UW Digital Collections Center announces new digital collections

March 7, 2012

These collections have recently been added to the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections by the UWDCC.

Art Thesis Image Collection

In lieu of a written thesis, graduate students in the UW-Madison Art Department plan and carry out an exhibition of their work in a local gallery space. During their second year of study, students typically stage an exhibition in order to complete a Master of Arts degree. Students continuing on to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree stage another exhibition the following year, with the goal of developing and refining their work during the intervening time. This collection documents thesis exhibitions of UW-Madison Art Department students, beginning in 2008. Each year, images from recent exhibitions will be added. Over time the collection will grow to become a resource for students and faculty, and a venue for showcasing student work.

Donaldson, Thomas Leverton. A collection of the most approved examples of doorways… (1833)

Thomas Leverton Donaldson (1795-1885) was a British architect and professor of architecture, active as a founder of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1834. As a young man he spent five years traveling in Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor, studying important ancient buildings. His publications reflect his interest in historical architecture. Digitized here is A collection of the most approved examples of doorways from ancient buildings in Greece and Italy, expressly measured and delineated for this work… (1833). Along with the 25 illustrated doorway examples, Donaldson provides an overview of ancient customs related to doorways and a side-by-side translation from the Latin of excerpts from Vitruvius’ writings on doorways. The volume digitized here is from the collection of the UW-Madison, Kohler Art Library, WF D71 Cutter and is now part of the Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture.

McHugh, Joseph P. Designs for mission furniture, 1904

Joseph P. McHugh (1854-1916), New York interior decorator and retailer, claimed with some justification to have originated the Mission-style of furniture. Whether McHugh, Gustav Stickley or George Clingman is ultimately awarded that title, McHugh can take credit for mass producing Mission-style furniture at affordable prices and fueling the popularity of the style. With his designer Walter J. H. Dudley (1862-1947), McHugh produced a broad range of furniture forms for every room of the house. The catalog “Designs for Mission Furniture,” believed to date to 1904, provides many line drawings of furniture items and three pages illustrating room interiors. The fragile copy digitized here (note chipped pages) is in the collection of the UW-Madison, Kohler Art Library, WW M18 Cutter and is part of the Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture.

Silver Buckle Press Collection

Silver Buckle Press is a working museum of letterpress printing dedicated to preserving the craft of fine printing through educational programming, publications, exhibitions and tours. The Silver Buckle Press holdings of books, wood and metal type, hand presses, and printing equipment are part of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries. Books in the Silver Buckle Press Collection database represent printing history materials from our reference shelf. This core sample was chosen to make hard-to-find items available to students and researchers. The database consists primarily of type specimen books. Type specimens were issued by type and printing equipment manufacturers as sales catalogs. Another category of type specimen books in this collection were in-house specimens made by commercial printers to show prospective customers what types the business had available for job printing.

Pardee, Aurel Baker [Diary of Aurel Baker Pardee, 1917]

This diary of a Red Cross, Army, and later public health nurse from Eagle, Wisconsin covers her service in France during World War I beginning with her voyage to Le Havre from New York in October, 1917, and ending in September, 1918. The diary includes a first-hand account of a Zeppelin alert at Le Havre. Additional materials from this collection are available in original form at the Wisconsin Historical Society.