Discover Top Posts Tagged with #scpittclasses

Charlotte’s Web

Special Collections recently welcomed Courtney Weikle-Mills’ ENGLIT 1635: Children in Pittsburgh. Students had an opportunity to learn about collections that focus on contemporary Pittsburgh cultural organizations and Pittsburgh-based authors. Curators and Librarians highlighted the Fred E. and Harriet R. Curtis Theatre Collection, the Nietz Old Textbook Collection, and the Elizabeth Nesbitt Children’s Literature Collection and students were asked to submit a Tumblr post about the materials.

Everyone’s heard of Charlotte’s Web—that classic children’s tale about a little girl and her pig named Wilbur and a very clever spider. It has become so entrenched in our culture, adapted into movies and plays, that most of us take it for granted. Maybe that’s why my eye stopped on the Special Collections copy of Charlotte’s Web—it was something familiar, seen in a new way. Instead of a tattered elementary school classroom copy of E.B. White’s novel, I held in my hands a 1952 edition, and I could see the novel through the eyes of a little girl in the Carnegie Library, picking up this new story of love and friendship for the first time.

Of course, no copy of Charlotte’s Web could be complete without the 47 drawings by Garth Williams, with “all the wonderful detail and warm-hearted appeal that children love.” With a book so rich with beautiful illustrations it’s easy to see why even the youngest of children were drawn to this book. At a time when literature for families and children was becoming a mainstay in Pittsburgh culture, this archived book gleans light on why Charlotte’s Web was such a popular read, and why it continues to be part of the culture today.

-Emily Weiss, Junior, University of Pittsburgh

#charlottes web #eb white #children's literature #scpittclasses #englit1635

Professor Jessica FitzPatrick recently brought two of her Science Fiction classes to Special Collections. The class worked with fanzines, comic books, science fiction pulp magazines, and critical science fiction journals. For extra credit, students were provided the option to write Tumblr posts on their observations and comparisons. We will feature the students hard work throughout the next week.

Marvel’s April 1980 issue of Star Trek, “A 23rd Century Odyssey--Today!” is about the beginning of a space quest and the first part of the three part adaptation of the film. The characters, including Kirk, Spock, and Leonard McCoy are introduced, along with the Starship Enterprise. This volume, mostly about the excitement and beauty of space travel, includes warp speed and beaming onto the spaceship. It also re-establishes characters’ relationships with one another.

The May 1980 issue, “The Vengeance of V’Ger!” has a less uplifting story line that gets into the thick of the crew’s problem. The Enterprise comes into contact with a mysterious cloud. This cloud encompasses and takes over the Enterprise and one of the crew members is abducted and replaced by a robotic replica. Overall, “A 23rd Century Odyssey--Today!” is about the beauty and excitement of space travel, while “The Vengeance of V’Ger!” leans towards the terrors of space.

The April issue, “A 23rd Century Odyssey-- Today!” and May’s “The Vengeance of V’Ger!” are interrelated, yet distinct in style. Even from the cover, one can see differences in the tone of the two stories. On the cover of “A 23rd Century Space Odyssey--Today!,” the faces of characters have a calming blue hue to them, while there is a streak of vibrant yellow/orange to contrast and bring attention to the spaceship. This matches the mood of the entire plot of this issue. On the other hand, the cover of “The Vengeance of V’Ger!,” illustrates struggle. The entire page is covered with bright green and yellow coloring, with a destructive, harmful streak. Looking even further into the details of both covers, the font of the respective titles differs. May issue’s font is more agitated and the letters are filled in red. Even from the covers, each comic’s tone is clear.

Within each comic, the spaceship is evident feature, but the spaceship is used to convey different moods. In the April issue, the spaceship dominates the page. There is an image of the Enterprise in each corner of the page; in each image, the ship is large and sleek. The background is dynamic, bright, and colorful. In this issue, the ship is a symbol of beauty and power, showing off its ability to warp speed from every angle.

In “The Vengeance of V’Ger!”, the ship has an equal amount of page space; it is in three different images over the two page spread. In contrast to the April issue, the Enterprise is seen as vulnerable and under attack. The spaceship is illustrated smaller, while the background is darker and more ominous. The illustration shows the Enterprise’s weaknesses and that it can be vulnerable; the Enterprise, in all its glory, cannot save the universe without a few blunders.

-Lauren Combs, University of Pittsburgh undergraduate

#comics #star trek #enterprise #science fiction #scpittclasses #University Of Pittsburgh

Professor Sreemoya Dasgupta “Childhood’s Books” recently visited Special Collections. The class worked with at a variety of children’s stories and how they were depicted across time and by various author’s/interpretations. Included was The Jungle Book, Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Peter Pan, and “Jack” stories. They analyzed the differences both within and among the texts by viewing first editions, fine press printings, pop-up style, abridged illustrated editions, and Disney editions. For extra credit, students had the option of submitting Tumblr posts, which we will feature throughout the week.

Peter Pan’s A.B.C is one of the many existing adaptations of the original story written by J.M Barrie. This adaptation was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1913 which was two years after the original novel, Peter and Wendy, and nine years after the publishing of the original play, Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. Interestingly, this novel is speculated to be unauthorized due to the lack of credit given to J.M Barrie on the cover and throughout the book. The ambiguity of this adaptation continues with the widely undocumented illustrator, Flora White, as well as the unknown identity of the author.

Unlike the largely black and white illustrations found in Peter and Wendy, Peter Pan’s A.B.C contains 24 fully colored illustrations. These illustrations not only help the young reader comprehend the story, but also aid children in learning the alphabet. White’s illustrations are viewed as indicative of perspectives of culture and the stereotypes surrounding characters such as pirates and native people in early 20th century London (i.e feathered head dresses and furs). While the target audience may be young readers, these detailed and often insightful illustrations are something that the adult reader can appreciate. The original novel structure of Peter and Wendy has been transformed into a brief narrative followed by short rhyming sequences that correspond with each of the alphabet letters and the 24 illustrations.

These rich images, large print text, and playful rhymes draw in a younger audience and also create a sense of enchantment for the adult reader. In fact, the wide appeal of this novel is indicated by the mark of ownership that is found in the front of this physical copy of the book. It appears to have been given to someone as a gift years ago.

-Lydia Belezos, sophomore

References:

Diab, Vanessa, Stephen Hanbury, and Tammy Leung. "Peter Pan's ABC: An Illustrated Alphabet." Project Gallery - Children's Literature Archive - Ryerson University. N.p., Fall 2010. Web. Nov. 2016. http://www.ryerson.ca/childrenslit/group8.html

"List of Works Based on Peter Pan." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. Nov. 2016.

#peter pan #wendy #jm barrie #special collections #scpittclasses

I had seen the signs for Special Collections at Hillman Library multiple times, but had never been there until our class visit. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of getting to see old relics of classic children’s texts. A text that I remember reading a lot when I was younger was The Wizard of Oz. I had read the book when I was a child and watched the movie many times; so seeing the different adaptations of the story was extremely interesting. My favorite version was the pop-up book with art by Robert Sabuda, even though it was one of the most contemporary, being published in 2000.

It was possibly the most intricate pop-book that I have ever seen. It was an extremely thick, large book even though it had at most ten pages. This is perfect for a child to be able to immerse themselves in. Once the book is opened, the pop-ups take over the pages. They are very large and intricate with pop-ups appearing on the main part of the page as well as smaller pages revealing the text. These pages have pop-ups on them as well. The entire book is extremely colorful and interactive with shiny materials on special aspects like the yellow brick road and emerald glasses for the reader to where when looking at the emerald city. The text itself still read like an abridged novel. The paragraphs of text would obviously be read by an adult while the child interacted with the pop-ups and listened to the story. Even though this was the most contemporary version of the text, it was extremely interesting to look at how a child would read it.