News

March 19, 2017
Music pervaded public and private spaces in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century England; yet, in 1904, German critic Oscar Adolf Hermann Schmitz, heightening long-standing aspersions, dismissed England as a “land without music.” This unflattering epithet pointed to England’s meager contributions to the western musical canon during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries—no English Gluck, Mozart, or Verdi; no English operatic or symphonic tradition that could rival those that flourished on the continent.  The English, critics like Schmitz suggested, were importers rather than producers—tasteless consumers and dilettantes rather than discerning, proficient practitioners.  This view did not originate with continental nationalists; in the eighteenth century the English often presented themselves as uniquely unmusical in print and in visual satire.  At once self-effacing and boastful, this representation asserted a national character too sensible, too chaste, too sober to permit the excesses of musical genius.  Bringing together satirical prints and documents pertaining to English music makers and listeners, this exhibition explores English attitudes toward music as lascivious, feminine, foreign, frivolous, and distinctly un-English. The exhibition was curated by Amy Dunagin, who received both her BA and PhD from Yale in Music.  Ms. Dunagin is presently a Postdoctoral Associate of the European Studies Council, and Managing Editor of the American Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies’ journal, Eighteenth-Century Studies, hosted at Yale under the editorial direction of Prof. Stephen Pincus, Bradford Durfee Professor of History, and co-sponsored by the Lewis Walpole Library and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.   View exhibition brochure
February 7, 2017
A charming exhibit of animals pictured in law books opens February 1, courtesy of the Yale Law Library’s Rare Book Collection. Titled “Woof, Moo & Grr: A Carnival of Animals in Law Books,” the exhibit is narrated from the perspective of the animals themselves and is aimed at animal lovers of all ages. Twenty books from around the world will be on display, more than half of them printed before the nineteenth century and the earliest published in 1529. They feature illustrations of a wide variety of animals that visitors may be surprised to find in the pages of serious legal literature. The exhibition is curated by Mark S. Weiner, a writer, filmmaker, and professor on leave from Rutgers Law School. Weiner holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and a Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University. “Law is a serious business,” said Weiner, “which is why it’s important to find a chance to laugh. The exhibit looks at the different roles that animals play in legal literature, and it quietly explores the relation between law and the imagination.” “Woof, Moo & Grr” is on display from February 1 through May 31, 2017, in the Rare Book Exhibition Gallery, Level L2, in the Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School, at 127 Wall Street in New Haven. It is open to the general public 10am-6pm, seven days a week, and open to Yale affiliates until 10pm. The images and text from the exhibit are also available online, in the Rare Book Collection’s Flickr site(link is external). For more information, contact Mike Widener, Rare Book Librarian, at (203) 432-4494, email <mike.widener@yale.edu(link sends e-mail)>.
February 7, 2017
Manuscripts and Archives will undergo a major renovation of its public spaces during 2017. While the renovation is in progress all public services, including the reading room where researchers consult collection materials, will be temporarily relocated to the Franke Room in Sterling Memorial Library.The renovation of Manuscripts and Archives will revitalize a beautiful space within Sterling Memorial Library, one that was originally built to house the rare book collections now at the Beinecke Library. The renovation project will provide for better stewardship of collection materials through improved environmental control and security upgrades. The researcher experience in the revitalized reading room will be enhanced with improved lighting, reduced noise, and improved consultation space. Perhaps most importantly for our teaching mission, the renovation will create a beautiful, inspiring, and secure classroom space to meet increasing faculty demand for teaching with Manuscripts and Archives collections.
February 6, 2017
When: Thursday, February 2, 2017 10:00 AM - Sunday, April 30, 2017 5:00 PM Where:  Yale Center for British Art (YCBA), Second-floor galleries 1080 Chapel St., New Haven, CT 06510 (Location is wheelchair accessible) Preview the exhibition Description: This is the first exhibition to explore the instrumental roles of Hanoverian princesses Caroline of Ansbach (1683–1737), Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (1719–72), and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744–1818)—all of whom married into the British royal family—and how they shaped the nation’s society and culture during a time of significant political transformation. Through their wide-ranging intellectual, social, and political interests, these princesses bolstered the greatest philosophical, scientific, and cultural luminaries of the day; brought the arts, enlightened conversation, and experimentation into their palaces and gardens; and actively supported British industry, trade, and imperial ambition, which together spurred unprecedented progressive dialogue and social change that continues to reverberate today. Open To: General Public Admission: Free Contact Information:  Yale Center for British Art 203-432-2800
February 6, 2017
When: Sunday, January 1, 2017 10:00 AM - Sunday, December 31, 2017 5:00 PM Where:  Yale Center for British Art (YCBA), Third and fourth-floor galleries 1080 Chapel St., New Haven, CT 06510 (Location is wheelchair accessible) Preview the exhibition Description: The third phase of an important multiyear building conservation project has been completed, and visitors can now experience not only a renewed masterpiece of modern architecture by Louis I. Kahn but also a freshly reimagined installation of the Center’s collections. More than five hundred works, largely the gift of the institution’s founder, Paul Mellon (Yale College, Class of 1929), are on display in the newly restored and reconfigured galleries on the third and fourth floors.   Open To: General Public Admission: Free Contact Information:  Yale Center for British Art 203-432-2800

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