The A.M. Todd Rare Book Room, located on the 3rd floor of the Library at K, is brimming with opulent jewels of rarity, antiquity, and ingenuity. But it isn’t all just faded covers and complex latin. There is a wide array of genres and areas of expertise covered, everything from German to Alchemy, or even Shakespeare to the tiniest New Testament in circulation. The original collection accumulated by A.M. Todd would go on to be donated to local schools and museums around the Kalamazoo area after his passing in 1931, and continues to impress those who wish to view a decent amount of them on K’s own campus.
I had the privilege of speaking with senior Indigo Corvidae, who is majoring in East Asian Studies with a Minor in Statistical Math and Studio Art. She passionately works the ins-and-outs of the room with the faculty advisor of the College Archives, Lisa Murphy. Currently in her 5th term working the Rare Book Room and 4th term of the Archives, Indigo handled everything with poise and surety, sharing every sparkle of information she could think of to acclimate me to the treasures inside.
The room is humidity and temperature controlled to protect the delicate pages from being damaged, as well as book covers made by Indigo herself, “one of my main jobs is making new cases for the books. I go through and individually measure the books that need them, and wrap fragile or falling-apart books (as old books do) to keep them safe on the shelves”.
The room tends to sit on the colder side due to these precautions, so take note if you are planning on visiting.
We started off strong with the oldest book they have: a medieval manuscript dating back to 13th-century France.
Its rich brown-leather binding adds an air of mystique, and detailed bookplates at the front and back of the book representing its previous owners sport delicate linework, sharing a glimpse into the personal past this book carries with it.
A book of psalms making itself known as a monk’s precious pocketbook, it includes a saints-day calendar in red ink, as well as a historiated initial, or a large letter depicting a story (people) drawn inside it.
It is also handwritten onto vellum, or calf-skin, a material particular to older books before paper was widely used in collaboration with the movable-type printing press around 1450.
What is your favorite book to share?
She held up a simple, leather-bound book. At my subtle confusion she shared the secret hidden on its page-edges that turned into a picture, a “vanishing forage” painting, when folded downwards,
“You can see that [the pages are] gilded, so it’s covered in gold. However, if you bend the edges, a painting emerges”.
Westminster Abbey was displayed in an intricately-detailed landscape painted just so that when bent it appeared. Even being an avid book enthusiast, I had never seen anything of that calibar of expertise before. A relatively small but great example of how book creation was seen as its own form of art and expression back when it was more of a personal undertaking. In that way, it is a reminder of the breath of fresh craftsmenship of our history that can’t normally be found on your average trip to your local library.
What book genre do you have in majority?
Turns out it’s books about birds.
“There is a fairly good range of book types, but we have a lot of books on Ornothology or the study of birds. If anyone is interested we have a whole collection of John Gould’s bird paintings across all the continents, we have a whole cabinet just for those”.
Every passion and niche enjoyment’s history can be found among the shelves of the backroom. Whether that be for philosophy gems, language, or a wonderful Antiphinary (choir book) from the 18th-century, they can no doubt find something related to what fulfills your interests. A highlight of the Rare Book Room is its exhibitions. Currently on display is “censorship through the centuries”, a concept heavily emphasized as of late regarding book bans. Books hold immense power, and by limiting knowledge from being spread there is definite damage being done to developing acceptance of differing perspectives. Most of the current notions we stand by were seen as obscene at some point or another, and considering the prominence of book banning in modern society helps emphasize such hindrances of the beauty found in words. Books are art, a way to communicate with not only others during the time they were written, but also with those in the future who seek to explore them.
“Books are not just functional, they are beautiful things on your shelf. People put [book] paintings on their shelves, or made tiny books to show what they can do”.
Preserving the art of appreciation is key to retaining the individuality that makes us all human, and in turn preserving the identities of those whose works are on display in such antiquity.
What do you want reader’s to take away from visiting the Rare Book Room?
“It’s very hard to think of things as being hugely different from how we live now, and it’s cool to challenge how we see things we take in in our everyday lives. We think of these as such normal things, but it didn’t necessarily have to happen this way. There was a process to get to where they are now”.
Even though we aren’t actively thinking about it, some parts of human normality are still an overarching concept in how we look at the past and how we live our lives today. There’s still so much about humanity that we don’t tend to consider.
There are no appointments required to browse, just stop by and head in if it’s open to request to look through a book. You don’t even have to have a certain book title in mind (although they can be identified through the Library’s online catalog ahead of time); you can ask to see examples of any type of book, and can flip through it at the large table fitting neatly into the center of the room. You just can’t peruse the shelves yourself because of the books’ fragility,
“You can see the way that things have changed over time, or how people used to think about things. And just look at pretty books!”
The last curator just recently retired, so until the new hours are decided they are as follows:
Tuesday, 10am-12
Friday, 1pm-4
More questions?: just visit Lisa Murphy at the College Archives next door, she’d be happy to assist you with any concerns or inquiries!
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