By Maggie McDonald
Indiana University’s Lilly Library is an ark full to the brim with treasures—the kind of treasures that deserve to be shared. ILS staff spent an afternoon with Head of Teaching and Research Maureen Maryanski, who shared some pieces of the Lilly’s unique collection, goals for teaching and outreach, and bright future plans.
The Lilly Library was established by Indiana University in 1960, when more than 20,000 books and 17,000 manuscripts were donated by Josiah Kirby Lilly Jr.. This gift is still the foundation of the library’s holdings, which now include medieval manuscripts, literary classics, children’s books, archives of film and radio, and even some artifacts, including Oscars, cuneiform tablets, and a printing press.
The Lilly holds materials that represent different stories and lives, and its librarians serve as their custodians and interpreters. Thus, they take on a powerful role and become instrumental in deciding which voices are represented in collections and exhibitions. In recent years, Lilly staff have moved to make sure more women and Black, indigenous, and people of color are a visible part of the stories on display.
Two of the items shared by Maryanski particularly reflected this charge–a recipe book passed down through several generations of women and a recently-acquired collection of Black Panther newspapers. Objects like these give their beholders the opportunity not only to read the text of a primary source document, but to see how the object itself was used by those who first created and interacted with it. Is it well-worn and creased from being carried around by past owners? How many different handwritings are scrawled in margins? What may have been lost or kept by those whose hands these items passed through before our own and why?
Several mail-in subscription ads had been trimmed from the Black Panther newspapers, which sold for 25 cents an issue at the time of their publication. Writers also kept track of stories from across the nation and the world, as one huge tenet of the Black Panther organization was education. In addition to news about court cases, organizational programming, and calls to action for members, the Panthers also used their newspaper to connect different dimensions of the local and global struggle with headlines like “Capitalism Plus Racism Breeds Fascism”.
The recipe book, meanwhile, was full of suggestions for cooking meat, remedies for day-to-day ailments and, of course, records of who had shared each with the book’s keeper. These additions make this book much more than just a compendium of tips and tricks used by women, but also a record of community, the roles women played in family and society at the time, what sorts of foods were available and eaten for regular meals or special occasions, and attitudes towards medicine, among other things.
The trend of handwritten documents used day-to-day continued when Maryanski retrieved a southern Massachusetts whaling ship’s log from 1844 to 1848. The log, kept daily by the ship’s first mate, details the life and journey of the crew, including the whales that they took in, which were documented with stamps and blots of red ink.
Another notable collection donated to the Lilly is the 8,000 miniature books once owned by Ruth Adomeit and bequeathed to the library upon her death in 1996, making them the basis of the Lilly’s current collection of around 16,000 miniatures. While we did not have time to see all 16,000 miniatures, we did get a quick look at a framed selection of “the world’s smallest books”, which, together, display remarkable craftsmanship, innovation, and technique—and remind us of the capacity of books to delight and surprise.
The Lilly’s collection is not limited to books and manuscripts—though yes, they do have a lot of those. Objects and ephemera are also well-represented, which Maryanski demonstrated when she unboxed Rita Hayworth’s cosmetic case complete with her bobby pins and monogrammed makeup jars, an Oscar won by John Ford for The Grapes of Wrath, and a mourning brooch containing Edgar Allan Poe’s hair.
We ended the afternoon on a high note with a pair of notable tomes, one selected for its global renown and one chosen as a personal favorite by Maryanski. Shakespeare’s first folio–printed in 1623–made a grand appearance, embossed red binding and gilded edges on display. This posthumous crowd-sourced volume, which collects all of Shakespeare’s works, is probably one of the most well-known rare books in the world, and this particular edition marks one of four in the 17th century to go to print. Corrections were made as it was printed, which also means each copy is unique.
Not to be outdone, a first edition copy of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft held its own next to the bard with its linen paper and original binding. It’s easy to imagine its original owner–perhaps a woman–reading it and encountering for the first time Wollstonecraft’s powerful and trailblazing arguments for the empowerment of women, then passing it on to others in her circle and engaging in spirited, enlightened discussions.
Two phrases that have grown popular with Lilly staff are worth bearing in mind for anyone interested in learning more–“You are special enough for special collections,” and, as Maryanski reminded us before we headed out for the day, “All you need is curiosity.”
Those interested in visiting the Lilly or learning more about its collections can stop by during regular hours or reach out to staff via email at liblilly@iu.edu.
