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Rosie

@rarebookrosie.bsky.social
60 followers 89 following 37 posts

Librarian/Archivist, wife, & Rottweiler mom. Oddities & curiosities collector 💀🪲 Art history, natural history, & material culture ✨

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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Some frighteningly festive materials pulled for a class visit to Special Collections this morning. Happy Halloween! 🎃💀
Liber Chronicarum, 1493. 
“Nothing is better than Death, nor anything worse than an unfair Life,
O great Death, you are men’s eternal rest from labor,
You relax the yoke for the aged, God willing,
And remove the heavy fetters from the necks of the vanquished,
You lift exile and break open the doors of prison,
You rescue from indignities, assigning good things to the just by lots,
And you remain unmoved, implacable by any technique,
On that day preset from the beginning, all these things you command
the peaceful soul to bear, the end of its labors having been promised,
Without you the life of the suffering is a perennial prison.”De Humani Corporis Fabrica, 1555.Tales of Terror, 1801. First edition, Sadleir-Black Collection of Gothic Novels.Fantasy & Nonsense: Poems, 2001. Bound in full brown calf with shark teeth on all edges.
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
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.
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Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library @rareuva.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
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....
A screenshot from working with Capture One software showing a 4”x5” black-and-white film target and object, content, and speculative artist’s intent versions of two plates featuring African American women.
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
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.
Antique treasuresGumbo the Rottie posing with his new placemat
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
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...
Tintype double portrait of two unidentified soldiers, c. 1861-1865, Nau PT0321“The Union Now and Forever,” ninth plate ruby ambrotype portrait of musician Edwin Ordway, 1st Vermont Heavy Artillery Band, Nau PA0449Sixth plate ambrotype portrait of Edwin R. Pierce, 42nd New York Infantry, Nau PA00388Carte de visite of a 30th Wisconsin soldier with a Native American headdress (Sioux), likely obtained during the Dakota War of 1862 in Minnesota, Nau PC0117
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
The Acherontia atropos specimen I pinned in last night’s entomology class, just in time for spooky season 💀
A pinned African death's-head hawkmoth specimen
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American Library Association @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
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. www.ala.org/bbooks.
BANNED BOOKS WEEK Oct. 5-11, 2025. Censorship is so 1984 - Read for Your Rights. ala.org/bbooks. American Library Association
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Denver Museum of Nature & Science @denvermuseumns.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
🕵️‍♀️🦬 Mystery solved! Our missing 650-pound Museum bison has returned after 50 years. Learn about its journey back to the Museum in #Catalyst. dmns.mobi/47bCc43
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Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library @rareuva.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
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”
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Tonight’s entomology class: Heteropteryx dilatata 🌿
Pinned Heteropteryx dilatata specimen
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
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...
Manuscript frontispiece of the ledger“Mrs. Van Lew, postmistress of Richmond, and a great friend of the prisoners.”“The Prisoners’ Song”Some sort of written code by a POW
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
@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.
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University of Virginia Library @uvalibrary.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
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)
news.virginia.edu
Exploring the ABCs of the UVA Library
A yearlong exhibition showcases nearly 200 items, spotlighting rare books, artifacts and surprising objects from the collection.
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University of Virginia Library @uvalibrary.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
"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...
Portrait of John Unsworth in a suit, standing in sunlight with a shadowed background.
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Papilio ulysses 🦋 I pinned in this evening’s entomology class and the bobcat skull I won in the class raffle!
Pinned Papilio ulysses specimenA bobcat skull
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Robbie Richardson @londonmikmaq.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
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.
An animal hide covered in blue felt with a floor plan of a museum drawn on it
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
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!”
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
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.
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Jordan Maison @jordanmaison.com · 01/09/2025
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.
Graham Greene in Dances with WolvesGraham Greene in MaverickGraham Greene in The Last of UsGraham Greene in Marvel’s Echo
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
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.
1st single vol. ed. of “Watchmen” (1987)Miniature comic booksDeath Note black edition (2011)Manuscript of Stephen Crane’s “The Red Badge of Courage” in his own hand (c. 1894), next to a graphic novel adaptation (2008)
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
First class of the semester visits Special Collections tomorrow AM. Looking forward to working with them with graphic novels!
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BOO! k HistoriAAAH 🎃 @book-historia.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
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.
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Jake Calhoun @jjacobcalhoun.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
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?...
youtu.be
Contours of Community: Digitally Mapping Brown's Cove
YouTube video by Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
I made this to express my frustration 🙃 #civilwar #kenburns #pbs
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Post a picture of when your pet was little
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
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
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Jake Calhoun @jjacobcalhoun.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
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.
latimes.com
California hopes law from bloody era of U.S. history can rein in Trump's use of troops
California’s court fight to reign in the president's use of troops in Los Angeles now hangs on a 19th century law with grim origins and a Spaghetti Western-sounding moniker.
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
My recently finished entomology pieces, Goliathus orientalis and Danaus plexippus. 🪲🦋
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
#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
Image of the invitation and program for Darwin’s funeralImage of Charles Darwin’s grave in Westminster Abbey
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Mourning locket containing the interwoven hair of George and Martha Washington, late 18th-early 19th century #ushistory #georgewashington
Front of the locket with enameled work showing a woman grieving at the tomb of WashingtonInterwoven hair of George and Martha Washington under class on the back of the locket
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
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.
Image of Hayagriva with mandala of Amitayus in union. Mineral pigment on cotton, late 18th Century.Tshering Chhe Nga. Mineral pigment on cotton, 17th century. 

Stacks in the Tibetan CollectionTibetan children’s books
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
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.
Book binding depicting Augustus I, Elector of Saxony (1526-86). In 1566 Jakob Krause (1526-85), the most prominent German Renaissance binder, was called to Augustus’ court. In Krause’s workshop, more than 700 volumes are known to have been bound for Augustus. This binding was likely made by one of Krause’s assistants.Title page featuring the printer’s device of Andreas Wechelus (d. 1581). Wechelus was a printer and bookseller in Frankfurt from 1574-1581. In 1572, Wechelus escaped the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre thanks to Hubert Languet, a representative of Augustus I.
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Sunday night Io moth entomology class at Rest In Pieces #rva
Pinned Io mothMural outside of Rest In Pieces featuring the Grim Reaper and a tombstone
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SHNH @sochistnathist.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
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)
The title page of Historia animalium showing a nice picture of a fish. One of the pages of Historia animalium showing the hippo, with an illustration of one biting a crocodile. Another page of Historia animalium showing some curious illustraions of fish men.
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
For #InternationalDayoftheSeal, “Phoca” from Conrad Gessner’s “Historiae animalium,” volume 2, 1554. 🦭 #naturalhistory #rarebooks
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
That Friday feeling…💀🎉 Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. @rareuva.bsky.social
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
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...
louisianaoldstatecapitol.org
The Rise of Black Militias in Reconstruction-Era Louisiana |…
Join historian Dr. John Jacob Calhoun at the Old State Capitol for a deep-dive into the impact on the 1870 election and the fight for political power.
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Cartouche from Emanuel Bowen’s “An Accurate Map of North America,” 1755 🐊
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Spent a beautiful afternoon walking on Grounds with Gumbo 🧡💙 #uva
A Rottweiler wearing a green bow tie sits on the Lawn of the University of Virginia’s Academical Village with the Rotunda in the background.
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Ptolemy’s “Geography”, Strasbourg, 1513. @rareuva.bsky.social
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
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.
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Buffalo Bull from George Catlin's “Souvenir of the North American Indians.”
A Buffalo Bull, grazing on the American Prairies. This noble animal, which supplies the greater portion of the North American Indians with the means of subsistence, differs widely from the Asiatic Buffalo, and resembles more closely the Bison of Europe, now nearly, if not quite, extinct.
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Rosie @rarebookrosie.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
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
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