Gregory Mackie (Assistant Professor, Department of English), Katherine Kalsbeek (Acting Head, Rare Books and Special Collections), and Justin O’Hearn (PhD student, Victorian literature) were thrilled to view the Oscar Wilde acquisitions when they arrived at UBC Library in early January.
From Oscar Wilde to the Pope, the Library has added historically notable documents to its rare and special collections. Last November, Justin O’Hearn, a PhD candidate in Victorian literature at UBC, launched a crowdfunding campaign to claim Teleny and Des Grieux, two rare texts connected to Oscar Wilde. Teleny was first published in 1893, with only five known sets of the two-volume publication remaining. There are only three known copies of Des Grieux, published in 1899.
“UBC is the only collection in the world with both texts, and that is huge from a research perspective,” says O’Hearn. The additions complement UBC Library’s Colbeck Collection of 19th-century literature, which includes a number of rare Wilde texts.
Another exciting addition is the Papal bull, a medieval document written in 1245. A legal decree issued in Latin by Pope Innocent IV to the Italian convent of San Michele in Trento, it features the signatures of the Pope and 13 cardinals (including future pope Nicholas III). This rare medieval document is a teaching tool for students of classics, literature, law, theology and art history.
“By bringing documents such as this to UBC Library, we help bring history to life,” says Katherine Kalsbeek, Acting Head of Rare Books and Special Collections.
This story originally appeared in the Friends 2015 spring newsletter.