Stewarded by a team of specialists, Rauner Special Collections Library houses over 100,000 rare books, millions of manuscripts, and the extensive Dartmouth College Archives. The team collaborates and partners with students, faculty, staff, and the archive-curious at Dartmouth—and across the globe—to accelerate research and advance scholarship. Come and get hands on with us!

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Special rare books in Rauner Library

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A black and white photograph of a man seated outside next to a telescope.
A couple of years ago, we were lucky enough to be near the path of totality for a total solar eclipse. Upper Valley residents may have dealt with traffic and crowds, but a jaunt north of about 56 miles would get you in range of something quite spectacular. Today we're looking at a pair of artifacts from someone who traveled much, much further to see the same kind of event. In August of 1896, a total solar eclipse took place that was visible from parts of Russia, Japan, and northern Scandinavia.
Framed drawing of Dartmouth University
We have been posting to this blog regularly for nearly 17 years. For a long time it was twice a week, but then we switched to once a week. So, we have made a lot of posts. That's why we couldn't believe it when we realized we had never posted about this amazing image in our collection. It was purportedly drawn by a young George Ticknor when he was eleven years old and a student at Dartmouth (yes, really--he graduated in 1807 at age 16). His father was an early graduate of Dartmouth and a major donor, and his grandfather lived nearby in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

The caption says:

Image of the sammelband fore-edge showing all of the bound-in pamphlets
In our opinion, sammelbands are one of the most curious books to be found in Special Collections libraries the world over. Derived from the German word "Sammelbänd" meaning "collected group", these texts can be comprised of any number of smaller discrete publications that have been bound together to form a single volume.

Exhibits

Illustration of a man on a white horse blowing a long trumpet with a woman and another figure behind. Trees, hedges, and a rendering of the US capitol in background, right.
January 07, 2026 - March 13, 2026
Rauner Library, Class of 1965 Galleries
map of eastern United States with red line denoting Appalachian Trail running from Georgia to Maine
September 15, 2025 - December 12, 2025
Rauner Library, Class of 1965 Galleries
A sepia photograph of a cross-dressing individual in an early 20th century dress with text: "Let the Old Traditions Fail" and information about the exhibit.
July 09, 2025 - September 12, 2025
Rauner Library, Class of 1965 Galleries