Some frighteningly festive materials pulled for a class visit to Special Collections this morning. Happy Halloween! 🎃💀

Drawings of Civil War soldiers from the childhood scrapbook of artist Duncan Smith (1877-1934). Smith was the son of UVA prof. Francis H. Smith and grandson of prof. Gessner Harrison. These drawings were likely done while Smith lived on the Lawn, and convey the Lost Cause ideology of the time.

New on our blog: Senior Imaging Specialist Stacey Evans reflects on the process of re-digitizing African American portraits in the Holsinger Studio Collection for our 2022-23 Visions of Progress: exhibition. Read her post here: smallnotes.library.virginia.edu/2025/10/21/h....

Treasures I found at the antique expo today: stereoscope and stereographs, a pelican horse brass, and mother of pearl and tortoise shell calling card cases! Plus, a placemat for Gumbo’s bowls repurposed from an old oriental rug.

Some fantastic images (apologies for the glare) from the John L. Nau III Civil War History Collection we shared with the American Civil Wars class during their visit to @rareuva.bsky.social yesterday. Explore the collection here: archives.lib.virginia.edu/repositories...

The Acherontia atropos specimen I pinned in last night’s entomology class, just in time for spooky season 💀

Censorship is so 1984. Read for your rights. Today kicks off #BannedBooksWeek, and this year's theme reminds us that the right to read belongs to all of us, that censorship has no place in contemporary society, and that we must defend our rights. https://www.ala.org/bbooks.

🕵️‍♀️🦬 Mystery solved! Our missing 650-pound Museum bison has returned after 50 years. Learn about its journey back to the Museum in #Catalyst. https://dmns.mobi/47bCc43

Repost from @/abigailenjoysliterature on TikTok: “to this day, still one of the best days ever. this was one of the highlights of grad school. i yearn for access to special collections again oh my god. what’s the coolest book related artifact you’ve seen?? #reading #BookTok #literature #reader #fyp”

Tonight’s entomology class: Heteropteryx dilatata 🌿

In the American Civil Wars class visiting Special Collections today, students were greatly intrigued by a new acquisition: the James Thomas Watt Hairston Civil War prison ledger. archives.lib.virginia.edu/repositories...

@literaturegeek.bsky.social’s zine, “The Good Pets of UVA Library” (featuring my Gumbo), was used for instruction in Special Collections today. The students loved it! Thankful to have such great colleagues who work on fun projects.

New exhibition—the ABCs of the UVA Library! From Artists' Books to Zines, with 24 stops in between. (Actually more, as the article notes) This evening's event is a sold out full house, but the exhibition will be up for the academic year at @rareuva.bsky.social (with outposts in other libraries)

"I think the advice I would offer is to remember that leadership is a service role. Your job as a leader is to support the people who work for you, to protect them, to listen to them, & prioritize them." ARL Views with John Unsworth, UVA University Librarian 2016-2025 www.arl.org/blog/john-un...

Papilio ulysses 🦋 I pinned in this evening’s entomology class and the bobcat skull I won in the class raffle!

Tlingit artist Nicholas Galanin, “Architecture of return, escape (The British Museum)”, a deerskin map a floor plan of the British Museum and possible escape routes for various Indigenous cultural belongings held there.

This weekend, a researcher came into the reading room and asked if we had William Faulkner’s typewriter. They were surprised when we responded, “Yes! It’s right behind you!”

Newest addition to my collection, dating from the 1970s. This week I’ll be freezing and cleaning it to mitigate any pests, and then it will be good to mount! Rottweiler for scale.

RIP Graham Greene. Every time he popped up on screen when I was a kid, my mom would excitedly point him out for being an actual Native on the screen. Able to be deadly serious and infinitely hilarious (even in smaller roles like Last of Us), he ate up the screen. Nʌki’wah brother.

Materials from this morning’s class, including 1st ed. of “Watchmen,” a few miniature books, “Death Note,” and the original manuscript of “The Red Badge of Courage” in Stephen Crane’s hand paired with a graphic novel adaptation.

First class of the semester visits Special Collections tomorrow AM. Looking forward to working with them with graphic novels!

Hello, I’m a special collections librarian in a film. I can’t go two appearances without shushing someone, and I insist people handle the collections with white gloves. I use the Dewey Decimal System for the manuscripts. I am either a spinster or a bombshell.

I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to present on my team’s research into Brown’s Cove last night on behalf of the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society. If you missed it, you can watch the presentation via the link below! youtu.be/YxmUcgAmT0I?...

I made this to express my frustration 🙃 #civilwar #kenburns #pbs

Post a picture of when your pet was little

This document is 1 of only 26 known remaining copies of the first printed version of the Declaration of Independence, printed in Philadelphia on the night of July 4, 1776 by John Dunlap. The paper it was printed on bears the watermark of King George III. @rareuva.bsky.social

I recently spoke with Sonja Sharp at @latimes.com about the violent history of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, and its significance to Trump's use of federalized troops in Los Angeles. Check out the article to learn more.

My recently finished entomology pieces, Goliathus orientalis and Danaus plexippus. 🪲🦋

#OnThisDay in 1882, the funeral of naturalist #CharlesDarwin was held at #WestminsterAbbey. He is interred in the north aisle of the nave, not far from Sir Isaac Newton. Invitation and program for Darwin’s funeral, Albert & Shirley Small Special Collections Library

Mourning locket containing the interwoven hair of George and Martha Washington, late 18th-early 19th century #ushistory #georgewashington

Some exciting things from today’s @uvalibrary.bsky.social Tibetan Collection Open House. The collection was established in the early 1970s and is among the most comprehensive globally.

Came across this interesting binding in the stacks today depicting August I, Elector of Saxony, by an assistant of Jacob Krause. Text is Cicero’s Orations, printed in Frankfurt, 1582, by the press of Andreas Wechelus.

Sunday night Io moth entomology class at Rest In Pieces #rva

Swiss physician and naturalist Conrad Gessner was born #OTD in 1516. Considered one of the fathers of modern zoology and botany, he is perhaps best known for his monumental work Historia animalium. In it, he attempted to document every known animal at that time, including a few curve balls. (📸BHL)

For #InternationalDayoftheSeal, “Phoca” from Conrad Gessner’s “Historiae animalium,” volume 2, 1554. 🦭 #naturalhistory #rarebooks

That Friday feeling…💀🎉 Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. @rareuva.bsky.social

If you’re in Baton Rouge tomorrow, @jjacob05.bsky.social is giving a public lecture on Louisiana's Black Militias and the Election of 1870 at Louisiana’s Old State Capitol! louisianaoldstatecapitol.org/exhibits-eve...

Cartouche from Emanuel Bowen’s “An Accurate Map of North America,” 1755 🐊

Spent a beautiful afternoon walking on Grounds with Gumbo 🧡💙 #uva

Ptolemy’s “Geography”, Strasbourg, 1513. @rareuva.bsky.social

Materials from today’s Gothic literature class: “Tales of Terror” (1801) and advertising material for “The Bleeding Nun” (1817). Note how the figure’s face changes—it would have been used behind a candle to cast a frightening shadow on the wall.

Buffalo Bull from George Catlin's “Souvenir of the North American Indians.”

Today’s workplace wonder: First plate in v. 6 of “Recueil de Planches…” illustrating Diderot and d'Alembert’s Encyclopédie (this edition 1762-1772). @rareuva.bsky.social