Top Shelf
Shhhhh! There's More in Juniata's Library Than Reference Books
For many, if not all, of Juniata's students, Beeghly Library is a spot for quiet contemplation and focused research, a place where those seeking relaxation can find the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, the New Yorker or O, or check out films running the gamut from Angels in America to The Wizard of Oz. It's hardly a place for a treasure hunt.
Librarian John Mumford would disagree. In fact, a swift tour of his office reveals an ornate partner desk once used by former president and Pennsylvania governor Martin G. Brumbaugh; the writing desk of David Emmert, the College's first art and biology teacher; and a bookcase owned by College founder James Quinter. Posh leather chairs give the office the air of an exclusive club, an impression underlined by a glowering portrait of M.G. Brumbaugh staring down from one wall. Only the inclusion of a Juniata football helmet and European soccer poster, which is a personal treasure to the librarian who also serves as the College's assistant soccer coach, breaks the Antiques Roadshow ambience.
There are myriad other discoveries to be made within Beeghly. Sometimes hidden deep in the bowels of the library's lower floors, sometimes in plain view in the building's "Treasure Room," are little-known, little-seen books, collections, paintings and other treasures that can capture imaginations ranging from Anabaptist scholars to fans of the magazine Weird Tales. Mumford and the rest of his staff are in charge of storing, preserving and, in a few cases, explaining why Juniata has such things in the library.
"Sometimes gifts are made to the library that are clearly valuable and of use to our faculty. Other holdings we have are related to our history as a Brethren college, and some gifts were made that were just too interesting to pass up," says Mumford. Mumford is particularly fond of a collection of slides showing battlefield hospital scenes during the Korean War, donated by Bill Shope '44, who served as a MASH doctor in that conflict.
Most of the holdings in the special collections came through gifts or bequests to the library. The bulk of the library's rare books came from the collection of Abraham Harley Cassel (1820-1908). Huntingdon, Pa. businessman W. Emmert Swigart (1883-1949) donated a large collection of rare books. The Mutual Benefit Group, a major insurance business based in Huntingdon, donated more than 1,000 antique books. Karl Shreiner '61 donated 19 rare works to the library, including a copy of a rare hymnal printed in Germantown in 1739.
The Sauer Bibles
Juniata has nearly 50 Bibles, also known as Germantown Bibles, printed by Christopher Sauer. Sauer Bibles, which are in German, were the first Bibles printed in the American colonies. Early English Bibles were printed in England. The College owns numerous editions from 1743, 1763 and 1776. Juniata came to acquire some of the Sauers through the enthusiasm of one of Juniata's early leaders, M. G. Brumbaugh, who gained a few copies through Abraham Cassel, owner of one of the largest collections of books in 19th century America.
Stranger than Fiction
Ray guns, noble space voyagers and fresh-faced space maidens writhing helplessly in the clutches of multi-eyed aliens are just a sprinkling of images in Juniata's newest special collection of science fiction books, magazines and anthologies, donated by State College, Pa. collector Loyal F. Ramsey. The gift, which totals thousands of volumes, includes rare and collectible titles from the heyday of science fiction such as Weird Tales, Analog, Amazing Science Fiction, Amazing Stories and Galaxy. A smattering of the authors represented are Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Isaac Asimov, Robert Bloch (author of Psycho), H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian. Says science fiction afficionado Peter Goldstein, professor of English, "The magazines in particular give students the chance to see the conditions under which science fiction was originally published, and give them a sense of the growth and change in the genre over the course of the 20th century."
Papers of the Snow Hill Society
The Snow Hill Cloister, near Waynesboro, Pa., was a celibate utopian community that began as an offshoot of the larger Ephrata Community in Lancaster County. Their celibate policy meant that like other celibate societies, most notably the Shakers and the Ephrata Cloister, Snow Hill was destined to die out. Its last member died in 1895. "The papers are here to be available for scholarship, and eventually we'd like to microfilm and digitize the collection so it can be searched online," Mumford says.
The collection includes letters, hymnals, ledger books, prayer books and fraktur, the decorative legal documents common to Anabaptist religions.
By The Books
Juniata's collections also feature interesting, and sometimes downright odd, examples of valuable books. The College has rare editions of Common Sense and The Rights of Man, by Thomas Paine. John Adams, the nation's second president, is represented by his book Defence. On a less historical note, the library also owns a book, Biblioteca Politica, that is bound in human skin. "People are usually kind of disgusted when they hear that, but evidently that was a common practice in the 16th and 17th centuries," Mumford explains, apologetically. Students also use the rare books for scholarly research. Jonathan Knepp '08, of Mill Creek, Pa., is centering his senior thesis on the 1643 book Anthropometamorphesis. Knepp is analyzing the John Bulwer book as an example of scientific racism. He will deliver his analysis this spring at the Liberal Arts Symposium.
The library's oldest book is the Schweizer Bible, printed around 1475. The collection also houses an edition of the letters of Jan Hus, a Czech religious reformer who was burned at the stake in 1415 for heresy against the Catholic Church. Juniata's copy, published in 1537, features an introduction by Martin Luther. For fans of vintage science books, Juniata holds a copy of Imperfections of a Chymist's Doctrine of Quality, written in 1675 by Robert Boyle, the scientist who gave Boyle's Law its name.
The Ephrata Printing Press
Today's college students in need of a duplicate document search out a copier or print out a computer document. Juniata offers something no other college can match-the ability to make multiple copies on an 18th century printing press. Of course you have to laboriously set all the type yourself, apply ink with rollers the size of couch pillows, and hand press every copy, but at least students will get a hands-on feel for history.
The press was donated to the College by Crist King (a Bedford County resident who had ties to the Snow Hill community), and according to his records, the press was used at the Ephrata Cloister and moved to the Snow Hill Society in the early 1800s. The College had the press evaluated by an expert from the Smithsonian Institution, and the museum dates the wooden antique as an early 19th century press. The library considered using the ancient printing equipment to print its Friends of the Library newsletter, but "we quickly realized that it was really difficult to do," Mumford says.
The Martyr's Mirror
This 1748 book was the largest (in size) published in the American colonies. Its rather gruesome subject matter centers on the persecution of Christian martyrs through history. Much of the text focuses on how Anabaptist and Mennonite martyrs in the 16th and 17th centuries died at the hands of torturers who accused them of heresy. "It's intended as an inspirational publication that helps you focus your faith," says Mumford. "It really gives you pause to realize how persecuted these religious sects were." The book was published and printed by the Ephrata Community, a celibate community established in 1732 by an Anabaptist sect.
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