Monthly Archives: January 2015

1794 Wollstonecraft

wollstonecraftThe first edition of Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman, published in London in 1792, currently sells for about $20,000 (if you can even find one on the market). Too rich for our blood! We recently acquired a copy of the third American edition (Philadelphia, 1794) for a fraction of that price. (About a twentieth, if you must know.) Our edition was published toward the end of the author’s life: she died in 1797.

Colorado College students read this text in a number of classes (English, Philosophy, Feminist and Gender Studies). Perhaps an enterprising student will take the opportunity to compare this edition with earlier and later editions we have in electronic and paper form.

Archie Comics library story

librariancoverBetty & Veronica Friends issue 2014, published in 2011, includes “Librarians on the Loose,” in which Betty takes a job at her local library. Sexual harasser and all around general prick Reggie teases Betty about libraries being boring…

librarianboring

librarianreggie1librarianreggie2…but she discovers the International Society of Librarians and naturally is soon embroiled in international political espionage.

librariansecretpassageBest moment: a member of the ISL explains that the society does all it can to perpetuate the stereotype that librarians are boring.

librarianstereotypePlease note: the International Society of Librarians is not to be confused with The Library Society of the Worldor is it?

giant schooldesk sculpture

When he was a student at Colorado College in the early 1990s, artist Giles Thompson built this large schooldesk sculpture. It stood in the CC library until 1999, when the college donated it to the Business of Art Center in Manitou Springs. At some point after that, it was painted red, perhaps to protect it from outdoor conditions.

Giant chair-desk by Giles Thompson ca. 1992

Giant chair-desk by Giles Thompson, CC class of 1993, Tutt Library, ca. 1992. PP95-62 #68.

Library staff Jessie Brown and Rita Edgington in the giant chair, August 1993.

Library staff Jessie Brown and Rita Edgington in the giant chair, August 1993. PP95-62 #102.

"Necktie" event at Tutt Library, 1994. Schooldesk in background.

“Necktie” event at Tutt Library, 1994. Schooldesk in background. PP 95-62 #110.

Sculpture in Manitou Springs, date uncertain. At some point after 1999 the chair was painted red. Photo from the Manitou Springs Arts Council.

Sculpture in Manitou Springs, date uncertain. Photo from the Manitou Springs Arts Council.