Curated by Professor Gwynn Dujardin, Queen’s Department of English Language and Literature

June 1 – August 31, 2010

W.D. Jordan Special Collections and Music Library
Second Floor, Douglas Library
93 University Avenue (at Union)
M-F 8:30-4:30 excluding holidays
 
As computer technology now enables anyone with internet to contribute their insight into the English lexicon, this exhibition traces the history of the English dictionary, from medieval glossaries and Renaissance hard word lists, through the painstaking efforts of Samuel Johnson, James Murray, and Noah Webster, up to English-Arabic dictionaries produced after 9/11 and wiki websites in perpetual production online.

How did the dictionary emerge in England, and evolve over the next four centuries? How do dictionaries both reflect and shape the culture in which they are produced? How do English dictionaries differ in England, Canada, the US and other English-speaking countries, and how do they represent the language of national and transnational subcultures?  Answering these questions and more, the exhibit displays over 50 volumes from Queen’s collections, featuring:

• Rare publications from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
• First editions of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language, the New English Dictionary (aka the Oxford English Dictionary), and Noah Webster’s Compendium of American English
• Volumes from Queen’s extensive collection of indigenous language dictionaries
• Specialized dictionaries of slang and regional English
• An interactive computer terminal with online dictionary sites

The exhibition opens to accompany the English Dictionaries in Cultural and Historical Context Conference (June 3-5, 2010), organized by Queen’s Department of English Language and Literature and the Strathy Language Unit.

Professor Dujardin believes the exhibit will appeal to more than local bookworms and armchair lexicographers. “This exhibition tells us what has mattered about English around the globe for the past four centuries,” she says.

Visitors are welcome during library hours.  Guided tours may be arranged by contacting:

Gwynn Dujardin
dujardin@queensu.ca
(613) 533-6000 ext. 74442

Queen’s Library has acquired the personal library of the late Robertson Davies, the celebrated Canadian author, playwright, theatre critic and journalist.

Davies is one of Canada’s best known and most popular authors.  His writings include Murther and Walking Spirits, The Lyre of Orpheus, and the award-winning Deptford Trilogy.

“Robertson Davies had a long association with Queen’s” says Principal Daniel Woolf.  “In addition to the honorary degree conferred upon him in 1962, he studied here in the early 1930’s and cultivated his roots in journalism as an active contributor to The Queen’s Journal.  The University is delighted to provide a new home for his remarkable personal library in its entirety.”

The collection comes to Queen’s through a combined purchase and gift arrangement.  Funds to secure the acquisition were provided by the Chancellor Richardson Memorial Fund, which serves to enhance scholarly research and teaching across a broad spectrum of Canadian studies at Queen’s.

“The collection reflects Davies’ deep interests in literature, literary criticism, art, music, theatre, theatre criticism, theatre biography and autobiography, film, drama, history and psychology,” says Professor Brian Osborne, Chair of the Chancellor Richardson Memorial Fund Committee.  “In addition to numerous first editions and signed copies, many of the volumes are annotated in Davies’ hand.   It is truly a remarkable collection, offering fascinating insights into the mind of one of Canada’s great literary luminaries.”

Housed in the W. D. Jordan Special Collections and Music Library, located on the second floor of Douglas library, Davies’ broad organization of the collection has also been maintained.  The items will be shelved according to room order in which they were kept at Windhover, the Davies’ country home in Caledon Hills.

“This collection is quite unlike any other authors’ library I know of” says Paul Wiens, University Librarian.  “We are thrilled to be able to make it available to students and scholars, who will undoubtedly find the items in the collection tremendously fascinating.”

The W.D. Jordan Special Collections and Music Library is open to the public.  Special collections items may be viewed in the Library’s reading room upon request; scholars requiring access to browse the full Davies collection may apply for an appointment.  A public exhibition of items from the collection will take place later this year.

Additional information is available at: library.queensu.ca/robertsondavies.  Please consult the library website for hours and additional information on the W.D. Jordan Special Collections and Music Library.

A Dickens of a Holiday

Selected holiday items and Dickens’ volumes from Special Collections, on display in Stauffer Library through the holiday period.

The Life and Work of Dr. F.R.C. Clarke

A memorial display in honour of Dr. Clarke, Professor Emeritus and former Director of Queen’s School of Music from 1981-1991, including a selection of his compositions, writings, records and ephemera from the Jordan Library collections.  Dr Clarke was a highly respected church organist, conductor, composer, educator, and expert on Dr. Healey Willan.  On display until further notice in the W.D. Jordan Special Collections and Music Library, 2nd floor of Douglas Library.

Win up to $2,500 in cash and prizes for expressing your love of books!

Canada’s first national Book-Collecting Contest is open to residents under 30.  To enter, write a 1,500- to 2,000- word essay describing your own book collection and explaining why it is special (it does not have to be expensive or rare). Entries must be postmarked by March 2, 2009.

The contest is sponsored by the Bibliographical Society of Canada, an academic society founded in 1946 with a mandate to promote bibliographical research in its widest sense. Today, this includes the history of printing and publishing, and all other aspects of the past, present, and future of book and print culture. The Society has a particular focus on Canadiana, but not exclusively so.  Visit their website for contest details.

Jordan Special Collections and Music Library is pleased to announce the launch of a new exhibit in the Library: Palladio in Print – An Exhibition of Books from Queen’s University Library and Private Collectors in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Andrea Palladio.

The exhibit, which opens from 4-5:30 pm on March 27, 2008, will continue through to October 31, 2008.

Welcome (back) to Queen’s!

As a small token of welcome and well wishes for 07/08, the Library is running two draws for shiny new iPod Shuffles. Graduate and professional students will find entry cards in the complimentary tote bags distributed by SGPS – be sure to drop by the SGPS office on the ground floor of JDUC to collect your tote! Entry cards for the undergraduate draw will be available from the Library booth at the AMS Sidewalk Sale on Friday, September 7.

In order to qualify for the draw, you must correctly answer a “skill-testing” question on the entry card for your draw. If you’re not sure about the correct answer, it’s ok to ask! (Hint for graduate and professional students: ALL of the services indicated are provided by librarians at Queen’s. Check with your departmental liaison librarian to find out how she or he can help you save time in your research and teaching.)

Best wishes for success over the coming academic year. We look forward to seeing you at the Library.

Queen’s Library now subscribes to the new, online version of American Book Prices Current (replacing the former CD-ROM version available only in the Jordan Library).

American Book Prices Current is an index to books, manuscripts, autographs, maps and broadsides sold at auction in North America, the UK and Europe.  The online version covers from September 1975 to the present and is updated monthly. 

For more information:  read the vendor’s product description.

Through the Library’s new subscription to Naxos Music Library, the Queen’s community now has online audio access to sound recordings from the complete catalogues of BIS, Chandos, CPO, Hänssler, Hungaroton, Marco Polo, Naxos and selected titles of other leading independent labels, with more labels being added from time to time.  The collection covers all genres of music, from classical to jazz/folk/blues to world/folk to Chinese music to pop and rock. 

Also included are:

• comprehensive liner notes
• opera synopses and libretti
• composer and artist biographies and other essential information

Note: Queen’s subscription allows for 100 simultaneous connections.  Extensive user instructions and user guides are linked to the Naxos Music Library main page.

Books signed out on term loan are due Tuesday, May 15th and can be returned to any library on campus. Books may be renewed online or at a circulation desk,  provided they are not required by other users, and will then be due on September 15, 2007.

The following libraries will be CLOSED for Heritage Day — Monday, February 19th:

Stauffer Library
Education Library

Douglas Library Building:

• Engineering and Science Library
• Jordan Special Collections and Music Library

The Bracken Health Sciences Library and the Lederman Law Library will be open, though with restricted hours:

Bracken Health Sciences Library:

Monday, February 19th: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m

Lederman Law Library:

Sunday, February 18th: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m
Monday, February 19th: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m