University of Illinois Rare Book & Manuscript Library

08/28/2026

A special congrats to Cait and Chloe! Great work!

Congratulations to the 2026 Leab Award recipient for Innovation in Design and Innovation in Inclusion and Representation Print Catalog Categories: Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois Rare Book & Manuscript Library in Urbana, Illinois, for "'We are each other's Harvest': Gwendolyn Brooks and the Formation of Black Literary Canon" by Cait Coker, designed by Chloe Ottenhoff. Learn more about this catalog on ACRL Insider - https://bit.ly/4gEJuTy



University Library at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

08/26/2026

Today's highlights the John Starr Stewart Ex Libris collection, which contains approximately 1500 bookplates that span roughly 1725-1953. These engraved plates were used to indicate the ownership of a book to its reader, often using the Latin phrase "Ex Libris," which translates to "from the library of."

(And for those of us especially interested in book history, the bookplate was a successor to the book curse, which we discussed in our post on January 28!)

Shelfmark:
John Starr Stewart Ex Libris collection - Q. 097 Ex96
https://go.library.illinois.edu/StewartDigitalCollection

08/19/2026

Welcome (back) to campus, Illini! We are always excited to see new and familiar faces, so please consider stopping by RBML, whether it's your first visit or your 100th.

RBML will return to its academic year operating hours on Monday, August 24. Visit our website for the most up-to-date information: www.library.illinois.edu/rbx/

08/12/2026

The Perseid meteor shower will be peaking tonight and early tomorrow morning across the sky, but just how long has humanity been talking about this celestial phenomenon? ☄

The earliest recorded mention of the Perseids come from the "Hou Hanshu" or "Book of the Later Han" in 36 CE. Although the shower wouldn't be scientifically studied until the mid-1800s, it was well known in early Christian tradition as the "Tears of Saint Lawrence," as the shower fell near August 10, the canonical date of his martyrdom.

Under the order of Roman emperor Valerian in 258 CE, Saint Lawrence was tied to a gridiron and slowly roasted over hot coals. Some accounts state (such as the one given in John Foxe's Actes and Monuments (1570), pictured here) that during his torture he insolently boasted that he was roasted enough on one side and needed to be turned over if he was to be well cooked. Fittingly, he would go on to become the patron saint of chefs.

Enjoy the Perseids tonight!

Shelfmarks:
Actes and monuments (1570) - Q. 272 F83a1570
Legenda aurea (1527) - IUQ01379

08/06/2026

Alfred, Lord Tennyson was born in 1809! One of the most celebrated Victorian poets, Tennyson’s best-known works include “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” “Ulysses,” and “Claribel.” Tennyson’s medievalist poetry based on Arthurian legend was highly influential on nineteenth-century art. Many artists of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, and John William Waterhouse painted depictions of scenes from Tennyson’s poetry.

This post features some of engraver Gustave Doré’s illustrations of Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King,” a retelling of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Also featured are published photographs of Tennyson taken by his friend, Julia Margaret Cameron. Tennyson’s enduring legacy provides great insight into the Victorian literary and artistic world and its broader cultural impact.

Shelfmarks:
“Enid” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1869), Q. 821 T25en
“Alfred, Lord Tennyson and his friends” by Julia Margaret Cameron (1893), F. B. T312ri

07/30/2026

Today is the , which celebrates the bonds people make with one another around the world!

Pictured here is May I Bring a Friend? (1964), a children's book by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers about a boy with many animal friends. The colorful illustrations by Italian artist Beni Montresor earned the book a Caldecott Medal in 1965.

Be sure to show your appreciation for your friends today!

Shelfmark:
May I bring a friend? (1964) - SE. D444M

07/22/2026

Need to add something new to your game night rotation? Look no further than today's : A New, Moral, and Entertaining Game of the Reward of Merit (1801).

Invented by George Fox of London, The Reward of Merit sought to instruct its young players about aspects of Victorian morality. If a player landed on a tile depicting a "virtuous" figure, such as the hardworking "Ploughman," they would be rewarded. If a player landed on a "mischievous" figure, such as the untrustworthy "Story Teller," they would be punished. Notable is the game's use of a teetotum instead of a die, which was associated with the "vice" of gambling.

These images show a portion of the original linen game board and our playable facsimile!

Shelfmark:
A new, moral, and entertaining game of the reward of merit (1801) - IUZ00383

07/16/2026

Happy !

World Snake Day is a global awareness day dedicated to appreciating the diversity, beauty, and ecological importance of snakes. Snakes feature as both symbols and specimens in our holdings, so slither on down to RBML and check them out! 🐍

Shelfmarks:
A Snake in the Glass (1988) - Collins 2257
Vlyssis Aldrouandi patricii Bononiensis Serpentum, et draconu[m] historiae libro duo ([1640]) - IUQ00259
Historiae naturalis de quadrupetibus libri : cm aeneis figuris ([circa 1650-1653]) - IUQ01399

07/01/2026

RBML will be closed on Friday, July 3 in observance of , and will reopen with our modified summer hours on Monday, July 6.

In view of the 250th anniversary, here we have a copy of the Declaration of Independence (1776), published in miniature by Achille J. St Onge for the U.S. Bicentennial (1976). 🎆



Shelfmark:
The Declaration of Independence (1976) - Collins 0904