Contours of the Premodern World

Anne Good, Assistant Curator I was intrigued by a story that recently appeared in the Smithsonian Magazine (online) about an archaeological find in southern Vietnam. The site at Óc Eo is nearly 2,000 years old,...

By Anne Good, Assistant Curator In May I happened to read an article on the University of Minnesota News and Events page: “U of M Researchers map the genome of the world’s grumpiest cat.” The...

By Anne Good, Assistant Curator Some time ago, I had the pleasure of listening to a “History Book Club” conversation between Prof. M.J. Maynes (History, U of MN – Twin Cities) and Dr. Emily Bruce...

This review of a traveling historical exhibition, which will be on view at the United Nations Headquarters in New York until March 30, reminded me of the work that the Bell Library has set...

By Anne Good, Assistant Curator of the James Ford Bell Library I recently read Feed, by M.T. Anderson, a novel in the future dystopia genre, aimed at a young adult audience, published in 2002. Like...

Among the most wide-ranging explorers of the early modern era was the Dutchmen Jan Huyghen van Linschoten (1563-1611). Accounts of his voyages were published in large, beautiful books, well-illustrated, and often hand-colored as well....

By Anne Good, Assistant Curator One of the most fun things that we get to do at the Bell Library is acquire new materials for the collection. Earlier this year we were absolutely thrilled to...

By Anne Good, Assistant Curator We often find names written in the books that make up the Bell collection – inside the front or back covers, on blank leaves at the back of books, and...

Guest post by William Poole of New College, Oxford The James Ford Bell Library holds a copy of a rather mysterious little book, published in 1689. It is a duodecimo of not quite two hundred...

By Anne Good, Assistant Curator It is fascinating to see the ways that historical interpretation has changed over time – sometimes due to the discovery of new materials, and sometimes because of societal changes that...

Anne Good, Assistant Curator Two exhibits are currently on display at the James Ford Bell Library, housed in the Elmer L. Andersen Library on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus. The Bell...

By Anne Good, Assistant Curator Two exhibits are currently on display at the James Ford Bell Library, housed in the Elmer L. Andersen Library on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities...

Compiled by Anne Good, Assistant Curator at the James Ford Bell Library In May, I wrote a blog post on sources for studying cloth in the collection of the Bell Library. I included in this...

By Anne Good, Assistant Curator Since I'm still new to the collection at the James Ford Bell Library, I make time occasionally to page through the printed catalog that was published in 1994 and to...

Guest post by Gail King, Retired Asian Studies Librarian, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University One of the holdings of the James Ford Bell Library is Histoire d'une dame chrétienne de la Chine, ou...

By Anne Good, Assistant Curator When James Ford Bell provided the core collection of books to found this library back in 1953, his main interest was trade. He wrote, “Trade, to me, is an expression...