Politicians, Books, and Music!
Week two is here!
I’m continuing my tradition of Thursday exploration. On my day off I’ve met with a friend, gone to the zoo, and explored 14th street. I’ve finally landed at “The Den”, a coffee shop that has it all: exposed brick, local art, and free wi-fi!
Lots has been happening at the Library this week! Last Friday, a couple of Italian congressmen stopped by. For visits like this, the librarian who specializes in the corresponding country sets up a kind of display of materials from that country. For these congressman, Lucia, the Italian specialist, gathered together some of the Library’s rare Italian materials. The display included a copy of Dante’s Inferno published in 1485. Books like this, printed before the 1500s are called incunabulums. This particular copy was huge; its cover was green with intricate gold engravings, it had intricately printed script, and featured hand-drawn engravings, the first illustrations of Dante’s inferno. It was truly a sight to see, and the Italian congressmen were really impressed.
I’ve continued work on my three projects throughout the week. The first two are slow-going and tedious, but their end is in sight. I’m having a lot of fun with my last project, hunting for materials from French WW1 songs. It’s been harder than I expected to find French recordings of these popular songs; many of them were recorded in America, but not in France. I’ve had a bit more luck in the sheet music department. I found sheet music from a song called “Adieu, Guillaume”, printed in 1916. It’s a French song about kicking the emperor of Germeny, Wilhelm II, from his throne. It’s got a great visual on the cover and funny lyrics to boot! The English translation reads, “Your, oh so cultured soldiers,/ Have fled before our boys/ You puppet with broken feathers/ You’re one with your German toys”. Pretty harsh!
Cover of the sheet music for “Adieu, Guillaume”
Before this gets into the exhibit, it has to be vetted by the conservation team, and approved by the exhibition division. We’ve got a few more hurdles to cross, but hopefully it will get there!
That’s about all I have to report for this week! I hope you all had a good memorial day, and I’ll write again on Thursday!
