Today is the International Day of Friendship, which celebrates the bonds people make with one another around the world. Be sure to show your appreciation for your friends today!
University of Illinois RBML
@illinoisrbml.bsky.social
Rare Book & Manuscript Library at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Main Library 346 | https://www.library.illinois.edu/rbx/ Follow us on Instagram (illinois_rbml) and Facebook (IllinoisRBML)!
Need to add something new to your game night rotation? Look no further than A New, Moral, and Entertaining Game of the Reward of Merit (1801). These images show a portion of the original linen game board and our playable facsimile!
Happy World Snake Day! World Snake Day is a global awareness day dedicated to appreciating the diversity, beauty, and ecological importance of snakes. Snakes feature as both symbols and specimens in our holdings, so slither on down to RBML and check them out! 🐍
RBML will be closed on Friday, July 3 in observance of Indepencence Day, and will reopen with our modified summer hours on Monday, July 6. In view of the 250th anniversary, here is a copy of the Declaration of Independence, published in miniature by Achille J. St Onge for the U.S. Bicentennial.
RBML will be closed on Friday, June 19 in observance of Juneteenth. We will reopen on Monday, June 22, with our modified summer hours.
Goaaaal! Or shall we say, Gol! ⚽️ Today marks the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, taking place in several US cities plus Mexico and Canada. We’re joining the summer soccer—ahem, football—fun-train with some books dedicated to the beautiful sport.
Today's Collection Spotlight is an example of papier-mâché binding, a popular feature of Gothic Revival gift books, designed by English artist Henry Noel Humphreys (1810-1879). This technique involved applying a plaster mixture over or combined with papier-mâché, which was then pressed into a mold.
RBML will be closed on Monday, May 25 in observance of Memorial Day. We will reopen with our modified summer hours on Tuesday, May 26.
Ever wondered about the origins of the term "venereal disease"? Or want to look at a beautifully illuminated early Greek translation of the New Testament? How about both at the same time? Check out our latest blog post: wordpress.library.illinois.edu/rbx/2026/05/...
Happy belated Mother's Day from RBML! The first photo shows Gwendolyn Brooks next to her mother, Keziah C. Wims Brooks (second from right), and her two children, Henry Blakely III (far left) and Nora Blakely (in regalia) in 1972.
We had so much fun painting fore-edges at our event yesterday! Thank you to everyone who came and participated, and a special thanks to the artists who let us share their work here! 🎨📚
May is Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month! These artists’ books by Jana Sim explore the challenges of living with two different languages. “Konglish” features movable paper wheels (volvelles). “Language Möbius” represents the mental loop between Korean and English in a conversation.
Just a sneak peek at some of the available designs we'll have at our Splendid Spredges event this week! Be sure to BYOB(ooks) to test them out yourself! 📚🎨
Join us on Thursday, May 7, from 3-5 pm and celebrate the semester’s end at RBML! Bring your own books and paint the edges with our supplies, and view historical fore-edge paintings from RBML's collection. All are welcome to attend. Refreshments will be served.
Happy Earth Day! 🌎 Understanding how Earth has changed over time is essential to our ability to protect its future. These materials provide some insight into how our planet has historically been observed and recorded, with particular focus on the United States.
Our newest blog post features reflections from RBML's archives staff on processing some now-available collections! Visit the following link to learn more: wordpress.library.illinois.edu/rbx/2026/04/...
The results are in! After 15 rounds, you chose RBML's oldest item, the Clay tablet with Sumerian cuneiform script, as the winner of RBML Madness 2026. 🥇🏆 You can check out the completed bracket at the following link: go.library.illinois.edu/RBMLMadness2... Thanks for playing along!
Did you know RBML's holdings extend far beyond books and manuscripts? Our new pop-up exhibit, “What is this Place? An Exploration of the RBML and its Collections,” is now up and ready for visitors. Stop by and discover all the unique items RBML has to offer! 💫
See more of the Carl Sandburg Collection from @illinoisrbml.bsky.social in the Digital Special Collections: go.library.illinois.edu/SandburgBask...
Carl Sandburg on the Lombard basketball team in 1898
Group photograph of the Lombard basketball team in 1898. Carl Sandburg is the man on the far left in the front row.
go.library.illinois.edu
Join us on Friday, 4/17 from 3-5 pm for a Global Book History lecture by Dr. Warren C. Brown (California Institute of Technology), titled "Textual Materiality in the Medieval World." All are welcome and refreshments will be served.
This 1806 pocket atlas, with engravings by John Cary (1754?-1835), contains detailed maps of the counties, towns, and roads of England and Wales. Accompanying these are an index of each town and its distance to London, and possibly the cutest little pencil, which captured RBML's collective heart.
In the spirit of March Madness, so begins RBML Madness! ✨️ Each weekday at 12 PM CDT (3/17-4/6), check out our Instagram story to vote for your favorite item from some of RBML’s most popular materials. The winners of each round will compete until only one item remains (in the contest, don't worry)!
Join us on Thursday, March 26 from 3-5 pm for a talk by Dr. Anastassios Antonaras (Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki). This event is sponsored by the Department of Classics and hosted at RBML. It is free and open to all audiences, and refreshments will be served.
In honor of Women's History Month, we are highlighting materials from the Nina Baym Western Women Writers Collection, which includes Western novels (many of which feature female protagonists), memoirs, and scholarship on women in the American West.
Exactissima (1625), by Italian physicist and botanist Petrus Castelli, is one of RBML's oldest illustrated botanical texts. Featuring beautiful woodcuts and plate engravings of exotic plants, it is more than just a scientific textbook. 🌸
Happy Lunar New Year! 🌑✨ To celebrate the Year of the Horse, we are featuring four images of horses from the tomb of Tang-dynasty Chinese emperor 太宗 Taizong (r. 626-649 AD). These lithographic reproductions, however, were created in the 20th century.
Happy Valentine's Day! ❤️ Love can be found in all corners of RBML's collections, from drawings of birds that mate for life to collections of love poems to rom-com press kits and more!
Join us on Thursday, February 26 from 3-5 pm for a talk by Dr. Elias Petrou (Literatures and Languages Library), titled "The Evolution of the Greek Book: From Byzantine Manuscripts to Renaissance Incunabula." This event is free and all are welcome. Refreshments will be served.
In honor of Black History Month, we’re highlighting some of our Broadside Press materials! Broadside Press (now Broadside Lotus Press) is a Detroit-based publisher of Black poets and writers founded in 1965 by poet-librarian Dudley Randall.
