An illustration from a volume in Binghamton University Libraries’ Special Collections has made the cover of College & Research Libraries News. This monthly newsmagazine, published by the Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, features articles on the latest trends and practices affecting academic and research libraries and the official news of ACRL.
The cover image for October 2012 is an illustration from Die Nibelungen dem Deutschen Volke, interpreted by Franz Keim and illustrated by Carl Otto Czeschka, published in 1920. This copy of Die Nibelungen was a gift to the Binghamton University Libraries by Harpur College alumnus William M. Voelkle. The work is an Austrian folktale about the royal family or lineage of the Burgundians who settled in the early 5th century at Worms.
Keim was an Austrian writer whose literary works were predominately based on Austrian folktales. Although small in size (15 cm.), the book is richly illustrated by Czeschka, an Austrian painter and graphic designer, and is an outstanding example of the Art Nouveau movement in Austria. This localized art movement is better known by the numerous artists of the Vienna Secession, a secession that was initiated in 1897 by Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Max Kurzweil, Otto Wagner, in addition to other painters.
Another copy of this book was highlighted by the Art Nouveu society in 2009, and can be viewed in its entirety online.
If you would like to see Binghamton University Libraries’ copy of Die Nibelungen, come to Binghamton University Libraries’ Special Collections. We are located on the second floor of the Bartle Library (off of the North Reading Room).
Read the October 2012 issue of College & Research Libraries News