Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto
120 St. George St. M5S 1A5 Toronto, ON, Canada

Don't forget to tune in to our YouTube Channel at 12:30ET today for the second instalment of our new video podcast series, Between The Pillars, for a conversation with librarian Alexandra Carter about collecting science and medicine at the Fisher Library. . https://youtu.be/dgHaa8QXkso . Ruini, Carlo (-1598). Anatomia del cavallo infermita et svoi rimedii ...In Venetia : Appresso Gasparo Bindoni, 1599... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgHaa8QXkso&feature=youtu.be

It's a busy Thursday, Nov. 5, this week at the library. Along with our Friends of Fisher lecture at 6 pm, we'll also be co-hosting, along with the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies, a lecture: "Holocaust Testimony in Fiction: The Writings and Archive of Chava Rosenfarb." This livestream will focus on Rosenfarb's life and writings, and will also feature some material from her archives held at Fisher. The lecture begins at 3 pm. More information, including registration, can be found on the attached poster. We hope to see you there!

The next Friends of Fisher is happening next week! Margaret E. Schotte is delivering this year's John Seltzer and Mark Seltzer Memorial Lecture via Zoom on Thursday November 5 at 6 pm. Her lecture, titled "For Merchants and Mariners: The Business of Nautical Manuals," will focus on the 16th and 17th centuries, which saw an explosion of printed manuals dedicated to the science of navigation. But it took some time before there was a sizeable audience for such a technical subjec...t. In this talk, Dr. Schotte will explore the diverse marketing strategies used by Dutch, English, and Spanish publishers to attract readers. In certain regions, sailors were viewed as too illiterate to buy books, but in others, they were the expert authors. As this lecture will demonstrate, booksellers, publishers and authors alike worked to develop robust markets across maritime Europe, ultimately profiting from the spread of new nautical knowledge. Dr. Schotte, who worked for a number of years in the antiquarian book trade, is currently an associate professor of history at York University. She teaches courses on early modern history, science, and the history of the book. Please an email to [email protected] by Thursday 29 October to let us know that you are planning to join us.

Don't forget: today, Oct. 23, we launch our new video podcast series, Between the Pillars! Tune in at 12:30 pm where we'll be discussing Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, and showing some highlights from her literary archives held at the library. To go directly to the livestream, click on this link: https://youtu.be/ZpAUGE-MS_A. We hope to see you there!

A wonderful virtual tour of the Bibliography and Print Room at Massey College https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpWct5TviSI&t=4s

Never let it be said that the Fisher isn't up to trying something new! Next Friday, Oct. 23, at 12:30 pm, we're introducing our new video podcast series, Between the Pillars. Livestreaming (yes, you read that right) on the library's YouTube channel, it will feature Fisher staff in informal and relaxed chats, along with highlighting materials from our collection. More information about the series, and on the upcoming participants and topics, can be found at: https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca//new-video-podcast-betw. We hope you will join us!

We hope that this illustration from the cover of the autumn 1913 issue of Dry Goods Review reminds you to get outside and away from your devices this long weekend. Dry Goods review, later renamed to Style was published from 1913-1981. This issue is digitized and available on the Internet Archive.... Style. Toronto: 1913 #fashion #dogs #autum #leaves #fall #thanksgiving

BEWARE the CIDER TRAP for children! ‘What do the signs in the saloon windows mean, ‘Sweet Cider Free’?’ This pamphlet published by the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) answers the question, by describing how using this 'Satanic' lure, barmen turn good young country boys into alcoholics by offering them a free taste of home in the form of an innocent-looking glass of sweet cider.... Although the Temperance movement began in Canada in the early 19th century, the Canadian arm of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, an organization of women seeking legal prohibition of alcoholic beverages, began in 1874. This pamphlet is digitized and available on the Internet Archive The cider trap for children. Toronto : Dominion W. C. T. U. Literature Depository, [190-]. Salesman’s sample book of coloured horticultural specimen plates. La Pointe Nursery Company 1887-1905 #alcohol #temperance #apples #cider #prohibition

Good news! The Fisher is happy to report that beginning this coming Tuesday, October 6, our librarians and archivists will be providing limited reproduction, reference and research services. Information and instruction on accessing these services can be found at: https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/resumption-services. Please note: The library continues to be closed to the general public.

Wondering what to do with all of the apples showing up in your CSA, at your grocery store, or courtesy of friendly neighbours? How about trying out a recipe for Brown Charlotte Pudding or Apple Pudding from Maria Ann Banner Price's nineteenth century culinary manuscript? The first recipe is a pudding made with bread, and the second for ‘A nice apple pudding’ involves puff pastry topped with stewed, strained apple and a steamed meringue. The apple recipes in this manusc...ript from Quebec were pointed out by a staff member involved in a project to transcribe many of our digitized Fisher manuscripts, including several more cookbooks! We hope to eventually share these transcriptions on our digital collections website. The digitized manuscript can be found at https://fishercollections.library.utoronto.ca//fisher2%3AF [Culinary recipe book: manuscript. Maria Ann Banner Price. Montreal: 183-?] #culinaryhistory #recipes #apples See more

This coming Monday is the holiest day of the Jewish holiday cycle, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). On this day observant and traditionally-oriented Jews do not eat or drink, and abstain from other pleasures for 25 hours, and convene in synagogues for an almost full day of prayers. The day’s liturgy begins with a ceremonial declaration, Kol Nidrei, which is recited just before sundown on Yom Kippur eve. The dry formula of this declaration has become emotionally charged giv...en its history since the Medieval period and has thus found a special place in the hearts of most Jews, becoming a moving introduction to this most holy day. The traditional text of this recitation is in Aramaic. However, in the liturgical tradition of Jews of the Balkans, the text of this declaration is in Hebrew, as seen on the page in the right side of the image here. Published in Constantinople (modern Istanbul) in 1510, this is the first published edition of this prayerbook for kehillot Romanya (the communities of the Byzantine Empire), which was almost unknown anywhere else in the Jewish world. Apparently this copy, which is held by the Fisher Library, is the most complete copy known. [Seder tefilot ha-shanah le-minhag ehilot Romanya] [Constantinople, 1510].

Our annual display of rare science books for Science Literacy Week has gone digital for 2020! Click through to see highlights from the Fisher Library's extensive collections in the history of science, including first editions of Euclid's Elements; several key works by Galileo; Charles Darwin's hand corrected proof sheets for The Expression of the Emotion in Man and Animals, and more. https://fisherdigitus.library.utoronto.ca//sc/introduction #scilit #UofT

This weekend, Jews around the world will be celebrating Rosh Ha-Shanah, the New Year. While this year all such celebrations will be drastically different from what any of those celebrating have experienced in their lifetimes, this holiday marks the beginning of the yearly holiday cycle, which has been mostly unchanged for many centuries and the prayers said will be generally the same (albeit shortened in many communities this year). The prayer books used in the five biblicall...y-mandated holidays are called Mahzorim (singular: Mahzor; lit. cycle), but some early mahzorim included the prayers for the entire Jewish holiday cycle in one book. One example is this 2-volume 14th century Mahzor manuscript from Ashkenaz (Germany), which is part of the Fisher Library’s Friedberg collection. Seen here is a page with part of the Rosh Ha-Shanah liturgy. Those familiar with the prayers of Rosh Ha-Shanah, can identify in the left-hand column the text of Unetaneh Tokef, one of the most central liturgical sections of the prayers of both Rosh Ha-Shanah, meant to describe the awe of the Day of Judgement. For many it is the pinnacle of these days’ liturgy. The text of this prayer in this 700-year old manuscript is almost identical to that which is recited today. . Mahazor [manuscript]. Western Germany, early 14th century.