@IULillyLibrary profile picture
IU Lilly Library @IULillyLibrary

Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Indiana University

Joined September 2015
  • Tweets 1,742
  • Following 953
  • Followers 3,402
861 Photos and videos
Get a peek at the work of our colleagues in the Craig Preservation Lab. We are so grateful for the work they do preserving and protecting our collections! blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/…
4
14
1,750
We would like to offer up these cheeky Scaup Ducks from the third volume of Audubon's Birds of America (Plate CCXXIX/229)! #InternationalUnsolicitedDuckPicDay
The Museum of English Rural Life@TheMERL
4 Jan 2024
yeah yeah happy new year etc etc whatever. you know what time it is... SHOW🦆 🦆US YOUR🦆 🦆DUCKS #InternationalUnsolicitedDuckPicDay
4
4
941
We could not be more delighted to announce the acquisition of the archives of stage magician, writer, and actor Ricky Jay. Read more here about this remarkable collection: libraries.indiana.edu/lilly-…
6
36
157
36,360
To celebrate @IUTheatreDance's production of Orlando, we're throwing a party celebrating queer lives! IU Drama students will read letters from Vita Sackville-West & we'll have a pop-up exhibit of gender rebels in our collections. 10/3 at 4:00. More info: events.iu.edu/libraries/even…
Lilly Library Orlando Party: Gender Rebels and Queer Lives. 19th-century image of Bigenio, a person who lived their life as both a man and a woman and described themselves as a hermaphrodite. They have curly brown hair and a moustache and are wearing a pink and white dress.

ALT Lilly Library Orlando Party: Gender Rebels and Queer Lives. 19th-century image of Bigenio, a person who lived their life as both a man and a woman and described themselves as a hermaphrodite. They have curly brown hair and a moustache and are wearing a pink and white dress.
4
17
3,561
Happy #Barbenheimer Day to all who celebrate! No matter what movie you are seeing this weekend, we’ve got you covered. We’re your Barbie Dream Library. #BarbieTheMovie #Oppenheimer
6
34
5,419
Two of our student colleagues, Becky Craft and Brandis Malone, both dual degree students in Russian and East European Studies and Library Science, do a deep dive into a remarkable 16th-c Slavonic Bible: blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/…
6
23
3,784
Our Head Archivist @ArchivistAva continues her journey processing the papers of Barbara Merz, aka Elizabeth Peters aka Barbara Michaels. This time, we look at sexist fan mail, battling Egyptologists, and a letter of complaint to Chicken of the Sea. blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/…
1
6
29
2,982
The Lilly Library is a Tardis. With 7 stories, it’s bigger on the inside that it looks on the outside (at least from the front). Also we can take you anywhere in space and time.
Tim “Theophilus” Johnson MA MATS BSI@UMNBookworm
28 Jun 2023
Replying to @UMNBookworm
And I’ll admit to being curious about the back side of @IULillyLibrary #RBMS23
1
8
45
7,217
Bibliographies as far as the eye can see! This weekend we’re hosting @rarebookschool course Reference Sources for Researching Printed Western Americana, taught by our Director, Joel Silver.
Four book trucks filled with bibliographies and reference sources

ALT Four book trucks filled with bibliographies and reference sources
7
39
4,801
Well before he made #AsteroidCity, Wes Anderson wrote to film critic Pauline Kael asking for her advice and reaction to his new film, Rushmore. He included a Rushmore patch—a special piece of film history that shows a beloved director as he just begins to get his start.
A letter on a round table surrounded by small office items from the mid-20th century in the style of a Wes Anderson film

ALT A letter on a round table surrounded by small office items from the mid-20th century in the style of a Wes Anderson film

Dear Ms Kael, I’m Wes Anderson I spoke with you on the telephone about my film Rushmore and I wanted to let you know where to reach me after you’ve seen the movie. I’m very eager to know your response to it. Your work has meant as much to me as the best movies you’ve written about, and I would find any comments or advice you might have for me extremely valuable. Thanks again for looking at the movie. Yours Truly, Wes Anderson

ALT Dear Ms Kael, I’m Wes Anderson I spoke with you on the telephone about my film Rushmore and I wanted to let you know where to reach me after you’ve seen the movie. I’m very eager to know your response to it. Your work has meant as much to me as the best movies you’ve written about, and I would find any comments or advice you might have for me extremely valuable. Thanks again for looking at the movie. Yours Truly, Wes Anderson

A Rushmore patch sits atop the letter. It reads, PS I am also enclosing a Rushmore Academy blazer insignia from the movie, just to liven up the package a little bit.

ALT A Rushmore patch sits atop the letter. It reads, PS I am also enclosing a Rushmore Academy blazer insignia from the movie, just to liven up the package a little bit.

A top-down view of the table with the letter on it, at the bottom of a spiral green marble staircase. Three librarians look up at the camera.

ALT A top-down view of the table with the letter on it, at the bottom of a spiral green marble staircase. Three librarians look up at the camera.
12
56
10,094
How does a life become a collection? Our amazing Archivist @ArchivistAva writes about the challenging and rewarding process of working with the collection of Barbara Mertz, better known to readers by her pseudonyms Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels: blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/…
A view of the Archivist's processing table: on it we see three typewriters and two hats.

ALT A view of the Archivist's processing table: on it we see three typewriters and two hats.

4
22
75
10,836
IU Lilly Library retweeted
IU Libraries@iulibraries
12 Jun 2023
We're hiring! Librarian positions currently posted: Head of Cataloging & Description and Curator of Religious Collections, both in the @IULillyLibrary, our principal rare books, manuscripts, and special collections library. libraries.indiana.edu/job-po…
Reading Room in the Lilly Library, featuring murals on the top half of the walls over tall bookshelves filled with books.

ALT Reading Room in the Lilly Library, featuring murals on the top half of the walls over tall bookshelves filled with books.
14
22
3,968
The Lilly Library is a magical place. Our Conservator Jim Canary is chatting with one of our local squirrel friends.
1
6
97
3,945
Join us tomorrow at 5:00 at the Gayle Karch Cook Center for an exhibition opening and reception for our exhibition in partnership with @IUAHCouncil and @VonnegutLibrary celebrating Kurt Vonnegut's first novel, Player Piano. Full Granfalloon schedule here: granfalloon.indiana.edu/fest…
The Making of Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano. June 2 through July 7. 100 Suite, Gayle Karch Cook Center. The Arts and Humanities Council partners with the Lilly Library and the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library to host an exhibit of manuscript drafts, personal letters, rare editions, and other memorabilia related to the creation and reception of Kurt Vonnegut's first novel, Player Piano (1952). Image shows the first edition of Player Piano in a purple dustjacket.

ALT The Making of Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano. June 2 through July 7. 100 Suite, Gayle Karch Cook Center. The Arts and Humanities Council partners with the Lilly Library and the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library to host an exhibit of manuscript drafts, personal letters, rare editions, and other memorabilia related to the creation and reception of Kurt Vonnegut's first novel, Player Piano (1952). Image shows the first edition of Player Piano in a purple dustjacket.
2
5
1,250
People who have defied binary gender categorization have always existed. This 1824 pamphlet tells the story of Bigenio, “an hermaphrodite endowed with the propensities of both sexes.” Nothing remains of Bigenio in the historical record aside from this sensationalized story 1/3 🧵
4
69
246
55,908
They may have been intersex, transgender, nonbinary, or some category that our modern language cannot capture. The pages tell of their amorous adventures with both male and female lovers, and their propensity to abscond with money from their wealthy paramours. 2/3 🧵
2
5
62
6,300
The Lilly’s copy was recently acquired from bookseller James Burmester and is one of only three known surviving copies. During #PrideMonth—and all year round—we celebrate the stories of LGBTQIA people who defy categorization and convention. 3/3 🧵
2
2
61
1,891
New on our blog: Archivist Kyra discusses the game she played while processing the papers of concrete poet Mary Ellen Solt: Poem or No-em? Is the spinning lamp below a poem... or something else? blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/…
Concentric circles made of colored glass, nested within each other. This sculpture by poet Mary Ellen Solt lights up and spins when plugged in.

ALT Concentric circles made of colored glass, nested within each other. This sculpture by poet Mary Ellen Solt lights up and spins when plugged in.
4
14
3,496
Our most magical blog post ever! Highlights from our Flora Fauna exhibition focusing on the unicorn in print. Includes adorable interview with local unicorn expert, age 5: blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/…
Woodcut of a very shaggy unicorn

ALT Woodcut of a very shaggy unicorn
12
32
3,985
TODAY: 4/6, 4:00-5:00pm, Lilly Library Lecture Hall. Lilly and @kinseyinstitute are partnering up to explore the print depictions of STIs in our collections. Also via Zoom. Details at: events.iu.edu/bloomington/ev…
3
21
5,058
Load more