Collins Unbound

Do you like birds? Did The Birds of North America (see previous post) leave you wanting more? Well, you may be surprised to learn that the Archives & Special Collections is actually full of avian-related literature! The Speaking Parrots: A Scientific Manual by Dr. Karl Russ is a riveting text full of every parrot-related concern imaginable. From purchase, to food, to taming, training, health, and disease, this book has everything a parrot owner or bird enthusiast needs to know. With an emphasis on companionship and enchanting parrot linguistics, Dr. Russ’ scientific manual goes in-depth, highlighting the typical behavior, appearance, special diets, treatment of illness, etc. of over 100 different parrot species (and the illustrations are gorgeous). He makes it difficult not to fall in love with these beautiful creatures, as he so clearly has!

Sneak Peek:

“No other bird kept alone as a speaker will take in a higher degree the position of friend and companion to man than a parrot.”

“In captivity [macaws] are exceedingly healthy and hardy, and, at the same time, good-tempered and affectionate; but, on the other hand, a macaw, when vicious, is extremely dangerous… [A macaw], where it is sometimes wrongly treated by attendants and very frequently teased by the public, may become an incorrigible screamer and a really vicious bird. The macaws learn to say many words, often whole sentences, with a loud, powerful, but usually an indistinct utterance. In capacity for speech they are, on the whole, a long way behind the Grey Parrots and Amazons, as well as the Alexandrine Parrakeet, which is more nearly related to them; although otherwise they are indeed very intelligent birds.”

The Archives & Special Collections is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 1:00-3:00 p.m. or by appointment.

By Monica Patterson

Sometime last month, an interactive version of Hieronymous Bosch’s “Garden of Earthly Delights” was released as its own website as part of a documentary. Now, I remembered that I’d spent a while staring at a book about this painting before and wondering what it all meant, so I had to go hunt it down again. Our copy was put together by Jacqueline and Maurice Guillaud, along with Isabel Mateo Gómez. This copy of Hieronymous Bosch: the Garden of Earthly Delights was published in 1989, with a preface of a historical explanation of the work. The rest of the book is comprised of close-ups printed on onionskin, interspersed with poetry. The onionskin gives the artwork a matte texture, and my personal favorite section with this effect is the outer panels of the triptych, which feature the planet in a sphere – which has been postulated to be the creation of the Earth on the third day, before the sun and moon were created. I recommend both the book and the website, since both contain different contextual information, and nothing really compares to being able to flip through a book.

The Archives & Special Collections is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 1:00-3:00 p.m. or by appointment.

By: Morgan Ford

The construction of the field house additions is getting closer and closer to being finished. It has been fun to watch the development of the fitness area and the aquatic center and soon we will be able to use them. With all of these new things appearing at the field house, I could not help but wonder when the field house was built. After looking at some pictures, I found that the groundbreaking was in 1948. The pictures on the left show a drawing of what the field house was supposed to look like and also the field house during construction. Check out this photo and more of the construction of the field house by going online to A Sound Past. The drawing shows that the stadium would be built next to the field house, but, as we know, it was later built across the street. That area, though, is now where the aquatic center will stand. After almost seventy years, the field house is getting a much needed makeover.

The Archives & Special Collections is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 1:00-3:00 p.m. or by appointment.

By Sierra Scott