Middlebury College Special Collections

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Middlebury College Special Collections Special Collections serves as a research laboratory for students, faculty, administration/staff, alumni, the Middlebury community, and independent scholars

We welcome researchers to explore our collections of rare books, archives, manuscripts, photographs, audio and video recordings, and other rare and unique materials that tell the story of our collective past. Our major collections are broad in scope and include the Julian W. Abernethy Collection of American Literature, the Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad Collection, Rare Books and Manuscripts, and the Middlebury College Archives.

10/12/2026

Enjoy this 16mm film from the 1940s of autumn leaves on the Middlebury Town Green and Court Street.

Last week, we welcomed a whole bunch of alumni from the Class of 1977 to the Reading Room, where they tirelessly combed ...
10/09/2026

Last week, we welcomed a whole bunch of alumni from the Class of 1977 to the Reading Room, where they tirelessly combed through newspapers, records, and photos in search of nuggets of nostalgia. These memories will be featured in the class's Reunion Yearbook when alumni from classes ending in 2 and 7 return to campus to gather and reminisce in June 2027 šŸŽ‰šŸŽ‰šŸŽ‰ Special thanks to our friends at for making the magic happen!

Next up in newly-digitized Middlebury Athletics images is Women's Soccer!šŸ“ødates:1. 19882. 19813. 1980s4. 19885. 19886. 1...
10/08/2026

Next up in newly-digitized Middlebury Athletics images is Women's Soccer!

šŸ“ødates:
1. 1988
2. 1981
3. 1980s
4. 1988
5. 1988
6. 1988
7. 1988
8. circa 1979-1981
9. 1985
10. 1982

It's been a minute since the Library posted to Facebook. So, hi, again šŸ‘‹. Fun fact: in the month of September the Davis ...
10/06/2026

It's been a minute since the Library posted to Facebook. So, hi, again šŸ‘‹. Fun fact: in the month of September the Davis Family Library checked out 2,658 items from our collection. That's basically one item for every student enrolled, plus a few extras. šŸ’„ šŸ“š

Yesterday we welcomed Prof. Pieter Broucke and his first year seminar ā€œPiranesi as a Visionary Artistā€. One of the many...
10/06/2026

Yesterday we welcomed Prof. Pieter Broucke and his first year seminar ā€œPiranesi as a Visionary Artistā€. One of the many works they viewed was ā€œDella Magnificenza ed Architettura deā€™ Romaniā€ (Rome, 1761). The book celebrates the magnificent architecture of Ancient Rome, but with itā€™s large foldout plates, this folio itself is quite magnificent! It was a gift of Michael Hassig ā€˜74 and Chris Hassig ā€˜09

We canā€™t resist taking one last look at the plates in ā€œDe Motu Animaliumā€ (Leiden, 1685) by Giovanni Alfanso Borelli. N...
10/02/2026

We canā€™t resist taking one last look at the plates in ā€œDe Motu Animaliumā€ (Leiden, 1685) by Giovanni Alfanso Borelli. Not only did Borelli figure out how the heart pumps blood through the veins, he extrapolated the concept and is credited with being the first person to draft a design for an underwater breathing apparatus, as well as for a submarine. See recent posts for more!

Ok, so didn't make the exact parchment that these gorgeous texts were created on. But they do hand-make parchment using...
10/01/2026

Ok, so didn't make the exact parchment that these gorgeous texts were created on. But they do hand-make parchment using many of the same age-old techniques that artisans in the past used - and on Monday, we got to watch it happen!
Jesse Meyer of Pergamena and Professor Garrison's Medieval Bodies class were kind enough to include Special Collections in this very hands-on collab, during which students got to try their hands at scraping and stretching a real limed goatskin. Before paper was popularized as the go-to writing surface in Europe, this wet and smelly process was used to create thin, strong, and beautiful scrolls and pages for manuscripts. These are just three of the many, many materials on parchment held by SC. In fact, the process works so well that it's still used today for the creation of religious texts, fine art, and even some legal documents.

Pictured:
Franciscan Book of Hours, 1475
Ilan Sefirot: Kabbalistic Tree of Life, c. 1800-1899
Ethiopian manuscript psalter, c. 1700s.

No pens allowed in the Reading Room... unless you're visiting for a quill-and-ink workshop! Then we pull out all the sto...
09/29/2026

No pens allowed in the Reading Room... unless you're visiting for a quill-and-ink workshop! Then we pull out all the stops: turkey feathers, inkwells, blotting paper, and lots and lots of protective tarp.
These lucky students visited with Professor Garrison's Medieval Bodies class last week, checked out a selection of 15th- and 16th-century manuscripts, and then tried out some manuscript-writing for themselves. The consensus? "Actually SO satisfying." šŸŖ¶āœļøšŸ“œ

The plates at the back of ā€œDe Motu Animaliumā€ (Leiden, 1685), fold out so you can refer to them while reading the text. ...
09/25/2026

The plates at the back of ā€œDe Motu Animaliumā€ (Leiden, 1685), fold out so you can refer to them while reading the text. The title is translated to ā€œOn the Movement of Animalsā€, and in this groundbreaking work, Giovanni Alfonso Borelli explores anatomy, biomechanics, and physiology. Borelli was Italian and lived from 1608 to 1679. This book was first published shortly after his death in 1680. The artistic and graphic appeal of the plates is significant, but the scientific exploration of how bodies move is amazing.

Weā€™re taking a closer look at ā€œDe Motu Animaliumā€ (Leiden, 1685), because thereā€™s so much in it to see! The very intere...
09/24/2026

Weā€™re taking a closer look at ā€œDe Motu Animaliumā€ (Leiden, 1685), because thereā€™s so much in it to see! The very interesting bookplate indicates that at one time it was ā€œfrom the small study of surgeon Johannes Tanner.ā€ The inscription indicates it was presented to Middlebury College by Thomas Tredwell, Esq., from Plattsburgh, who served in the New York Senate and represented New York in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1791 to 1795. The tunnels left by bookworms are like a Rorschach inkblot test! And lastly, thereā€™s a glimpse of the amazing plates at the back of the book that fold out so you can refer to them while reading the text. Weā€™ll share more of those tomorrow!

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Middlebury, VT
05753

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