John James Audubon (1785-1851) is one of the best-known ornithologists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Born in present-day Haiti as the illegitimate son of a French merchant and Creole woman, Audubon moved to France with his father when he was five years old. It was there that he first developed a particular interest in …
Continue reading “Highlighting Rare Books: The Birds of America”
One of the most influential books in the English language is the King James, or Authorized, Version of the Bible. This version of the Bible came about as a result of the Hampton Court, held in 1603 by King James I of England. Over the course of three and a half years, 47 individuals split …
Continue reading “Highlighting Rare Books: Bible from 1611 on Display”
Semester break is almost here, and with it will come three much-needed homework-free weeks! Wondering what to do with all that spare time? Why not check out a book from Van Wylen’s browsing collection to keep yourself occupied? The browsing collection, located on the west side of the first floor, has many recently published books …
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Looking to get in the holiday spirit? The library has many Christmas music CDs available. You can check out sound recordings of every Vespers since 1993 and DVDs of Vespers since 1991. There are also many other Christmas CDs available, ranging from A Bach Christmas to Silly Christmas Songs. The library has several classic Christmas …
Van Wylen Library users have probably noticed the marble bust directly to the left of the main entrance of the library. This exquisite piece of art depicts Laetitia Mathilde Frédérique Aloissia Elizabeth Bonaparte, the niece of Napoleon, though around the library she just goes by Mathilde. Hiram Powers, an American sculptor from Vermont, formed the …
Journalism and newspapers have been called the “fourth branch of the government” by some because of their importance to self-government. In reporting on decisions made by government leaders both at state and national levels, the press allows citizens to make informed choices regarding those in office, a necessary aspect of democracy. However, with the rise …
Credo Reference is one of the many online reference sources Van Wylen Library subscribes to. This source allows users access to over 3 million full-text entries from nearly 500 titles by either searching for a certain topic or phrase within the whole database or by searching or browsing within a specific book. The database is …
The Reference and Instruction department of Van Wylen Library performs an integral role in the library mission. In addition to helping students and faculty individually with research, the reference and instruction librarians work with many different Hope classes, including every First Year Seminar, all sections of English 113, and numerous upper-level courses. Priscilla Atkins is …
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In light of Hope College’s recent sustainability initiative, Van Wylen library would like to highlight some of the resources it has related to this topic. The library has resources for many subjects related to sustainability, such as sustainable development, environmentalism and green technology. The sources in these collections range from physical books on the shelves …
The Fall 2009 portion of the annual Jack Ridl Visting Writers Series wrapped up on Thursday with a reading by novelist Susan Choi. In addition to having authored the Pulitzer Prize finalist novel American Woman, Choi has written two other full length novels, The Foreign Student and Person of Interest. She has also been published …
