What Do Your Bookshelves Say about You?

A collection of books, whether owned by an institution or an individual, is a library (that name may also apply to the physical space inhabited by the collection).

The University of Mississippi library began in 1849. On view is a ledger containing the only known copies of an 1858 printed book inventory alongside handwritten updates from 1868. Using this evidence, the Original Library Project seeks to identify those volumes from 1849 to 1858 which remain in our holdings.

What can one learn by examining this physical assemblage?

• Upon first glance, the books displayed may not appear sufficiently old. However, as a working academic library the inevitable wear and tear resulted in loose covers and broken spines. Preserving the intellectual content of these volumes necessitated rebinding, reinforcement, or encasement in boxes and envelopes.
• Markings and other interventions demonstrate how the library indicated ownership, organized its volumes, and facilitated lending practices.
• The books reflect the academic focus and interests of the university during this period. Below are just a very small portion of the texts in Greek and Latin that dominated the institution’s initial focus on providing a traditional classical education. The inclusion of works on science, medicine, agriculture, law, history, and other branches of learning reflect an enlarged mission introduced in the late 1850s.

Charles Richardson, A New Dictionary of the English Language (London: William Pickering, 1837-1838). Vol. 2.

Brown ink inscription indicates that this was one of the very first books acquired by the new library in 1849 and the two volume set cost $15.50.

“V 13” is a local subject classification system used in the early years of the library.

Red ink “I – 14 – 5” designates the placement of this specific volume on book case I, shelf 15, 5th book from the left. Close examination of the two photographs will show book cases labeled alphabetically at the top and numbers for each shelf on the left.

Dark blue ink “423 / R / v.2” was added when the library adopted the Dewey Decimal System in the 1880s.

The bar code is part of the library’s current check out system.

L.M.P. de Laverne, The Life of Field Marshal Souvarof; with Reflections upon the Principal Events, Political and Military, Connected with the History of Russia, During part of the Eighteenth Century (Baltimore, MD: E.J. Coale, 1814).

“It is unfortunate that historians are not generals-in-chief of armies!!!” Just one of a number of comments made by a reader reacting to the text.

Lysias, Lysiae Orationes ad optimorum librorum fidem (Leipzig, Germany: C. Tauchnitii, 1829).

The notations of undergraduate fraternity men reference the 1893 Columbian World’s Fair in Chicago and the Spanish American War of 1898. Of the latter, the writer mentions that the war hero Richmond Pearson Hobson “has kissed the queen of England” and “Fighting Joe” Wheeler of Alabama “has resigned his seat in Congress and D---m, the rest.”

• Bookplate from the Original Library at the University of Mississippi