Huntington Highlight: Library Acquires Rare Books, Mosaic Artwork

Every year, a group of 34 couples, known as the Collectors’ Council, pool money to purchase new acquisitions for The Huntington Library. If you’ve been to a research library, you know that its holdings are vast and can range from maps to diaries to landscape designs. So when I got word of the new items early last week, I was eager to head over and check them out despite the rain.

While last year’s thirteenth annual acquisition included 35 letters written by Charles Dickens, this year the council purchased a seventeenth century book doubting Galileo’s theory that the earth revolves around the sun (say what?), a nineteenth century diary and manuscript collection depicting maritime history, a collection of British garden designs and 15 gouache murals.

But on my visit to the library I discovered the new items unfortunately aren’t up yet. The Huntington spokesperson Matt Stevens explained, “There are no immediate plans for the display of these items. While we exhibit many items, we are also an active research institution with up to 1,400 scholars using the holdings every year, including more than 150 on fellowships.”

So, the curators and catalogers will process the new pieces, and the scholars will get to work. Eventually, a curator may incorporate one of the acquisitions into an exhibition if fitting. It makes sense that only a tiny portion of The Huntington’s holdings would be on display at one time since it is one of the largest and most complete research libraries in the U.S. in its fields of specialization.

In my opinion, the most exciting of the acquisitions is Claudio Bérigard’s doubts on Galileo’s Dialogue (Dubitationes in dialogum Galilaei Galilaei). Only six copies of Bérigard’s book are known to exist in other institutions. Plus, The Huntington’s holdings on Galileo are some of the most extensive in America, said Avery Director of the library, David Zeidberg.

The story behind Bérigard’s book is interesting and would actually be a perfect addition to the library’s permanent exhibition, "Beautiful Science: Ideas that Changed the World." According to The Huntington’s website, “Less than two months after the appearance of Bérigard’s tract, sales of the Dialogo were suspended and copies were confiscated; Galileo was summoned to Rome in October of that year and eventually sentenced to a life-time house arrest.”

What’s great about the library’s latest acquisitions is the diversity. I love the whimsical and intricate vibe of Susan Hertel’s gouache designs (gouache is a type of paint a bit heavier and more opaque than watercolor), which were used for Home Savings and Loan—yes, the bank—insignia, buildings, etc. in Temple City, Calif. in 1984. Hertel worked closely with the well-known muralist Denis O’Connor. Together, they produced 80 Home Savings mosaics and played a major role in reviving mosaic art in America.

Whether it’s a journalist’s diary or a sophisticated mural, each item in The Huntington’s library tells a unique story and gives us a better glimpse into our ancestor’s past. The San Marino community is lucky to have a group of individuals willing to donate their time and money to help maintain the six million manuscripts, books, photographs, etc. in the local library.