Sevier Collection
Title
Sevier Collection
Description
The Sevier Collection was started in 1941 with a gift of rare books from the descendents of John Sevier, the first governor of Tennessee. The largest of the book collections in Special Collections is contains the widest variety of books in the library. Items collected by faculty, through gifts, and selected signed and association copies are all part of this interesting collection. Within the Sevier Collection can be found the Marc H. Hollender Mark Twain first edition books, the Robert West Demonology and Witchcraft books, books by the Vanderbilt family, and a collection of 18th and 19th century accounts by travelers to Latin America. Another group of materials of note is the Mesoamerican codices collection. Publication dates for the Sevier Collection range from the 15th through 21st centuries. Items of note are a first edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses signed by the author and The Matrix: a review for printers and bibliophiles a periodical about fine binding and printing.
Collection Items
Atlas Designed to Illustrate the Geography of the Heavens
The 18th and 19th century saw an exponential growth in the number of identified stars due to technological improvements. From ancient times until around 1600, the number of identified stars remained at around 1000. But by 1800, scientists had…
Paris vers 1675: Grand Plan de Paris et de Ses Environs
This 1530 map of Paris depicts key edifices of the French capital and its distinctive topographic features. Printer and cartographer Albert Jouvin Rochefort (c. 1540- c. 1710) included the map in his nine-panel 1672 district map of Paris. Rochefort's…
Micrographia: or, Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses
The optical microscope first appeared in the 1590s, but the use of microscopes for research did not gain acceptance until the 1660s. It was then that English natural philosopher Robert Hooke began an extended set of experiments with the microscope on…
![Registrum Huius Operis Libri Cronicarum Cu[m] Figuris et Ymag[in]ibus Ab Inicio Mu[n]di](https://gallery.library.vanderbilt.edu/files/square_thumbnails/48/727/1_Millionth_vol-300ppi_FULL.jpg "Registrum Huius Operis Libri Cronicarum Cu[m] Figuris et Ymag[in]ibus Ab Inicio Mu[n]di")
Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae
Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus identified the three kingdoms of nature (stones, plants and animals) in his Systema Naturae (1735). Each kingdom was subdivided into classes, orders, genera, species, and varieties. Linnaeus identified six classes of…
Voyage Historique de l'Amérique Méridionale: Fait par Ordre du Roi d'Espagne
In 1734, King Philip V of Spain asked Spanish mathematician, scientist and mariner Jorge Juan and scientist, author and astronomer Antonio de Ulla to join the French Geodesic Mission in measuring the length of a degree of meridian arc at the Equator.…
Life Plus 99 Years
Nathan Leopold (1904-1971) wrote Life Plus 99 Years while in prison awaiting a parole hearing. He was released in 1958 after thirty-three years of incarceration. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb’s (1905-1936) are best known for the heinous murder of…
Frank James and His Brother Jesse: The Daring Border Bandits
Western fiction got its starts in the penny dreadfuls and dime novels of the Civil War era. The Hopalong Cassidy stories were first published in 1904 and Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage was released in 1912. The genre peaked in 1960. Frank…
The Art of Murder
In the 1970s, self-published magazines called "zines" became an important voice for alternative or marginalized media. With the rise of punk culture, zines became means for communication in such areas as queer and Riot Grrl movements. John Marr's…
Please Mr. Postman Don't Shoot
Issue number 14 of John Marr's "Murder Can Be Fun" zine tells the story of "going postal," looking at the history of shootings in post offices and how the postal workers were usually the victims of the crime, rather than the perpetrators. The issue…