Treasures of Special Collections

A brilliant array of rare books, manuscripts, maps, photographs, artwork, and memorabilia is now on display in the first floor exhibit gallery in Hornbake Library on the University of Maryland, College Park, campus.

This new exhibit, entitled Treasures of Special Collections, celebrates the transformation of Hornbake Library into one of the premier special collections facilities in the Mid-Atlantic region. It features riches from Marylandia, Rare Books, the National Trust for Historic Preservation Library, University Archives, Historical Manuscripts, and Literary Manuscripts, as well as broadcasting treasures from the National Public Broadcasting Archives and the Library of American Broadcasting.

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On display are items that show the exceptional variety and significance of primary source materials available to the public in Special Collections at the University of Maryland Libraries. Exhibit viewers will find many interesting items on display, including:

• James Joyce's Ulysses, first edition (1922). One of only 100 copies signed by the author, this volume is arguably the most influential novel in modern times and a much sought-after work of twentieth-century fiction;
• Maryland Agricultural College cadet uniform and dress sword (c. 1914). The all-male MAC student body was originally organized as a corps of cadets. The young men were required to wear wool uniforms wherever they went on campus-to class, in the dormitory, at mealtime, and at work on the college's farm. Company commanders carried a sword for dress parade;
  
• An original NBC chime box (early twentieth century). Announcers in pre-tape days actually had to strike the notes live on the air; in later years this famous three-tone sequence became the first audio trademark in U.S. history;
  
• Mark Twain's Sketches, New and Old (1875). Twain inscribed this copy to Mary "Aunty" Cord, a former slave, whose life inspired Twain in his sketch, "A True Story, Repeated Word for Word as I Heard It";
  
• Djuna Barnes artwork (1919-1934). Barnes was an extraordinary modernist American author, best known for her novel Nightwood (1936), but also began her career as an artist and illustrator;
  
• John White's Americae Pars, Nunc Virginia Dicta (1590). This is the first map printed that contains cartographic reference to the Chesapeake Bay and the oldest item in the Maryland Map Collection;
  
• Postcards from the San Francisco earthquake (1906). These unique postcards depict the destruction of historic buildings in that region of the country;
  
• Storyboard for the lower case "a" segment of Sesame Street (undated). This popular program from Children's Television Workshop assisted generations of children with reading skills by focusing on a different letter or number in each episode;

This exhibit pays tribute to the many special collections honored in Hornbake Library's Showcase event series, a collaborative project involving Hornbake curators and the Friends of the Libraries. For more information, please visit www.lib.umd.edu/HBK/showcase