Top 10 PUL Stories from 2023

A look back at the top 10 stories Princeton University Library published in 2023.

Uncovering the secrets of PUL items through spectral imaging

The front cover of 'Incipit prolog in elucidario' before (left) and after (right) spectral imaging

For a week in June 2022, Toth visited Princeton University Library (PUL) to dissect items from its collection via spectral imaging. Essentially, by photographing the items under various wavelengths of light, Toth can illuminate text and markings that were previously invisible to the naked eye. These items are known as palimpsests, or manuscripts that have had their writing effaced and replaced.

PUL digitizes letter from John Brown to Frederick Douglass

A letter from John Brown to Frederick Douglass.

Following Princeton University Library’s (PUL) acquisition of an 1861 letter from Frederick Douglass, Assistant University Librarian for Special Collections, Technical Services Alexis Antracoli revisited the Library’s General Manuscripts Miscellaneous Collection (1502-2012) to find related material. Upon closer inspection she found an interesting piece: a letter from abolitionist John Brown to Frederick Douglass.

Travis York ‘23 is tracing LGBTQIA history through the archives

Travis York in Mudd’s reading room. Photo credit: Brandon Johnson

A senior studying history, York began working at Princeton University Library’s (PUL) Mudd Manuscript Library in the fall of 2022. He was looking for another on-campus job and came across a position that allowed staff to look through the archives. Over the last two semesters, York worked at Mudd as a blogging assistant, spending his work hours on a pair of projects examining the LGBTQ community, both nationally and locally here at Princeton. 

Teaching With Collections: Poetry and War

Students engage in archival research with the René Char Papers at Princeton University Library. Pictured (left to right): Pippa LaMacchia ’26; Jennifer Garcon, librarian for Modern and Contemporary Special Collections; Sandra Chen ’24; and Kate Short ’23. Photograph by Ryan Halbe, Office of Communications

This spring, students in the course “Poetry and War: Translating the Untranslatable” explored Char’s poetry in its historical context and its ongoing “afterlife” in translations around the globe. They explored the Char Papers, held in Princeton University Library’s (PUL) Special Collections. On a spring break trip to France, they met Char’s widow and editor, Marie-Claude Char, who guided them on a literary and historical journey exploring her husband as poet and Resistance leader. Back on campus, their work culminated in a dramatic public reading of the “notebook” in multiple languages, using the students’ own individual translations.

The Problem of Colored Lines: Student Debt and Racial Disparities

Inspired by the charts and maps created by sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois that depict wealth disparities between Blacks and whites, The Dignity + Debt Network and the VizE Lab for Ethnographic Data Visualization at Princeton University visualize the color lines and the social complexities within the urgent issue of student loan debt in this new exhibition.

PUL and HBCUs collaborate to revitalize summer ARCH program

Members of the ARCH program look through archival material at Mudd Library. Photo credit: Brandon Johnson

Princeton University Library (PUL) joined forces with six Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to offer Archives Research and Collaborative History (ARCH), a program aimed at introducing participants to archival work through hands-on, experiential learning with Library collection items and access to professionals in the field.

PUL hosts Inaugural Lunaape Language Camp in its Makerspace

Ariel Ackerly (PUL Makerspace) and Julie Rae Tucker (Munsee Delaware Nation) prepping for Munsee language button making at the Makerspace. Photo credit: Melissa Moreton.

On Saturday, July 29, Princeton University Library (PUL) hosted 15 Munsee language-keepers and young adults in the PUL Makerspace for hands-on activities as part of the inaugural Lunaape Language Camp, deepening collaborations that began more than two years ago. The events took place on Lunaapahkiing, traditional Lunaape lands in and around Princeton, New Jersey, and were supported by the Land, Language, and Art (LLA): A Humanities Council Global Initiative, Princeton University, and by the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS).

Teaching with Collections: Making Books

The title page spread of Auras. Photo credit: Brandon Johnson

“English 573: Making Books” is the brainchild of Claudia L. Johnson, Murray Professor of English Literature, and David Sellers, a book artist and proprietor of Pied Oxen Printers. In 2017, Johnson came up with the idea of offering graduate students a letterpress printing workshop with Sellers in his Hopewell studio. The inaugural workshop ended with attendees creating a chapbook anthology of poems written by faculty in Princeton University’s English Department. 

SFPUL visits Antiquarian Book Fair in Spring 2023

Kurt Lemai-Nguyen (center) with members of the Student Friends of PUL at the Antiquarian Book Fair.

During the Spring 2023 semester, five members of the Student Friends of Princeton University Library (SFPUL) visited the 63rd Annual ABAA New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, a four-day festival held at the New York Armory where booksellers from around the globe meet to share their wares. 

Princeton Ph.D. turns fellowship into Library Residency at Duke University

Adhitya Dhanapal and Ellen Ambrosone look over materials in Firestone Library. Photo credit: Sameer Khan, Fotobuddy.

Adhitya Dhanapal parlayed his experience working at Princeton University Library through a University Administrative Fellowship into a new role as Resident Librarian for South and Southeast Asian Studies at Duke University.

Published on January 10, 2023

Compiled by the Office of Library Communications

Media Contact: Barbara Valenza, Director of Library Communications