{"id":26312,"date":"2023-06-29T12:27:46","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T16:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=26312"},"modified":"2023-06-29T13:05:38","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T17:05:38","slug":"furman-acquires-poems-the-crowning-jewel-of-teaching-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/furman-acquires-poems-the-crowning-jewel-of-teaching-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"Furman acquires \u2018Poems,\u2019 the \u2018crowning jewel\u2019 of teaching collection"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0The FedEx package didn\u2019t appear remarkable from the outside, but its arrival was something special.<\/p>\n

Furman recently acquired a first-edition copy of Phillis Wheatley\u2019s \u201cPoems.\u201d The volume, published in 1773, made history as the first book by an African American, the first book by an African American woman and the first book of poetry by an African American author.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy department is focusing much more now on African American culture and literature \u2026 and this is the crowning jewel in our collection,\u201d said Jeff Makala, associate director for special collections and university archivist.<\/p>\n

Makala is responsible for the library\u2019s rare book collection. He\u2019s in a permanent pattern of negotiating gifts and purchases to build Furman\u2019s holdings, which span centuries and continents.<\/p>\n

Afro-Americana is an important focus right now. \u201cReparative work,\u201d he calls it. Wheatley\u2019s book \u201cfits totally with the scope and range of what we\u2019re doing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The acquisition came with a little joke on Makala.<\/p>\n

In late spring, a poetry class visited the library and Makala showed them selections from the American poetry collection, including a 1773 copy of London\u2019s \u201cThe Gentleman\u2019s Magazine,\u201d which included a reprint of a new poem by Phillis Wheatley, \u201cNegro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston, in New England.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is probably the closest we\u2019ll ever come to seeing that book they\u2019re writing about in the magazine,\u201d Makala had told the class.<\/p>\n

\u201cI should know better, I guess,\u201d he said, laughing. \u201cLesson learned on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An

A first-edition copy of Phillis Wheatley\u2019s \u201cPoems\u201d recently acquired by Furman<\/p><\/div>\n

Just weeks after showing the reprinted poem to that class, he was looking at catalogues for the upcoming New York International Antiquarian Book Fair. And there was Wheatley\u2019s book, an ex-library copy, less desirable to private collectors and, also a bit less expensive.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor our teaching collection, we don\u2019t necessarily need the most perfect copy of every book,\u201d Makala said.<\/p>\n

This one includes annotations, underlining, a public library\u2019s bookplate and a dealer\u2019s ticket.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt had this life outside of the original collector-owner,\u201d Makala said.<\/p>\n

The notes appear to have been made by an early owner with quill pens. Makala foresees an engaging independent study project cataloging the markings.<\/p>\n

The book cost more than he would usually spend; its purchase required dipping into multiple funds and the Wells Family Endowment for Special Collections. But his boss green-lighted the purchase the same day Makala found the book.<\/p>\n

\"Brown

The cover of “Poems”<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cPoems\u201d will be accessible to the public in the library\u2019s special collections room. The rules are pretty simple: \u201cBasically clean hands and a pure heart,\u201d Makala said. \u201cYou\u2019re able to see and handle all the books in our collection.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a key difference between a teaching collection and a museum collection. Once items such as bags, coats, pens and cups are secured in the vestibule, students are able to handle historic works. This is vital, to Makala\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n

Literature students have already been reading Wheatley\u2019s poems, typically in a Norton Anthology, a \u201cbig brick of a book,\u201d Makala said. \u201cThere\u2019s an importance to encountering the material text, as it appeared to its original audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPoems\u201d is small and comparatively short, at about 120 pages. It includes an engraving of Wheatley sitting with her left hand at her chin, her right holding a quill pen over a piece of paper \u2013 the first portrait of an African American author.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that something this significant has come to Furman is important,\u201d Makala said. World-class, original materials amplify teaching and learning. Instead of being accessible through a trip to New York or Boston, or even Chapel Hill or Atlanta, \u201cI want them here for our students, on site.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Furman has acquired a first-edition copy of Phillis Wheatley\u2019s \u201cPoems,\u201d published in 1773. It is the first book by an African American, the first book by an African American woman and the first book of poetry by an African American author.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":272,"featured_media":26566,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99,52],"tags":[207,224],"class_list":["post-26312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africana-studies","category-library","tag-student-research","tag-the-furman-advantage"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}