The Bancroft Library is pleased to announce the winners of the following fellowships for the 2008-2009 academic year:

The Bancroft Library Study Award
Audrey Clark
"The Asian American Avant-Garde: Internationalist Aspirations in Early Asian American Literature"

William Wagner
"Reading, Writing, and Rambling: The Literary Culture of Travel in Antebellum America"

Gunther Barth Fellowship
Richard Welker
"The Culture of Agrarian Capitalism: Farmers, Neighbors, and Economic Relationships in Nineteenth Century California"

Reese Fellowship
Andrina Tran
"Resurrecting the Forgotten Cookbook"

Link: http://bancsurvey.blogspot.com/

The Bancroft Survey Project began in February 2008.  Funded by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon and the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundations, the survey project is intended to be a simultaneously broad and in-depth survey of all manuscript holdings of the Bancroft Library, which has been collecting for over a century.  Four archivists were hired to scour the collections for a three year term, during which they will review the vast myriad of manuscript materials and use a survey instrument designed to gather data on collection scope, subject categories, and physical condition. 

The survey archivists are Marjorie Bryer, Amy Croft, Dana Miller, and Elia Van Lith, and they have kindly agreed to share with us some of their discoveries via a project blog - http://bancsurvey.blogspot.com/

- that will be updated regularly with interesting (and occasionally odd) finds.

Link: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/events/bancstore/index.html

The first two installments of the Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lectures are now available for purchase at The Bancroft Store.

On Teaching Poetry
By Robert Hass, 2006

The first Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry, reproduced here, was part of an event recognizing the commitment and accomplishments and abundance of Judith's life. A commemoration of Judith’s love of poetry and her love of teaching, this lecture (led by Robert Hass) relights the lamp of her brilliance that was extinguished on November 29, 2002.

"You Only Guide Me by Surprise": Poetry and the Dolphin's Turn
By Peter Sacks, 2007

The second Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry, reproduced here, was part of an event recognizing the commitment and accomplishments and abundance of Judith's life. Peter Sacks gives an inspiring lecture about the origins of poetry, conjuring ancient and mystical connections among dolphins, poets, and poetic inspiration.

Link: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/events/calendar.html#9

May 15th, Faculty Club

Led by Belen Bistué, Bancroft Study Award winner, UC Davis Doctoral Student

Early modern translators recurrently claim that both versions - original and translation - must appear to be exactly the same text, and that the translator must add nothing of his own. In fact, a large number of medieval and early modern translations actually included two or more versions of a work side by side, offering a multiplicity of languages, versions, and interpretive positions. Ms. Bistué studies these multi-texts from a perspective beyond ideologies of unification and exclusion.

Link: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/friends/annualmeeting.html#current

Saturday, May 17th
Heyns Room, Faculty Club
11:30am - 2:30pm

The Friends of The Bancroft Library’s annual luncheon* and meeting are open to all members of the Friends and their guests. The business meeting will feature the presentation of the Hubert Howe Bancroft Award to Malcolm Margolin, Founder & Publisher of Heyday Books. Additionally, the Hill-Schumate Book Collecting Prize for Undergraduates and the Reese Fellowship for Bibliographical Studies will be awarded.

Following both the luncheon* and business meeting there will be a Chautauqua Presentation by Charlie Chin — Artist-in-Residence, Chinese Historical Society of America. A Chautauquan presentation has three components: First, the presenter has the character talk about his life and times. Second, he answers questions from the audience in character. Finally, the presenter steps out of character and discusses the character’s place in history, as well as the times and events he could not have known about.

Space is limited. For further information and to RSVP, please contact Barbara Young: (510) 643-0116 or byoung@library.berkeley.edu

*Luncheon reservations are required at a cost of $40 per person.