Rare books as historical objects: a case study of the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library rare books collection
Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2015 Once upon a time all the books in the Arctic were rare books, incomparable treasures to the men and women who carried them around the world. Few of these tangible remnants of the past have managed to survive the ravages of time, preserved in librari...
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ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/6625 2023-05-15T14:20:20+02:00 Rare books as historical objects: a case study of the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library rare books collection Korotkova, Ulyana Aleksandrovna Короткова, Ульяна Александровна Ehrlander, Mary F. Arndt, Katherine L. Cole, Terrence M. 2016-05 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6625 en_US eng http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6625 Arctic and Northern Studies Program Thesis ma 2016 ftunivalaska 2023-02-23T21:36:40Z Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2015 Once upon a time all the books in the Arctic were rare books, incomparable treasures to the men and women who carried them around the world. Few of these tangible remnants of the past have managed to survive the ravages of time, preserved in libraries and special collections. This thesis analyzes the over 22,000-item rare book collection of the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the largest collection of rare books in the State of Alaska and one of the largest polar regions collections in the world. Content, chronology, authorship, design, and relevance to northern and polar history were a few of the criteria used to evaluate the collection. Twenty items of particular value to the study of Alaskan history were selected and studied in depth. The collection not only reflects the social, political and economic development of Alaska, but also the interests, personalities and expertise of collectors and authors, including works owned or written by key individuals in Alaska history, such as Hieromonk Gideon, Ivan Veniaminov, Ivan Pan’kov, Iakov Netsvietov, Kiril Khlebnikov, Hubert Howe Bancroft, George Davidson, Hudson Stuck, Sheldon Jackson, James Wickersham, Charles Bunnell, Alfred H. Brooks and others. Accident and happenstance also played a role in filling the shelves. There are more mysteries than answers—why some of these particular works resisted hundreds of years of neglect, cold, flood, and fire can never be known. While some books have no marks, no identifiable owners or traceable past, the provenance of others makes them unique. Sometimes the story behind the story is the story. Chapter 1: Rare Books Studies: Methodological Discussion -- 1.1 Historical Research Based on Libraries -- 1.2 Research Statement -- 1.3 Description of the Data – The Elmer E. Rasmuson Library Rare Books Collection -- 1.4 Defining Rare Books and Their Roles in Library Collections -- 1.5 Structure of a Book -- 1.6 Book Materials -- 1.7 Methodological ... Thesis Arctic Arctic Alaska University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA Arctic Fairbanks Hudson Davidson ENVELOPE(-44.766,-44.766,-60.766,-60.766) Bancroft ENVELOPE(-61.860,-61.860,-64.566,-64.566) |
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Open Polar |
collection |
University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalaska |
language |
English |
description |
Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2015 Once upon a time all the books in the Arctic were rare books, incomparable treasures to the men and women who carried them around the world. Few of these tangible remnants of the past have managed to survive the ravages of time, preserved in libraries and special collections. This thesis analyzes the over 22,000-item rare book collection of the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the largest collection of rare books in the State of Alaska and one of the largest polar regions collections in the world. Content, chronology, authorship, design, and relevance to northern and polar history were a few of the criteria used to evaluate the collection. Twenty items of particular value to the study of Alaskan history were selected and studied in depth. The collection not only reflects the social, political and economic development of Alaska, but also the interests, personalities and expertise of collectors and authors, including works owned or written by key individuals in Alaska history, such as Hieromonk Gideon, Ivan Veniaminov, Ivan Pan’kov, Iakov Netsvietov, Kiril Khlebnikov, Hubert Howe Bancroft, George Davidson, Hudson Stuck, Sheldon Jackson, James Wickersham, Charles Bunnell, Alfred H. Brooks and others. Accident and happenstance also played a role in filling the shelves. There are more mysteries than answers—why some of these particular works resisted hundreds of years of neglect, cold, flood, and fire can never be known. While some books have no marks, no identifiable owners or traceable past, the provenance of others makes them unique. Sometimes the story behind the story is the story. Chapter 1: Rare Books Studies: Methodological Discussion -- 1.1 Historical Research Based on Libraries -- 1.2 Research Statement -- 1.3 Description of the Data – The Elmer E. Rasmuson Library Rare Books Collection -- 1.4 Defining Rare Books and Their Roles in Library Collections -- 1.5 Structure of a Book -- 1.6 Book Materials -- 1.7 Methodological ... |
author2 |
Ehrlander, Mary F. Arndt, Katherine L. Cole, Terrence M. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Korotkova, Ulyana Aleksandrovna Короткова, Ульяна Александровна |
spellingShingle |
Korotkova, Ulyana Aleksandrovna Короткова, Ульяна Александровна Rare books as historical objects: a case study of the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library rare books collection |
author_facet |
Korotkova, Ulyana Aleksandrovna Короткова, Ульяна Александровна |
author_sort |
Korotkova, Ulyana Aleksandrovna |
title |
Rare books as historical objects: a case study of the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library rare books collection |
title_short |
Rare books as historical objects: a case study of the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library rare books collection |
title_full |
Rare books as historical objects: a case study of the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library rare books collection |
title_fullStr |
Rare books as historical objects: a case study of the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library rare books collection |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rare books as historical objects: a case study of the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library rare books collection |
title_sort |
rare books as historical objects: a case study of the elmer e. rasmuson library rare books collection |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6625 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-44.766,-44.766,-60.766,-60.766) ENVELOPE(-61.860,-61.860,-64.566,-64.566) |
geographic |
Arctic Fairbanks Hudson Davidson Bancroft |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Fairbanks Hudson Davidson Bancroft |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Alaska |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6625 Arctic and Northern Studies Program |
_version_ |
1766292155980054528 |