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New Acquisitions

New Acquisitions for Special Collections and University Archives

Each year donors contribute significantly to strengthening Special Collections at the San Diego State University Library and Information Access. Are you interested in contributing something to Special Collections?

December 2005

Dr. George M. Ellis donation

Datos de los trabajos astronomicos y topograficos
map from Datos de los Trabajos Astronomicos y Topograficos
The Personal Narrative of James O. Pattie, of Kentucky
illustration from The Personal Narrative of James O. Pattie, of Kentucky

Dr. George M. Ellis made a donation of rare, historical titles to Special Collections and University Archives, including the 1807 first edition of the first published journal by a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Patrick Gass F592.5 .G2 1807; the first published account of the work (Jose Salazar Ylarregui, 1850) of the Joint Boundary Commission of the United States and Mexico in surveying and marking the present boundary of the two countries under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo F786 .S16 1850; and James Ohio Pattie's Personal Narrative of James Ohio Pattie, of Kentucky... F592 .P38 1833, which is the first published book account of an American overland trip to Alta California. Pattie's narrative is also the first book published by a participant in either the northern or the southwestern fur trade. Sylvester Pattie, James' father, who was one of the members of the expedition, died in 1828, while they were under arrest at the San Diego Presidio during that expedition and the image from the book is of his burial. Sylvester's grave was rediscovered during excavations at the Presidio lead by Dr. Paul Ezell in 1969.

Steven S. and Carolyn B. Conner donation

San Diego: A California City
title pages from San Diego: A California City
1937, printed by Neyenesch Printers, Inc., San Diego

Steven S. and Carolyn B. Conner donated a fine collection of historical San Diego imprints, San Diego postcards and ephemera and books about San Diego history. A San Diego County Directory, 1915, History of San Diego - It's Pueblo Lands and Water by H.C. Hopkins, 1926, and San Diego and the Exposition - Things to Do - Things to See published by the San Diego California Club in 1935, are examples of the sorts of items included.

September 2005

New, rare astronomy books

Recueil d'Observations faites en plusieurs Voyages 

        par Ordre de sa Majest‹. Pour Perfectionner l'Astronomie et la Georgraphie. 

        Avec divers Traitez Astronomiques
page from Recueil d'Observations...
De Magnitudinibus, et Distantiis Solis, et Lunae, Liber cum Pappi 

        Alexandrini explicationibus quibusdam
detail of a diagram from De Magnitudinibus, et Distantiis Solis, et Lunae, Liber cum Pappi Alexandrini explicationibus quibusdam

Recueil d'Observations faites en plusieurs Voyages par Ordre de sa Majest‹. Pour Perfectionner l'Astronomie et la Georgraphie. Avec divers Traitez Astronomiques.
This handsome volume, published by the Royal Academy of Sciences, Paris, in 1693, contains nine first edition texts by four well-respected scientists of the day, Cassini, Richer, Picard and La Hire. This book may be requested in Special Collections QB41 .A16 1693.

De Magnitudinibus, et Distantiis Solis, et Lunae, Liber cum Pappi Alexandrini explicationibus quibusdam, by Aristarchus of Samos.
This is the first edition (1572) of Federico Commandino’s translation of the first treatise to put forward the heliocentric hypothesis. Aristarchus (ca.310-230 B.C.) reconciled the apparent immobility of the fixed stars with the revolution of the earth around the sun, by determining, through his trigonometrical ratios, that the size of the universe was much larger than that conceived by his predecessors. This book may be requested in Special Collections PA3874.A48 A2 1572.

The purchase of these books was made possible by the Friends of the Library.

August 2005

Luscomb Illustrations

Donald Luscomb (SDSC 1934) was one of a pair of artists who completed eight large-scale illustrations for the 1936 San Diego State College yearbook, Del Sudoeste. The other artist was George Sorenson (SDSC 1937). All eight of those drawings were donated to University Archives by the Donald Luscomb family. The drawing reproduced here shows many of the faculty in 1936.

The Faculty
The Faculty by Donald Luscomb
from the 1936 SDSC Del Sudoeste yearbook.

July 2005

Bixby Canyon Ocean Path Word Breeze by Allen Ginsberg

cover of Bixby Canyon Ocean Path Word Breeze by Allen Ginsberg
Front cover illustration from a painting by Emil White.
Colophon of Bixby Canyon Ocean Path Word Breeze by Allen Ginsberg
Inscribed by Allen Ginsberg

SDSU alumnus and owner of New York's Gotham Book Mart, Andreas Brown has been a generous donor to the library since the 1960s. Among items received from in in June 2005 was this wonderfully inscribed copy #1 of Allen Ginsberg's Bixby Canyon Ocean Path Word Breeze. The book was published in 1972 by Gotham Book Mart; Mr Brown also donated his prepublication mockups of the book. This book may be requested in Special Collections PS3513.I74 B5 1972.

Donna Barr's Black Manuscripts

Pages from the Black Manuscripts
pages from Donna Barr's Black Manuscripts

Special Collections and Archives received a fabulous gift from author and illustrator Donna Barr in July, 2005. She donated her original Black Manuscripts which are hand-written and illustrated Desert Peach volumes, twelve of which are ornately hand-embroidered on their covers. Original scores, scripts, photographs, videotapes, and costumes from her Desert Peach musical were also received. These materials, along with additional donations from Donna Barr and other artists and collectors of zines, comics, underground music and culture have created an outstanding collection of alternative popular culture. For more information about Donna Barr, see her web site.

June 2005

The Mime of Mick, Nick, and the Maggies: A Fragment from Work in Progress by James Joyce

Front cover
Front cover, designed by Lucia Joyce.
Page one
Initial letter, designed by Lucia Joyce.

The cover, initial letter, and the tailpiece of this beautiful publication were designed by James Joyce's daughter, Miss Lucia Joyce.  The library's copy is number 579 of an edition of 1,000, and was printed in letterpress using Old Antique Dutch font at the presses of G. J. Thieme at Nymegen, Holland.  This copy is a gift to the library from Paul Kennerson, in honor of Andreas Brown, owner of the Gotham Book Mart, upon the occasion of the conferral of the Doctorate of Fine Arts degree to Brown.  This book may be requested in Special Collections PR6019.O9 W615 1934a.

Essentials of Linoleum Block Printing By Ralph W. Polk, 1927

For 50 years, Horace Dodd has worked to build a diverse collection of books and the SDSU Library is the fortunate recipient of much of this collection. He has generously donated his entire collection of every edition published of Francis Parkman's Oregon Trail; his extensive printmaking, paper making and book making texts; books about George Catlin; theater playbills; and his paper engineering books numbering 235 in all.

linoleum-block design from Essentials of Linoleum Block Printing
Two-color linoleum-block design from Essentials of Linoleum-Block Printing by Ralph W. Polk

May 2005

Donald and Louise Heyneman natural history donations

Illustration from The Naturalists Miscellany
Illustration of an Ibis from Naturae, or The Naturalists' Miscellany

Donald and Louise Heyneman donated five 18th and 19th century natural history titles. One of the larger sets is Naturae, or The Naturalists' Miscellany, London, 1789, which includes hundreds of hand-colored plates throughout its 17 volumes. (Mr. Heyneman's mother, Amy Jo Wormser donated her large and very valuable collection of natural history titles to Special Collections in 1983.)


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