In honor of Banned Books Week and the upcoming 300^th birthday of Denis Diderot, the OSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives Research Center would like to recognize the Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers in the McDonald Rare Book Collection. This famous encyclopedia was a beacon of free thought that helped fuel the French Enlightenment and revolutionize social and political order in the Western world. Authorities saw it as a dangerous work-it was banned in France, and the Catholic Church placed it on the Index librorum prohibitorum, or Index of Prohibited Books.

From the entry on Anatomy

The Encyclopédie began as a humble project. In 1743, French publisher Andre Le Breton asked encyclopedist John Mills to complete a French translation of Ephraim Chambers’ Cyclopaedia. When Mills failed to complete the project, it was transferred to Jean Paul de Gua de Malves who proved similarly ineffective and was summarily fired. In a desperate attempt to save the project, Breton assigned two of de Malves’ employees, Denis Diderot and Jean-Baptiste le Rond d’Alembert, to the task.

From the entry on Horseback Riding

Diderot and d’Alembert, both French intellectuals at the vanguard of the Enlightenment, took to their task with zeal. Rather than simply translate Chambers’ work, they set out to bring together the entire range of human knowledge in one great collection. Beginning in 1747, the two men commissioned more than one hundred scientists, doctors, writers, scholars, and craftsmen to write for their Encyclopédie including the likes of Francois-Marie Arouet (better known as Voltaire) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. They divided their work into three categories: history, philosophy, and poetry and assigned subjects within industry, political theory, theology, agriculture, and the arts and sciences to these three groupings.

From the entry on Glassblowing

The first volume was published in 1751 and succeeded in appalling France’s political and religious elite. The Encyclopédie made little distinction between Christianity and other religions, provided extensive writings on the work of craftsmen and day laborers, espoused the discoveries of the Scientific Revolution, and in some cases openly supported radical political theories and challenged the source of power of the ruling class. Unlike the Church and aristocracy, the French intellectual community received the Encyclopédie with enthusiasm. The popularity of the work grew quickly and the number of subscribers increased with each volume published.

Not to be challenged, ranking members of the Church began a campaign of harassment against Diderot, d’Alembert, and their contributors. In 1752 King Louis XV placed a ban on the enterprise but revoked it three months later.  The attacks continued, however, and many of the individuals writing for the Encyclopédie resigned. Even d’Alembert was forced to abandon the project when he was threatened with imprisonment. In 1759, with only seven volumes published, Louis XV placed a permanent ban on the Encyclopédie. Undeterred, Diderot and ordered the creation of several companion volumes of illustrations (which were exempt from the ban) while he and his remaining contributors continued to write new entries in secret.

From the entry on Mineralogy

In addition to the threats from French officials, Diderot also found himself on the brink of poverty. He was ultimately forced to sell his personal library to Catherine II of Russia who allowed him to keep the volumes at his home in France and paid him a stipend to serve as her librarian. Supported by the generosity of the Russian Empress, Diderot was able to continue his work. In 1765, volumes 1 through 17 were published by a printer in Switzerland and disseminated across France and throughout Western Europe. Much to Diderot’s despair, it was discovered that the printer had removed many controversial articles from the final version. Despite this, the Encyclopédie was well received and marked a historic victory for free thought.

From the entry on Art

Diderot continued his work on the Encyclopédie until 1772. Twenty-five years of difficult and sometimes dangerous work culminated in the publication of approximately 4200 sets, each comprised of twenty-eight volumes containing nearly 72,000 articles and more than 3,000 illustrations. Diderot’s work persists today in libraries and museums around the world and has gained even greater exposure through the advent of the Internet.

–Contributed by Trevor Sandgathe, images selected by Mike Mehringer

From the entry on Natural History

OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center had a special patron in the 5^th Floor Reading Room. Yes, Benny the Beaver! Benny was touring campus with Zoe from the College of Liberal Arts filming a new student orientation video. Mike was there to snap some pictures when Benny stopped by and shares the story!

Not surprisingly, Benny wanted to learn about university history and his Beaver heritage.

 The current Benny the Beaver has a long lineage reaching back over 60 years to the days when he was one of the first mascots active at events on the west coast. The logo to the left was designed by Arthur Evans and was approved by Oregon State College in 1951.

Like any diligent researcher looking into the history of his university, Benny planned to spend some time looking through our collections. He followed good researcher procedures and protocols by contacting us to make arrangements in advance, letting staff know he would be visiting and what he was interested in investigating.

We wanted Benny to be able to connect with his “roots” so we brought out our original Benny the Beaver sailor hat, which is in the style the original Benny wore from 1951 to 1998. Benny reverently placed this historic hat upon his head and was visibly moved by the experience. Actually it was kind of hard to tell how he was feeling, but we would like to think this was significant to our special patron. It’s safe to say that Benny knows the value of primary source documents for his research.

Benny’s visit was all too brief, but it was an honor to have this VIP patron in our reading room. Benny is now a registered researcher and on his next visit is set to continue his journey through our collections of OSU history.

Looking for a few more pictures? Fear not, you can find a set on Flickr!

Gilfillan at Hamilton Air Force Base

Francois Archibald Gilfillan enjoys a place in OSU history as one of the institution’s celebrated personalities. A unique individual, Gilfillan was a college dropout, a high school teacher, a member of the Army’s Chemical Warfare Service, and the recipient of a doctoral degree from Yale—all before his thirtieth birthday.

Gilfillan’s OAC diploma

Army discharge papers, 1918

In 1927, after a brief stint at the Calco Chemical Company and the University of Florida, Gilfillan found himself teaching Pharmacy at Oregon Agricultural College, his undergraduate alma mater. It was at OAC (now Oregon State University) that he shook his small-town Texas roots and established himself as an urbane Renaissance man at the cultural center of a small Oregon farming community.

Gilfillan family in 1942, when Gifillan was Acting President of OSC

Today, “Doc” (as he was known to family and friends) is often remembered for his extracurricular activities. He collected rare books and fine British silver, was a devotee of traditional Japanese gardening, a mountaineer, an obsessive genealogist, a ranking Mason, and a polyglot. Gilfillan also cultivated relationships with other intellectuals including documentary photographer Margaret Bourke-White and Russian author Antonina Riasanovsky. Naturally, his hobbies drew attention from his students and the greater community and resulted in a certain cult of personality that persists in OSU’s institutional memory nearly fifty years after his retirement.

Despite his compelling personal interests, it is Gilfillan’s efforts as a proponent of science education in Oregon that are his true legacy. In 1939, he was promoted to Dean of the School of Science and began a campaign to improve science education in Oregon’s high schools and universities. To this end, he became active in groups dedicated to furthering the cause of science education. He acted as Secretary for the Oregon Academy of Science where he worked with the American Association for the Advancement of Science to oversee small grants to fund high school lab experiments; he became Vice President of Scientists of Tomorrow which encouraged science learning in the U.S.;  and oversaw the Junior Engineers and Scientists Summer Institute (JESSI) at OSU. He also participated in a National Teacher Training program, served as the Commissioner on Higher Education for the Northwest Association of Secondary and Higher Schools and acted as one of the five original incorporators of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI).

JESSI class, 1956

Gilfillan’s legacy is a quiet one but has far-reaching consequences for Oregonians. Scientists of Tomorrow and National Teacher Training provided educational opportunities for thousands of Oregon students and teachers, descendants of the JESSI program still operate at OSU today, and OMSI has become one of the leading educational attractions in the state.

Christmas card created by Gilfillan, 1938: The Journal of Alchemistic Happiness!

Christmas card created by Gilfillan, 1956

The F.A. Gilfillan Papers are a tremendous resource for scholars interested in the history of Oregon State University, science research and education in Oregon, and the role of land grant colleges in all levels of education.

Gilfillan, 1960

This summer, SCARC tackled a massive project to shelf-read and clean selected rare book collections. Over time, some books were put back on the shelf in the wrong order after they circulated to the Reading Room.

Team Awesome

The shelf read involved checking the position of each book against a master call number list, gathering information about bookplates and donors within the books, and rearranging if needed to make sure books were in the correct order.

Mike in the rare books stacks

These collections were also long overdue for a thorough dusting. We used hake brushes and other soft tools to brush each individual book. “Herbie” (Hoover) the HEPA vac, fitted with a micro tool suction head, was used for some particularly dusty items and was our trusty servant throughout the cleaning.

Herbie the HEPA vacuum

Name brainstorm for the vacuum

Students carefully removed books, dusted their fore edges and gutters, removed acidic remnants like old library circulation cards and other inserts, and vacuumed shelves.

Mike grins as he finishes cleaning the last book!

We started these projects near the end of June, and finished in the first week of September! It was a long and tedious set of projects, but “Team Awesome” maintained a cheery and determined attitude through the whole thing. An important part of SCARC’s charge is stewardship and preservation. Thanks to the hard work of these amazing students and volunteers, we will be able to protect and care for these books for many years to come.

We asked Mike, Hope, and Cheryl:

Aside from clothes and faces covered in  book dust, red rot, ear damage, dirty hands, and hours standing, what was your favorite part of the project?

Dirty Mike’s Cleaning Service

Mike: “Pulling all the extra pieces of paper from the books feels like I’m pulling out a splinter from under a fingernail. It’s like they are breathing a sigh of relief! Handling books that are older than my great-great-great-great grandparents feels like stepping into a time machine. When I open them up I can read the words and the ideas of someone who lived in such a different time and era, and that’s beyond amazing. It’s like time-travel!

Hope:”Finding cool stuff in some of the books was definitely a fun part. Especially letters from authors and such, or beautifully handwritten notes or indexes. The hand-colored plates were gorgeous, too. But I also really liked being able to touch so many old books, because I really love old books. It was also satisfying to clean certain kinds, like the ones with gilded pages. You could really see the difference. Also, I loved my apron and I loved being a book coddler. And finally, I can’t help but mention that I managed to re-listen to Harry Potter books 2-5 while working in the stacks. Harry Potter and antique books, two of my favorite things!”

Cheryl in her apron

Cheryl: The special surprise of finding a handwritten letter was delicious! Translating and researching the letter found in a book from author/scientist Louis Agassiz to one of his pupils was a treat…I felt like an amateur detective at times. I really enjoyed the illustrations of various plants and animals in the “Transactions of the Linnean Society” volumes – I gleaned some great future tattoo ideas from some of the drawings! I also appreciated the exposure to so many different kinds of books. I kept reminding myself, someone held/read/loved this book hundreds of years ago! I’m proud to have been a part of this project.

Stack of library circulation cards removed from rare books

Thank you for such a great job, Team Awesome!

Thanks, Team!