Now that I’m in the throes of working on my JP, I descend down to the basement of Firestone multiple times per week. Wandering around the library in search of books or a place to study, I’m often surprised by the amount of artwork on the walls of the library. On the C Floor, I discovered a series of prints from the Graphic Arts Collection. Each time I take the first staircase leading down from the first floor, I find myself face to face with this mosaic, which was constructed in 250 AD and was found in Antioch.
How did the University acquire a 1000 year-old mosaic from the Middle East? Between 1931-1939, the university participated in a dig in Antioch. This mosaic is part of a set that decorated the floor of a wealthy citizen. Although this mosaic is from 250 AD, the set of mosaics at the one house spans the first through the sixth century and provides a good example of the development of art from pagan times to the Byzantine Empire. The Antioch dig also contributed a large collection of coins to the Numismatic Collection.
There are other mosaics around campus from the Antioch. If you need a break from your end of the semester work, try going on a mosaic hunt. Somewhere else in Firestone, there’s a peacock on the wall. There’s also another geometric patterned mosaic outside another library on campus. Stumped? It’s above a cabinet to store food and drinks. The next time you have to leave something before going to this library, make sure to check out the mosaic.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Foraging in Firestone: Both a Library and an Art Museum
Thursday, March 4, 2010
On and in the walls of the library
Just by walking around the perimeter of Firestone, you can stumble across a number of plaques and other mementos from Princeton’s past. If you walk up the steps from Washington Road, you’ll pass a terra cotta plaque (right), the only trace of the 1877 Laboratory. The laboratory — the precursor to Guyot Hall — occupied Firestone's current location until it was torn down in 1946 to make way for the library.The next time you go into the library, if you look to your right just before going through the main doors, you’ll see this ornament (below), a present from His Majesty, King George VI. It is a piece from the Houses of Parliament that was blown off during Word War II.
The library also has a time capsule of sorts. A small, lead-coated copper box rests in the cornerstone of the library. According to The Princeton Alumni Weekly, this box contains a variety or records and objects including a Bible; both a University and a Graduate College catalogue; a phonebook; a reproduction of the catalogue of the College of New Jersey from 1760; paraphernalia from the University's Bicentennial; a biography and picture of Mr. Firestone; copies of The New York Times, Princeton Herald, Princeton Packet, the Daily Princetonian, and the Alumni Weekly; photographs of the models of the library; some coins; and a copy of a letter from Thomas Jefferson to Ebenezer Hazard on the importance of preserving records. The box also contains specimens of the Osteopleurus newarki, which appears to be a species of fish from New Jersey. The first fossils of the Osteopleurus newarki were found during the construction of the library.As a final note, all the lights on the outside of the library are compact fluorescent.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Foraging in Firestone: Money, Money, Money
Did you know that before 1909, there were no images of people on American coins? In fact, there was a bit of a scandal when Lincoln was placed on the first coin in 1909. Did you know that the dime does not display its value? You have to know intuitively that a dime is worth ten cents. I learned both these facts and much more when I visited the Princeton Numismatic Collection.
Princeton is one of three universities that has a comprehensive numismatic or coin collection. Located within Firestone Library, the collection consists of over 100,000 coins, the oldest of which is a Lydian coin from the 7th century BCE. The collection is taken care of by specialist, Alan Stahl, who — although an expert on medieval period — possesses a vast knowledge of the history of currency. During our discussion, he answered my questions about Ancient Greece, Elizabethan England, and the American Confederacy.
Image: This paper money was made according to a process designed by Benjamin Franklin to transfer the veining pattern of a leaf to a printing plate as an anti-countefeiting device.
The Princeton collection dates from the 19th century and was founded by a gift of an alum. Although Stahl does have a limited budget for acquisitions, most of the collection consists of bequests. An additional 40,000 coins come from an archeological dig Princeton conducted in Antioch in the 1930s.
While often overlooked, coins can serve as an important historical source. The average peasant in the Roman Empire never saw the splendors of the “Eternal City.” Instead, his conception of imperial power was based on the image of the emperor on the coin.
One of the collection’s most recent acquisitions, a Byzantine coin from the 7th century, is an important source for studying the debate over iconoclasm in the Byzantine Empire. This coin has an image of Jesus Christ on the obverse (see right), where traditionally the Byzantine emperors had chosen to represent themselves. This coin is the first instance of Christ appearing on currency. As a result, the emperor, Justinian, has moved himself to the back. As Stahl informed me, the Islamic caliph responded to the emperor’s bold statement by removing all human images from the coins. Thus, the coin allows scholars to study the conflicts over the depiction of humans in both religions from the point of view of a contemporary source. In contrast, most written records of these struggles date from a later period.
Amazingly, the numismatic collection is very accessible to undergraduates. Stahl does presentations for classes, one of which I recently attended. Along with my classmates, I had the chance to handle gold and silver coins from the 7th century. Stahl also employs students as catalogers and makes an effort to give them work within their academic interests. If you’d like to see a part of the collection for yourself, there will also be an exhibit on paper money from August through the fall which will incorporate Princeton’s large collection of American paper currency with an alum’s collection of international currency.
Image credits: Princeton University Numismatic Collection
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Foraging in Firestone: Introductions
For most Princetonians, the vision of the stone building of Firestone Library and its shadowy caverns underground conjures up the memories of sleepless nights and half-finished papers. I have a love-hate relationship with the library. I have spent countless hours trapped in the Trustees’ Room or the Atrium making my way through piles of reading or toiling away over a research paper. On the other hand, I have a sort of grudging affection for the library. It’s my domain, the place where as a history major, I conduct the majority of my research.
I have worked at the library since my freshman year. As a result, I know the library. I understand its crazy cataloging system, a mixed-up hodge podge of letters and numbers. I take a secret sort of pleasure in the fact that I can find books within the library without a map. Faced with a book whose call number starts with B, I know to head to the philosophy section on the third floor, whereas a book whose call number begins with a C is deep below ground with the other books on history. I also know its secret spaces, from the graduate study rooms on the C floor to the professor’s office lodged in the tower above the third floor.
With special access to the collections through my job at Rare Books, I can go behind the scenes to take advantage of many of the library’s special collections. It doesn’t take much digging to find that our library houses everything from 3000-year-old coins to an original first folio. Throughout the semester, I’ll share some of what I come across on the Prox.
Find out more about Firestone's ancient coin collection on the next installment of Foraging in Firestone.
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