Beinecke Library at Yale University (9/26/2023)

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

This leg is our 11th trip related to the Corps of Discovery Expedition led by Lewis & Clark. We had learned that the maps used and created on the expedition were housed at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of the Yale University Library in New Haven, CT.

This tower is actually the entrance to the
Payne Whitney Gymnasium (1932, by
John Russell Pope in Gothic Revival style)

Book and Snake Tomb (1901) is said to be the most perfect
reproduction of a Greek Temple in the country, even having
marble plates for its roof; the building is the clubhouse
of a Yale University secret society

World War I Memorial to Yale Men (1926-1927)

The Noguchi Sculpture Garden (1963, by Isamu Noguchi
and Gordon Bunshaft) is meant to resemble a Japanese
Zen Garden, with balancing of the cosmic forces
represented by a circle (sun and energy), a pyramid
(earth and history), and the poised cube (chance)

Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library
(1963, by Gordon Bunshaft)

"Poster" on the Beinecke Library

The translucent exterior panels of
the Beinecke Library

A main feature of the Beinecke Library
is the six-story glass tower of book stacks,
including the first books from the
original 1742 Yale Library

The Special Exhibit was Art, Protest, and the Archives

A copy of a countercultural/
underground newspaper

Works by Audre Lord, a Black American
writer, professor, philosopher, intersectional
feminist, poet and civil rights activist

On permanent display are two of the four
volumes of Birds of America (1827-1838,
by John James Audubon)

The open page of the second
volume of Birds of America (KSS)

Also on permanent display is a one of two volumes of the
Gutenberg Bible, the first Bible printed from movable type

In January 2023, the world's earliest known printed
text that can be reliably dated, joined the Gutenberg Bible
in its case; the Japanese Hyakumantō darani/woodblock
print (c 764-770) of a Buddhist Sutra on a scroll that was
kept in the miniature pagoda that is also displayed 

A poster (1968) protesting censorship on the French
 television channel ORTF shows the censored person
 wearing a Phrygian cap, which came to signify freedom
 and the pursuit of liberty during the American
Revolution and the French Revolution

After viewing the public areas of the Beinecke Library, we learned the rules for research, put everythng in a locker except our ID and paper, and went downstairs. I had already registered as a researcher, and for Kent to accompany me, he also had to register, which he did right then. I had reserved the Lewis and Clark Maps, and the William Clark Field Notes. Apparently, Yale staff has priority, and the Clark Field Notes were not available for us.

At this time, we cannot put our photos of the maps in the blog, as that is considered publishing. I will have to check on copyrights.

Next: Wave Hill Public Garden.