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'Pitiless storm,' 'dark and stormy nights' in library Special Collections exhibit
Posted 12/07/2007
MADISON, Wis.-- From Shakespeare’s “pelting of this pitiless storm” to Snoopy’s “It was a dark and stormy night,” storms have driven plots, guided metaphors, afflicted travelers, and attracted scientific and popular attention. The exhibit Stormy Weather in the Department of Special Collections explores storms and weather, drawing upon a wide range of rare books in literature, humor, history, and science.
The comic almanack for 1836 sketched and etched by George Cruikshank. London: Imprinted for Charles Tilt.
Image from Department of Special Collections, Memorial Library.
Highlights include “Raining Cats, Dogs & Pitchforks” from The Comic Almanack: An Ephemeris in Jest and Earnest, early instructions in the use of the “weather glass” (a kind of thermometer), Ben Franklin’s kite experiment, winters in Lapland and Iceland, violent storms at sea and, of course, the tornado in The Wizard of Oz.
Guest exhibit curator was Sarah Boxhorn, graduate student in the School of Library and Information Studies, who found many lively illustrations of braving the elements among rare books in the department’s collections. Her exhibit design pairs weather-related themes in 16th- and 17th-century books with those in more recent works, and contrasts serious accounts of actual storms with exaggerations for comic effect. A staff favorite is The Sopping Thursday by Edward Gorey, who invoked bad weather with gloomy glee.
Practical advice is not forgotten, as in arguments among Ben Franklin’s contemporaries as to the proper shape and placement of lightning rods. Another small paperback on display urged soldiers aboard troop transport ships during World War II to avoid boredom by making careful weather observations.
Wisconsin authors, no strangers to extreme weather, are also represented. As Anna Epley signed a copy of her account of the New Richmond tornado of June 1899, “Yours for old Wisconsin. Tho’ storm tossed and often troubled it is still home. Anna S. Epley.”
Robin Rider, curator of Special Collections, says Boxhorn “was able to uncover little-known oddities, point to the long history of scientific investigations of weather, and highlight the literary functions of storms on land and sea.
“We hope this exhibit offers a pleasant break from slippery sidewalks and encourages further exploration of the holdings of Special Collections.”
The exhibit continues Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., until Feb. 8, 2008 in Special Collections, room 976 Memorial Library on campus, 728 State Street.
http://specialcollections.library.wisc.edu/
