Cayenne: From “Un Lieu de Rencontre” to a French Colony
Guest Blog by Gayle K. Brunelle, Professor Emeritus, California State University, Fullerton The Guyanas, the coast of which has often been dubbed the “Wild Coast” since Sir Walter Raleigh’s 1595 visit to the Venezuelan region...
A map that reveals and conceals at the James Ford Bell Library
By Jeff Bishop W. Jeff Bishop provides guest commentary on the Bell's "Map of the British and French dominions in North America" by John Mitchell and Thomas Kitchin (1774). Jeff is the Director of the...
American Images
By Anne Good, Assistant Curator The map of "Virginia and Florida" published by Henricus Hondius, based on the work of his father, Jodocus, and Gerhard Mercator (Bell Call #1628 oMe, vol. 2) was not the...
The Great Auk
By Anne Good, Assistant Curator Most biologists agree that a “sixth extinction” is currently underway due to human activity in the natural environment. Just how far into it we are is a matter of debate,...
The other side of the world
By Anne Good, Assistant Curator Preparing for a class presentation on early American maps led me, serendipitously, to a fun discovery: antipodes -- specifically the antipode of the Bell Library. I was searching UMedia for 16th...
New year; new blog!
By Anne Good, Assistant Curator In 2019, Bell Curator Maggie Ragnow and the incredible photographer, Natasha D’Schommer, collaborated to produce the book Tulips, Chocolate & Silk: Celebrating 65 Years of the James Ford Bell Library....