Category Archives: Announcements

Let’s Play!

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We’re finishing 2023 with something we’re really proud of! This spring, PBS came to our library to film for Craft in America. The episode is titled “Play,” and it’s now officially streaming! Our segment of the episode is a tribute to Lloyd Cotsen, and his marvelous vision and gift that resulted in the creation of the Cotsen Children’s Library.

For those of you who are not familiar, Craft in America is an non-profit that is “dedicated to the exploration, preservation and celebration of craft, the work of the hand, and their impact on our nation’s cultural heritage.” The episode also features artists Roberto Benavidez, Schroeder Cherry, Calder Kamin, Lorena Robletto, as well as the Noah’s Ark installation at the Skirball Cultural Center.

This link will take you to the episode. Cotsen’s section begins at 37:24 (and Katie’s chin has a cameo at 41:47), but we highly encourage you to check out the entire “Play” episode, it’s simply wonderful!

The Cotsen Library would like to thank PBS, Craft in America, and the awesome crew that came to our library to showcase our little world so perfectly. We appreciate you so much!

In The Company of Good Books

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Keep company with literary luminaries this fall! The Department of Special Collections at Princeton University Library invites you to “In the Company of Good Books: Shakespeare to Morrison,” currently on display in the Milberg Gallery of Firestone Library through December 10th.

In honor of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s First Folio of 1623, the exhibit showcases Princeton’s collection of English literature, and the readers and writers who celebrated English literature around the world. Curators Jennifer Garcon, Librarian for Modern and Contemporary Special Collections, Gabriel Swift, Librarian for American Collections, and Eric White, Scheide Librarian & Assistant University Librarian for Special Collections, Rare Books & Manuscripts, have selected some true treasures.

In addition to William Shakespeare and Toni Morrison, you will find Maya Angelou, Sylvia Beach, George Lamming, James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, Carlos Bolusan, Lorraine Hansberry, Chinua Achebe, Virginia Woolf, and others! Visitors can peruse working manuscripts, archives, original cover art, portraits, and charming inscriptions, including James Baldwin’s personal copy of Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, signed by the author.

Maya Angelou (1928–2014). I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Random House, 1969.

We at the Cotsen Children’s Library are always on the lookout for children’s literary connections, and we found a couple amazing ones in this exhibit! First is one of three tiny manuscripts by Charlotte Bronte. Written when she was a youth, these juvenalia concern the fictional African kingdom of Angria, and are penned on pages bound with blue Epsom salt wrappers. To give you an idea of size, and how minuscule Bronte’s handwriting is, the bound volume on the left is only about 3.5″ tall!

Also in the exhibit are the manuscript notes, sketchbooks, and original storage case of Maria Edgeworth, a prolific novelist for both adults and young readers.

An early edition of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility is displayed, which reminded me of this very interesting fact. When she was only twelve or thirteen, Austen penned The Beautifull Cassandra: A Novel in Twelve Chapters, a tiny work of 465 words total. The Princeton University Press offers a delightful version, with an afterword by Princeton faculty Claudia L. Johnson and artwork by Leon Steinmetz.

Readers might not be aware that Morrison made significant contributions to children’s literature as well. Collaborating with Slade Morrison, mother and son authored nine books for children. These delightful tales were displayed in Cotsen’s previous exhibit, “They’ve Got Game: The Children’s Books of Toni & Slade Morrison.”

montage round 2 If you are interested in learning more about the exhibit, you will find a digital companion  here, and a fantastic Zoom panel with the book’s illustrators here. We also hosted a connected community gallery event this spring, which you can find here.

From now to December 10th, please plan to visit “In the Company of Good Books” in Princeton! It is truly monumental. Not able to visit in person? No problem! Virtual guests can find the exhibit here.

The BibiloFiles Presents: Jacqueline West

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Just posted! An interview with multiple award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline West.

If the names Horatio, Leopold and Harvey (excuse me, Agent 1-800) elicit feelings of delight, and the name McMartin gives you shudders of fear, then you are already familiar with West’s acclaimed Books of Elsewhere series. If you have not read them, polish up your spectacles and get ready for an epic five book journey.

When that series concluded, West continued to write for middle grade readers with The Collectors, its sequel A Storm of Wishes, and The Story Pirates Presents: Digging Up Danger. She’s also authored two young adult novels – Dreamers Often Lie, and Last Things.

West’s most recent novel is Long Lost, a story within a story about two sets of sisters from different times, connected by a book that mysteriously writes itself, revealing a terrible secret about the small town of Lost Lake, and bringing the past back to life.

Jacqueline West is undeniably a master crafter of suspense, spookiness, intrigue, adventure, and unique forms of magic. Reading through her catalog of books in preparation for this interview, however, I realized that she is also the master of thresholds. Her characters constantly cross them, physically and mentally, alone or together, both in fantasy and reality. And it’s a testament to her incredible writing abilities that each crossing feels special, intimate, meaningful, and significant.

Follow this link to the BiblioFiles interview

Image courtesy of Jacqueline West