Harry Ransom Center facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Harry Ransom Center |
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| The Harry Ransom Center, June 2012 | |
| Country | US |
| Type | Academic library |
| Established | 1957 |
| Location | Austin, Texas |
| Coordinates | 30°17′04″N 97°44′28″W / 30.28444°N 97.74111°W |
The Harry Ransom Center is a special place at the University of Texas at Austin. It's like a giant treasure chest filled with amazing things related to books, art, and history! Until 1983, it was called the Humanities Research Center.
This center is an archive, a library, and a museum. It collects important items from the Americas and Europe to help people study the arts and humanities. Imagine this: the Ransom Center has 36 million handwritten papers, one million rare books, five million photographs, and over 100,000 pieces of art!
The center has a special reading room for scholars who want to study these items. It also has galleries where you can see different exhibitions that change often. In one school year (2015–2016), almost 6,000 researchers visited, and their work led to over 145 new books!
Contents
History of the Center
The Harry Ransom Center was started in 1957 by a person named Harry Ransom. He wanted to make the University of Texas's collection of rare books and manuscripts much bigger. He bought several important collections, like the Edward Alexander Parsons Collection.
Harry Ransom was the official director for a short time, from 1958 to 1961. But he kept guiding the center's growth until 1971, even when he became the chancellor of the University of Texas System. The center moved into its current building in 1972.
Key Directors and Major Finds
F. Warren Roberts was the director from 1961 to 1976. During his time, the center got the Helmut Gernsheim Collection of photographs. They also added the papers of famous writers like D. H. Lawrence, John Steinbeck, and Evelyn Waugh. In 1968, they acquired the Carlton Lake Collection.
After Roberts, John Payne and Carlton Lake were temporary directors from 1976 to 1980. This was a very exciting time because in 1978, the center got its complete copy of the Gutenberg Bible! This is one of the rarest and most important books in the world.
In 1980, Decherd Turner became the director. He helped the center get many more amazing collections. These included old books from the Aldine Press, the papers of poet Anne Sexton, and the large collection of 19th-century stories from Robert Lee Wolff. He also brought in the archives of famous movie people like David O. Selznick and Gloria Swanson.
When Decherd Turner retired in 1988, Thomas F. Staley took over. Staley added the famous Woodward and Bernstein Watergate Papers, which are about a big political event. He also acquired another rare Bible, the Plantin Polyglot Bible, and over 100 collections of writers' papers.
In September 2013, Stephen Enniss became the director. He used to be the head librarian at the Folger Shakespeare Library. Under his leadership, the Ransom Center has continued to collect papers from important authors like Kazuo Ishiguro, Arthur Miller, and Ian McEwan.
In 1983, the center's name was changed from the Humanities Research Center to the Harry Ransom Center, honoring its founder.
Amazing Collections to Explore
The Ransom Center has some truly special items. Two of the most famous are a Gutenberg Bible and Nicéphore Niépce's View from the Window at Le Gras. This photograph, taken around 1826, is known as the first successful permanent photograph ever! Both of these incredible items are always on display in the main lobby.
Beyond these, the center holds many other culturally important documents and objects. It's especially strong in modern literature, performing arts, and photography.
Literature Treasures
- Three copies of the 1623 First Folio of William Shakespeare's plays. This is the first collected edition of his plays!
- A very rare 1865 first edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. There are only 23 copies of this particular edition known to exist.
- The first edition of the 1572 Portuguese book Os Lusíadas, by Luis de Camões.
- The personal libraries of famous writers like Gabriel García Márquez and Evelyn Waugh.
- Many handwritten collections from authors such as Lewis Carroll (who wrote Alice in Wonderland), James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, Norman Mailer, and Ian McEwan.
- Edgar Allan Poe's actual writing desk.
- A large collection of rare and valuable comic books.
- A writing journal kept by Jack Kerouac as he prepared to write his famous book On the Road (1957).
- The Cardigan manuscript of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, a very old and important collection of stories.
- A rare 1904 first edition of The Book of the Law by Aleister Crowley.
- Tarot cards that were hand-colored by Aleister Crowley.
- The records of the Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. publishing company, showing how books were made.
Theatre and Performing Arts Gems
- The papers of many famous actors, playwrights, and directors, including Samuel Beckett, T. S. Eliot, Harry Houdini, Arthur Miller, George Bernard Shaw, and Tennessee Williams.
- An amazing collection of early modern plays and theatre books, including three Shakespeare First Folios.
- A historic collection of old photographs of actors and dancers.
- David Garrick's diary from his 1751 trip to Paris, which used to belong to Harry Houdini.
- John Wilkes Booth's personal script for the play Richard III.
- Original costumes from the Ballets Russes, a famous dance company. This includes pieces designed by Pablo Picasso!
- The original handwritten papers for George Aiken's 1852 stage version of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Film and Television Highlights
- The papers of famous movie stars and directors like Robert De Niro, David O. Selznick, Nicholas Ray, and Gloria Swanson.
- Costumes, script drafts, and storyboards from the classic film Gone with the Wind. These are part of the David O. Selznick Collection.
- Unused items designed by the famous artist Salvador Dalí for a dream scene in the 1945 film Spellbound.
- The actual sunglasses worn by Gloria Swanson in the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard.
- Scripts, notes, props, and costumes from the popular American TV series Mad Men.
Artistic Masterpieces
- Two paintings by the famous artist Frida Kahlo: Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940) and Still Life (with Parrot and Fruit).
- A complete set of Pablo Picasso's Vollard Suite from 1930–1937, which are a series of etchings.
- A statue of a she-wolf carved in stone and once covered in gold leaf by Eric Gill, who also created the Gill Sans typeface.
- Sculptures (called busts) of different writers, which you can see in the lobby and reading room.
Historical Documents
- A 16th-century globe designed by Gerardus Mercator, a famous mapmaker.
- The Kraus Map Collection, which has maps from the 16th and 17th centuries.
- An official declaration signed by Napoleon Bonaparte.
- The love letters of the Mexican Emperor Maximilian I and his wife Carlota.
- Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's notes, interviews, and other documents related to the Watergate scandal, a very important event in American history.
