Fascinating. Magical. Surprising. Even a brief power outage could not dampen the enthusiasm and curiosity of more than 300 visitors to the 2019 Recent Acquisitions Evening at the Wilson Special Collections Library on April 4.
As attendees circulated through the Fearrington Reading Room, they enjoyed an unprecedented encounter with rare and one-of-a-kind items from the collections. Every item on view had come to the Library during the preceding two years. Together, they demonstrated the depth and range that have made Wilson Library a global research destination and a point of pride for the University.
The impressive array was also a reminder of the countless ways that generous donors have contributed to learning, discovery and scholarship at the Library, helping to build these collections for the edification and enjoyment of all.
Miniature Quran published in Glasgow, ca. 1900. Purchased using funds from the William A. Whitaker Foundation Library Fund.
Recent Acquisitions Evening in the Fearrington Reading Room, Wilson Library on April 4, 2019.
Librarian Dawne Lucas and professor emeritus Michael McVaugh with Elizabeth Blackwell’s 18th-century Herbarium Blackwellianum. Gift of Kay Kyser and Emily Royster Howell Kyser.
Student visitors examine The Great Carolina Fried Chicken Map (2017). Gift of John Blythe.
Friends of the Library Board member Linda Butler and librarian Aaron Smithers with a 10” Sons of the Pioneers “instantaneous disc.” Gift of Wayne Perryman.
Graduate assistant Anicka Austin and student visitors view a pocket-sized medieval breviary. Purchased using the William A. Whitaker Foundation Library Fund.
Blossom Gardner with materials from the Dean Smith Collection. Gift of Linnea Smith.
