Reprint collections are an oft-spoken topic in Archives. They present the problem of being redundant and yet they give some information about their owners. By their nature, they are not unique, hence the name “reprint”. At the MVZ Archives, we keep reprints that contain annotations or some other personal artifact of the owner. My personal favorite type of artifact is the rare inscription. They are often very personal and you can’t help but imagine the recipient opening up the volume and reading the unexpected sentiment hand written on the first page of a book. Inscriptions can be emotional
Inscription by Robert C. Stebbins in Animal coloration: activities on the evolution of concealment, dated 2008.
beginnings to usually dense scientific readings. We’ve shared some of our favorites.
Joseph Grinnell’s inscription to Annie Alexander for An Account of the Mammals and Birds of the Lower Colorado Valley, dated April 6, 1914.