Through our digital collections, Vassar College Libraries aim to provide access to high-quality digital content generated by the Libraries for research and study, as open as possible; support the teaching, learning, and research needs of the College; preserve at-risk or fragile physical collections through digitization, or at-risk born-digital collections through reformatting; expose hidden, less-used physical collections through access to digital surrogates; and foster experimental, cutting-edge, and innovative projects through technology. Learn More
Jeffrey R. Walker, Professor of Geology at Vassar College and editor of a new edition of the naturalist John Burroughs' book Signs & Seasons, talks about Burroughs, his life and work.
Jennifer Church, Professor of Philosophy at Vassar, talks about perception, imagination, and her book Possibilities of Perception, published in 2013 by Oxford University Press. "Possibilities of Perception is a stimulating, wide-ranging treatment of perception in its many guises that should be of
Jennifer Phegley, literary historian and professor of English at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, discusses her book: Educating the Proper Woman Reader: Victorian Family Literary Magazines and the Cultural Health of the Nation, published by the Ohio State University Press.
Jerome McGann, University Professor and John Stewart Bryan Professor of English at the University of Virginia, discusses his new book, A New Republic of Letters: Memory and Scholarship in the Age of Digital Reproduction (Harvard, 2014). "A manifesto for the humanities in the digital age, A New
Jessica D. Brier, Deknatel Curatorial Fellow in Photography at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College, talks about her exhibition and takes us on a tour through the galleries of On the Grid: Ways of Seeing in Print, on view at the Center from August 20 through December 22, 2022.
Field of study: Geology. Current occupation: Professor of Earth Science and Geography. Schneiderman was born in the Bronx, N.Y., grew up in Queens and Long Island. She received her undergraduate degree at Yale University and graduate degree from Harvard University. She moved to Los Angeles, Calif
Field of study: Geology. Current occupation: Professor of Earth Science and Geography. Schneiderman was born in the Bronx, N.Y., grew up in Queens and Long Island. She received her undergraduate degree at Yale University and graduate degree from Harvard University. She moved to Los Angeles, Calif
Joan M. Ferrante and Robert W. Hanning, distinguished scholars who have long collaborated in translations and scholarship in comparative literature at Columbia University, discuss their new translation of the medieval roman d'antiquité, The Romance of Thebes (The French of England Translation Series
Joanne Martin Lukacher talks about her book, Imitation and Improvement: The Norfolk Sampler Tradition, published by In The Company of Friends Press, 2013. "This new volume identifies and interprets a distinctive body of samplers executed by the girls of Norfolk during a dramatic time of social and
Joel Smith, Curator of Photography at the Princeton University Art Museum, discusses his exhibition Saul Steinberg: Illuminations, on View at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar, November 2, 2007 through February 24, 2008.
Main (Thompson) Library location: South wing -- End window. Born in a region near the village of Offwiller, France, Johann Albrecht (c. 14-- – 1539) moved to Hagenau, where he pursued a career as a printer beginning in 1500. In 1516, he printed alongside the notable printer Thomas Anshelm, and
Main (Thompson) Library location: South wing -- End window. Johann Besicken (c.14-- – c.1509) was born in Besingheim, Germany and, by 1483, he matriculated at the University of Basel. A decade later, he established a printing press in Rome with Sigismundus Mayr; the two printed together, especially
Main (Thompson) Library location:North wing -- Second window. Johann Weissenburger (c.1465 – c.1531) was born in Nuremberg circa 1465 and matriculated at the University of Ingolstadt in 1480. In 1500, Weissenburger was ordained a priest in the parish of St. Lorenz in Bamberg and began printing two
Scholar, artist, printer, and visual theorist Johanna Drucker, Breslauer Professor of Bibliographical Studies at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses her book Graphesis: Visual Forms of Knowledge Production (Harvard 2014).
Main (Thompson) Library location: South wing -- Fifth window. Johannes Prüss, (c.1490 – 1555) son of Johannes Prüss the Elder, was born in approximately 1490 and quickly learned the trade of printing. Following his father's death in 1511, he and his brother-in-law Renatus Beck assumed operation of
Main (Thompson) Library location: South wing -- Third window. Early records first locate Johannes Veldener (v) in the diocese of Würzburg. By 1473 he moved to Louvain, where he matriculated at the University to study medicine. Scholars believe that he studied printing in Cologne, but the timeline
Copy photograph of John Burroughs and students at Slabsides. The students could be members of the Wake Robin Club
During the time period covered in this journal, Julian Burroughs was born (1878); Birds and Poets (1877) was published, as was Locusts and Wild Honey (1879). In addition to his regular comments on flora, fauna and weather, Burroughs also describes several visits with Walt Whitman and makes frequent
The period in Burrough' s life covered in this journal includes the death of his mother, the assassination of President Garfield, the passing of Ralph Waldo Emerson and the death of his favorite dog. He includes his usual reports on weather and nature, but also muses frequently on life and death.
Subjects of particular note in this journal include Burroughs' visit with Walt Whitman on the New Jersey shore at Ocean Grove; as well as his thoughts about the writings of Charles Darwin, Thomas Carlyle, and Ralph Waldo Emerson
Here you will find digitized archival collections, oral histories, and more. We are continually expanding the collections and improving access. You may find additional digital resources that reside outside the digital library here, and a selection of Online Exhibitions here.
Collections Overview
The Archives & Special Collections Library is part of the Vassar College Libraries system. It holds the rare book, manuscript, and archival collections of the college. It collects, preserves, and makes available rare and unique collections, and also engages in teaching and outreach activities. This collection of finding aids describe items in both the Virginia B. Smith Memorial Manuscript Collection and the College Archives.
The Vassar College herbarium holds over 8,000 specimens of vascular plants, bryophytes, and algae. Holdings are primarily from northeastern North America, and include collections made by several notable 19th century botanists. To learn more about this project visit the website here.
Vassar College's institutional repository reflects the research and scholarly output of the Vassar College community. It provides access to senior theses, peer reviewed open access articles, and projects from a wide range of disciplines.