Chapin Library on Display
While the Chapin Library is in temporary quarters at the Southworth Schoolhouse, a few of its important holdings are on display at the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA).
The Founding Documents of the United States were lent to WCMA in early 2008, so that they could remain on public view pending the renovation of Stetson Hall, where the documents’ special “shrine” is located. These original printings of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, together with the September 1776 British reply to the Declaration and George Washington’s copy of The Federalist (1788), are part of a continuing exhibition at WCMA, Manifestos: American Dreams and Their Founding Documents. Complemented by examples of American art from Museum collections, the Chapin items are joined by a first printing of the Emancipation Proclamation; a copy of the Reverend Samuel Cooper’s Sermon on the commencement of the Massachusetts constitution in 1780; an official printing of the Definitive Treaty of Peace and Friendship, 1783, which ended the American Revolution; and the original manuscript of the last will and testament of Ephraim Williams, which established the free school that became Williams College.
Near the Manifestos gallery may be seen The Matter of Theology: A Conversation with the Collection. This long-term installation, which explores art in a theological context, includes a number of works from the Chapin Library: a manuscript Hebrew scroll of the Book of Esther, ca. 4760 AM (1000 CE); a Sumerian cuneiform tablet from the 3rd century BCE (an inventory of animals presented to a temple for sacrifice); papyrus fragments from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, 7th century BCE; a manuscript Vulgate Bible, Paris, ca. 1240–50; a Greek manuscript New Testament, the Codex Theodori, from Mt. Athos, 1295; a manuscript psalter, made in central Germany, ca. 1400; a manuscript book of hours from Ghent or Bruges, ca. 1520; the first printed edition of the Gospels in Arabic, Rome, 1590; a Muslim prayer book from Persia, late 18th century; a leaf from a manuscript Bhagavata Purana of the early 19th century; and a manuscript Qur’an, 1249 AH (before 1833 CE).
Among the items in the current WCMA exhibition Remington’s Bronco Buster: From Art Icon to Pop Icon (ends July 25) are a print from the Chapin Library’s portfolio of George Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio (London, 1844), and a finely preserved copy of Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail (New York, 1888) by Theodore Roosevelt.
Finally, in the WCMA display Tristin Lowe: Mocha Dick (ends August 8), a sculpture of a great white sperm whale is accompanied by the Chapin copy of the first American edition of Moby-Dick (New York, 1851). Melville’s novel is only one of many important resources in the Library for the study of American commercial whaling, an illustrated list of which may be found on our web site.
Exhibitions such as these are not an end in themselves for the Chapin Library, but advertisements for works we hold ready to be used by the Williams community. We are always pleased to have students and faculty visit us in our reading room (Southworth Schoolhouse, Apt. 3) to experience rare books and manuscripts up close and personal. – WGH
Shown is the title-page of the Chapin Library’s first printing of the Articles of Confederation (1777), with part of its original blue paper wrappers visible.
Update (September 14): The exhibition The Matter of Theology at the Williams College Museum of Art has closed. The Chapin Library’s exhibits will be available to see in our reading room on request.