University of Illinois Rare Book & Manuscript Library

10/21/2026

Join us on Thursday, November 12 from 3-5 pm for a talk by Dr. Hazel Wilkinson (University of Birmingham), titled "Decoding the Page: Emblems, Ornaments, and Early Modern Reading."

This event will highlight the collaborative project involving Emblematica (University of Illinois), a digital library of emblem books, and Compositor (University of Birmingham), a database of printers’ ornaments. In her lecture, Dr. Wilkinson will explore her hypothesis that “emblem-literacy” caused readers to engage with ornamented books in ways previously unaccounted-for in scholarship.

This event is free and open to all. Refreshments will be served.

10/13/2026

Join us on Tuesday, October 27 from 3-5 pm for a talk by Dr. Ann Blair (Harvard) titled, "The Long History of Amanuenses in Europe, from Antiquity to the Digital Age."

The techniques for making texts have changed across multiple media and historical contexts since antiquity, but a regular feature of the work of authors and scholars through all those changes is the reliance on helpers or amanuenses. In her lecture, Dr. Blair will discuss the factors that have made them both invisible and occasionally visible, the kind of work they did, and offer some examples of their trajectories in different time periods.

This event is free and all are welcome to attend. Copies of Dr. Blair's book will be available for purchase.

10/05/2026

Today we celebrate ! Begun in 2012, this holiday commemorates the release date of Bond's first cinematic appearance (in Dr. No.) on October 5, 1962. That is, if you don't count the 1954 live TV adaptation of Casino Royale, which RBML does have a script for (MS Q. VanBlaricum 0609)! Join in the celebration with a look at a few "firsts" in the world of James Bond.

Introduced in the May 1959 issue of Cosmopolitan, “Quantum of Solace” is the first Bond short story to appear in print in either Great Britain or the United States. It would later be published in book form in the collection, For Your Eyes Only (1960). This version features beautiful color illustrations by Bob Peak, who would go on to produce artwork for two films in the Bond film series.

“The Living Daylights” made its debut in the inaugural issue of The Sunday Times Colour Section, which launched in February 1962. This short story or “novelette” would later be published in book form in the collection of Bond short stories, Oc*****sy and the Living Daylights (1966).

Lastly, “Goldfinger” is an abridged version of the novel of the same name, appearing in the July 1964 issue of Saga: The Magazine for Men and published in anticipation of the upcoming film release. This was the novel’s first appearance in an American periodical and the first US illustrated edition. The gorgeous illustrations are by renowned pulp artist Barye Phillips.

Happy James Bond Day! How are you celebrating?

Shelfmarks:
Quantum of solace – Q. VanBlaricum 0712
The living daylights – Q. VanBlaricum 0702
Goldfinger – Q. VanBlaricum 0730

09/29/2026

Congratulations to our Velde Graduate Fellowship recipients for 2026-2027! Read more about their projects in our new blog post: https://wordpress.library.illinois.edu/rbx/2026/09/29/velde-graduate-fellows/

09/21/2026

Today we celebrate the birthday of English novelist and essayist, H.G. Wells (1866-1946)! Here we have a letter written to his mother, Sarah, in 1892, in which Wells describes how he spent his 26th birthday, and a picture of the two outside Spade House circa 1904.

Shelfmarks:
H.G. Wells letter to Sarah Wells (1892) - H.G. Wells papers, A07-020
Photo of H.G. Wells and his mother, Sarah (circa 1904) - A07-020

09/16/2026

Exciting news! RBML was featured on WGN-TV this morning in their interview with Michael VanBlaricum, who discussed the Michael L. VanBlaricum Ian Fleming and Bondiana collection, and the Ian Fleming Foundation collection.

Watch the interview at the link below!

The Rare Book and Manuscript Library at University of Illinois hold...

09/09/2026

Join us on Thursday, September 24 from 3-5 pm for the opening of our new exhibit, "I could people the hours with creations": Celebrating Mary Shelley's Frankenstein!

This exhibit provides context for the writing of Frankenstein (1818) and examines its cultural impact in the years since publication. Curator Lynne Thomas will present brief remarks and refreshments will be served.

09/03/2026

RBML will be closed on Monday, September 7 in honor of . We will reopen with our regular hours on Tuesday, September 8.

This book of poetry (circa 1963-1965), written by Local 1199 Drug & Hospital Union organizer and educational director Marshall Dubin, offers reflections on the strikes held by New York hospital workers in 1959 and 1962.

Shelfmark:
Talking with my feet; memoirs of a very real strike in a mythical institution herein called "Suffren Hospital" (circa 1963-1965) - Modern Poetry 811 D8521t

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