October is National Book Month, but some of the more fascinating items in Denver Public Library’s special collection are not books. DPL’s special collection includes Babylonian clay tablets, aged maps, annotated manuscripts, musty tracts, dusty ledgers and curious artifacts, such as the reading glasses of naturalist John Muir.
Books, nevertheless, form the lion’s share of DPL’s special collection.
“We have a very large print collection. Some you would consider rare. Others, less so,” said Wendel Cox, DPL’s senior special- collection librarian. “I just put in the vault an autographed Buffalo Bill memoir. And we have a published, very early set of Louis and Clark journals.”
Cox said one of the most frequently requested volumes in DPL’s trove of printed works is a first-edition Book of Mormon.
“It had been at one time the most popular book for people to come and see, but we’re more reluctant to have that out now because of its fragility,” Cox said.
At the opposite end of the cultural spectrum, a recent study of graffiti in Los Angeles also draws a lot of interested parties.
“I think almost every tagger in town has been in to see it,” Cox said.
DPL’s special collection supports researchers studying the American West. “We have a nice set of early publications related to Colorado; for example, Colorado statues in English, German and Spanish from the early 19th century. We have a Colorado livestock brand book from the 1870s,” Cox said.
A seventh-generation Coloradan and award-winning novelist-singer-songwriter, Jon Chandler, gained historical edification for his novel “The Spanish Peaks” in books he found only in DPL’s special collection.
“The DPL’s Western history collection is iconic,” Chandler said. “The only place I could find adequate information about the Georgians who came to Colorado in the 1850s was from books in the library’s collection. Every writer of Western historical fiction in my experience uses the Denver Public Library as a primary source for any and all things having to do with the American West and its frontier history.”
DPL’s special collection includes an impressive ecological branch: “Our conservation and environment collection once was one of the best in the world, but it fell on hard times,” said Cox. He cited holdings representing the Nature Conservancy, the Wilderness Society and the Isaac Walton League.
Bibliophiles or graphic artists interested in book art or exemplary typography can feast their eyes — and their gloved hands — on the Douglas Fine Print Collection. DPL named the collection after Frederic Douglas and his father, Canon Winfred Douglas, early Denver residents and admirers and collectors of fine printing. DPL’s fine-print collection began with the acquisition of the Douglas libraries.
Perhaps the most important holding in the Douglas Fine Print Collection is a complete collection of books published in England during the 1890s by William Morris at Kelmscott Press.
With a glance over his shoulder to the medieval era, Morris mastered book art. A renaissance man, Morris held books in esteem: “To enjoy good houses and good books in self-respect and decent comfort, seems to me to be the pleasurable end towards which all societies of human beings ought now to struggle.”
Book lovers can hold in their hands an actual book off Morris’ Kelmscott Press. These works make strong sensory impressions. The yellowed vellum (goatskin) covers smell of age. Upon close inspection, one can see that the toothy, handmade paper bears the printing press’ impressions: hand-set type, black and red illuminated capital letters, and florid borders. The page layouts represent pinnacles of craftsmanship.
James P. Ascher is an assistant professor and rare-book cataloger at the University of Colorado at Boulder libraries. “What impresses me as a librarian,” Ascher said, “is that Denver Public has a collection with the scope of a large state university, and that’s remarkable. It’s an extremely good library because they’ve had good curators and collectors who carefully built very good special collections.”
Ascher’s rare-book cataloging includes book forensics. Using magnifying glasses and special lights, he can focus on a book’s hints given by factors such as paper, watermarks and annotations.
“The physical presence of books as objects teaches us and tells us about our past,” Ascher said. “Denver Public has the actual physical artifacts. You can find digital content, but when trying to find physical traces, it’s crucial to have the actual artifacts.”
Cox emphasizes the importance of artifacts — original statutes, for example — in the collection that document the early history of Denver. “Who else is going to collect that?” he asked, rhetorically.
DPL has digitized a portion of the special collection, yet Cox agrees that conservation of the original format remains of utmost importance. “The information, in many cases, contained in the books is particularly interesting, and what we have digitized becomes that much more accessible,” Cox said.
“But if you consider a book as an artifact and a physical object, at a certain point if no one keeps them, no one has them. It’s our responsibility to preserve the history of this city and this region.”
Cox and other librarians now have one foot in the digital era and another firmly grounded in printed media. He does not see a contradiction.
“In some forms, the only way to preserve the information is digitally or on microfilm. Physical newspapers are one example of that,” said Cox. “But people will always want to see different forms of printing, and that’s what makes people interested in art books or clay tablets.”
“The collection assists researchers, but also promotes literacy. These special works can capture the imagination of people who might not otherwise be particularly taken with what we have,” said Cox.
“The collections belong to the people of the city and county of Denver; and like any research collection, it belongs to everyone, whether a Pulitzer Prize-winner or elementary-school kids. The collection is here to be used. It’s not just a question of preserving it for the future, but also allowing a balance that allows for people to have access to the collection.”
The design of Colleen Smith’s first novel, “Glass Halo,” drew inspiration from the Arts and Crafts-era books in DPL’s special collection.
Tips for viewing DPL’s special collection
If you plan to make a pilgrimage to DPL’s special collection, here are a few tips:
• Go to DPL’s central branch at 10 W. 14th Avenue Parkway. The parking garage for the cultural district is the best bet for parking.
• The special collection is on the fifth floor. You must use the collection on-site: “We don’t allow anything to circulate, so nothing checks out,” librarian Wendel Cox said. “We have levels of security for print material. We do have a large slice of the collection out on shelves so one can walk up and take a look.”
• Other material in the special collection requires special procedures:
• Make your request at the fifth-floor reference desk, where you will fill out a simple form. A librarian will bring out requested materials, usually within 10 minutes.
• Before you receive items from the special collection, you’ll be asked to store personal effects — aside from a laptop out of its case and a phone. The library will provide paper and pencils for making notes. “This is a very standard procedure at any research library,” Cox said.
• Patrons can study books, manuscripts or other items in the library’s newly enlarged reading room, under supervision of a proctor. ” ‘Supervision’ is a misnomer,” Cox said. “The proctors are there to help people understand how to physically handle items, how to care for them.”
Handling sometimes involves white cotton gloves or the blue gloves used in doctors’ offices. “We’re concerned about the fragility of things that are fairly unusual. We do not allow photocopies, due to concern for bindings, but we will allow photographs with a cellphone camera, which is a lot less invasive.”
Cox encourages educators to bring students, but to first partner with librarians working with the special collections. “It’s helpful if teachers think about an assignment and connect to something meaningful so students have an opportunity to learn to use a research collection.
Cox advises educators to contact DPL a month in advance of a class visit for budding bookworms, art students or other scholars.
“When you see an opportunity or want to explore something connected with your curriculum, we can help,” said Cox. “Or a field trip is also a great way to teach students how to use a research library.”
— Colleen Smith
