March 25 is Greek Independence Day. The holiday commemorates the start of the Greek War of Independence in 1821, which concluded a nearly 400-year period of Ottoman rule in Greece. The anniversary is commemorated with parades in both Greece and the diaspora. The Philadelphia parade, which is set for Sunday, April 2 this year, takes place along Benjamin Franklin Parkway and 22nd Street. The celebration includes Greek folk dance troupes, educational and religious organizations, government representatives, and members of the Evzones, or Greek Presidential Guard, who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Athens, Greece.

Vryzakis, Theodoros (1814/1819-1878). “The Bishop of Old Patras Germanos Blesses the Flag of Revolution.” 1865. Oil on canvas, 164 x 126 cm. National Gallery, Alexandros Soutsos Museum, Athens, Greece. Image in the Public Domain.

While Greece’s conflicts with the Ottoman Empire are more widely known, the British Empire also exercised colonial rule over parts of Greece in the nineteenth century, specifically in the Ionian islands to the west of the mainland. This region had been under Venetian control from the fourteenth to the late seventeenth centuries, before it was conquered by the French during the French Revolution and again during the Napoleonic Wars. However, in the Congress of Vienna of 1814-1815, the British Empire acquired the Ionian Islands as a protectorate, named the United States of the Ionian Islands, with the island of Corfu (or Kerkyra) as its capital. The protectorate existed until 1864, when Great Britain ceded the Ionian islands to Greece upon the enthronement of the Greek King George I. Sakis Gekas’ Xenocracy: State, Class, and Colonialism in the Ionian Islands, 1815-1864 (2017) explores this period in detail; Falvey offers digital access to the Gekas’ book. The legacy of the Protectorate period is still felt in several landmarks across the Ionian islands, especially in Corfu. For instance, the Old Fortress of Corfu includes the Church of St. George, an Anglican church built for British soldiers in 1840.

Church of St. George, Old Fortress, Corfu, Greece. Photograph by Christoforos Sassaris.

A rare pamphlet that was recently added to the Villanova Digital Library as part of the Joseph McGarrity Collection sheds further light on this part of modern Greek history. Titled A refutation of the assertions of Sir Howard Douglas, in his despatch of the 10th April, 1840, concerning the faction which he imagined to exist in the Ionian Islands, the pamphlet was written by Greek historian Giovanni Petrizzopulo and published by Morton’s English and Foreign Printing Office in 1840. The pamphlet’s author describes it as a “remonstrance against one of the outrages of despotic power in the Ionian Islands.” Petrizzopulo’s criticism is directed at Sir Howard Douglas (1776-1861), who served as Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands at the time. Douglas was responsible for an official search of Petrizzopulo’s house in Corfu under suspicion of rebellious activity.

Title page. Petrizzopulo, Giovanni. A refutation of the assertions of Sir Howard Douglas… 1840. London: Morton’s English and Foreign Printing Office.

Even though Petrizzopulo appeals to British authority (his pamphlet is addressed to Lord John Russell (1792-1878), Secretary for the Colonies), and attempts to defend himself from accusations of treason, his writing nonetheless adopts a critical tone toward British policy. In a book chapter titled “The Philorthodox Conspiracy in the British-Ruled Ionian Islands,” Lucien J. Frary draws on passages from Petrizzopulo’s pamphlet and argues that “Petrizzopulo was disgusted with the British government and accused it of exercising despotic power.” Moreover, Frary frames the incident at Petrizzopulo’s home as a part of a larger British attempt to suppress revolt in the Ionian Sea, writing that “Any suspicion of communicating with Greece served as a pretext for the government to carry out a search.” Falvey offers digital access to Frary’s full book.

Petrizzopulo’s pamphlet joins several other items on the Villanova Digital Library that are relevant to modern Greek history, such as an early-twentieth-century French souvenir photo album, which is discussed in a Falvey blog article, as well as Divry’s vest-pocket English-Greek and Greek-English dictionary (1914), which is likewise highlighted on our blog. Petrizzopulo’s pamphlet can be accessed digitally on the Digital Library. Alternatively, it can be consulted in-person in Falvey’s Rare Book Room during walk-in hours (Wednesdays 9:30-11:30 AM and Thursdays 2-4 PM) or by appointment.

Last week, I posted an article on this blog in which I discussed the value of collecting comic books in special collections, while drawing on examples from Marvel Comics in Falvey Library’s holdings. This week, I have another comic-book collection to highlight: Falvey’s holdings in Classics Illustrated. This series, which was published by three separate publishers (Elliot Publishing Co., Gilberton Company, and Frawley Corporation) from 1941 to 1969, adapted literary classics to the comic-book medium. It has significant research value not only in comics studies, but also in adaptation studies, a field that is becoming increasingly central in the arts and humanities. With the tagline “Featuring stories by the world’s greatest authors,” the series sheds light on mid-twentieth-century cultural conceptions of texts that have traditionally been viewed as particularly significant in the United States and elsewhere, as well as how these texts were transmitted to new audiences.

The Tragedy of Macbeth and Paratext

These comics include not only abridged adaptations of their source material, but also paratextual material that assists readers to understand and appreciate the stories. For example, the adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth includes numerous explanatory footnotes, which make the early modern language of the text more accessible to twentieth-century readers.

Detail from Classics Illustrated, no. 128, Macbeth.

Detail from Classics Illustrated, no. 128, Macbeth.

Detail from Classics Illustrated, no. 128, Macbeth.

Additional segments at the ends of issues often provide biographical and historical context for the preceding narrative, typically in the form of a text box. The following two examples, drawn from the Macbeth issue of Classics Illustrated, explain Shakespeare’s life and the relation between the play and King James I of England (you may click on all images in this blog article to enlarge them).

Other times, this type of supplementary content at the end of an issue takes the form of a comic book, like the following panels on British history, which are again drawn from the final pages in the Macbeth issue.

Detail from Classics Illustrated, no. 128, Macbeth.

Another paratextual aspect worth noting is the banner that appears across the bottom of the final page in each adapted story, which urges readers to track down a copy of the original text in a school or public library. This inclusion demonstrates the comics’ goal of developing an appreciation of literature in younger readers. On the one hand, this is beneficial in that it encourages engagement with libraries and promotes further reading. On the other hand, it is potentially problematic in its suggestion that comics are valuable only if they serve as a stepping stone to a more highly respected (and supposedly more advanced) medium or mode of reading, namely prose and verse.

Detail from Classics Illustrated, no. 128, Macbeth.

While seeking to cultivate a love of reading, Classics Illustrated promoted bibliophilia, especially as the notion relates to the material aspect of books. The following advertisement demonstrates this attitude, as it aims to sell a “handsome, durable, permanent” binder for storing Classics Illustrated issues, which is “made to last a lifetime of handling.” (However, the primary aim of any advertisement is, of course, to sell a product or service.)

Advertisement on back cover of Classics Illustrated, no. 64, Treasure Island.

The Murders in the Rue Morgue

Getting back to the adapted narratives themselves, it is important to note that Classics Illustrated sometimes altered or added to the source material. An illustrative case-in-point is the adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” which is collected alongside two other adaptations in issue #21 of Classics Illustrated. “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” published in 1841 in Graham’s Magazine, is widely considered the first modern detective story. It is a predecessor to popular detective fiction like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series, as well as numerous dime novels and story papers available on the Villanova Digital Library, most notably Mystery Magazine (1917-1927). Poe’s full short story is available on Falvey’s website. A facsimile edition of the manuscript can also be consulted in-person at the library.

Famously, this short story ends (spoilers!) with the reveal that a runaway orangutan had committed the eponymous murders. In Poe’s story, the orangutan’s fate remains ambiguous. However, the comic book adds an extra page at the end of the story, where detective C. Auguste Dupin and his associate (the unnamed narrator of Poe’s story, who is named “Poe” in the comic-book adaptation) track down and fight the animal, which was changed to an ape for the comic book. These changes and additions to the source material may have happened for a variety of reasons. In this case, perhaps the creators wanted the story to fit more neatly into the conventions of the adventure comic-book genre, hence the action-packed ending. Alternatively, they may have felt uncomfortable depicting an ambiguous ending, where a dangerous animal is still on the loose, especially if their target audience was mainly composed of children. (I have no explanation, however, for why the animal was changed from an orangutan to an ape.)

Detail from Classics Illustrated, no. 21, 3 Famous Mysteries.

Robin Hood

Besides detectives like Dupin and Holmes, another famous character portrayed in Classics Illustrated is Robin Hood. Two early issues of Classics Illustrated in Falvey’s collection feature the character. Robin Hood has had a long history of popular culture portrayals (having even become a fox in a Disney animated film), and comics are no exception. In addition to Classic Illustrated issues, the English folk hero also appears in Martin Powell and Stan Timmons’ Robin Hood, published by Eternity Comics in 1989. The series’ first issue, which was recently donated to Falvey, sports a cover illustration by painter N. C. Wyeth. (More information about the original painting is provided in the Brandywine River Museum of Art’s N. C. Wyeth Catalogue Raisonné.) Other popular culture materials at Falvey’s Distinctive Collections that depict Robin Hood’s adventures include dime novels like the Aldine Robin Hood Library and The Story of Robin Hood (1889), both of which are available to read on the Villanova Digital Library.

All the comics shown in this article, and several more issues of Classics Illustrated and other titles, are available to see in Falvey’s Rare Book Room during walk-in hours (Wednesdays 9:30-11:30 AM and Thursdays 2-4 PM) or by appointment. Make sure to check the library’s blog for more articles on our growing collections of comic books, dime novels, and other popular literature.

To commemorate St. Patrick’s Day, we’re highlighting new additions to the Philadelphia Ceili Group’s online archives in the Digital Library. The Philadelphia Ceili Group is dedicated to the promotion of Irish music, dance, and culture, and hosts festivals, concerts, and lectures in the greater Philadelphia area to support this mission.

The efforts to digitize the archival recordings of the Philadelphia Ceili Group are ongoing and new recordings are added on a continual basis. New recordings can be heard from the 1983 Fall Festival, which features over a dozen musicians performing reels, jigs, airs, and songs. Performers include Johnny Cunningham, Liz Carroll, Joe and Antoinette McKenna, Mick Moloney, the Egan family, and a tap dancing performance from Howard “Sandman” Sims.

There is also a separate concert with fiddler Kevin Burke and guitarist Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (parts 1 and 2), as well as two installments from the Oíche Cois Tine (Night Beside the Fire) lecture series on the Irish sense of place, given by Dr. Henry Glassie and Brian Donnelly. The Donnelly lecture in particular features readings of poems by W.B. Yeats, Patrick Kavanagh, Seamus Heaney, and Derek Mahon.

For this installment of the The Printed Image I’ll be highlighting The Wonder Smith and His Son: A Tale from the Golden Childhood of the World, written by Ella Young and illustrated by Boris Artzybasheff. Published in 1927, the book received a Newbery Honor in 1928, and is part of the Joseph McGarrity collection in Distinctive Collections. The book also entered the public domain earlier this year.

In fourteen interconnected tales, Young recounts the mythic stories of the Gubbaun Saor, an archetypal builder figure within Celtic mythology similar to Greek mythology’s Daedalus, and the Gubbaun’s children; his natural born daughter Aunya and his adopted son Lugh (though he is simply referred to as ‘Son’ in the stories themselves). The stories are filled with strange word games and customs, and encounters with deities, elves, djinn, and other supernatural beings. Young was active within the Gaelic and Celtic revival movements in the 19^th and 20^th centuries, and so the book acts as a way to preserve these stories which were passed down through an oral tradition. As she she writes in the preface of the book,

People have forgotten about these things now, but in the thatched cottages in Gaelic-speaking Ireland and Scotland, they talk about him and his son Lugh and his daughter Aunya… They are glad when they find some one who does not know how Aunya tricked Balor’s messenger and how she got the better of the Gubbaun himself, because they want to have the pleasure of hearing a new person laugh at these stories.

“My blessing to you, Brother of mine;
White Love of Running Water.”
Page 35 from The Wonder Smith and His Son.

Boris Artzybasheff’s illustrations capture the timeless and fantastical nature of these stories. The black-and-white drawings are reminiscent of Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations, which served as an early influence on Artzybasheff, and bring both an archetypal and surreal tone to the stories. Celtic influences can be detected in the clothing and foliage patterns, but these are also merged with Russian and Byzantine influences, with sharp angles in the figures and costumes, a flat perspective to the scenes, and in the design of the Gubbaun’s towers and “dunes.” This influence can be traced back to Artzybasheff’s birthplace in Kharkiv and to his studies in St. Petersburg, before he fled his homeland during the Russian civil war and emigrated to the United States.

“I am Hrut of the Many Shapes,
the Son of Sruth, the Son of Sru.”
Page 77 from The Wonder Smith and His Son.

“A dune with courts and passages and secret chambers.”
Page 103 from The Wonder Smith and His Son.

Detail from page 123 of The Wonder Smith and His Son.

Surreal elements are also a key visual trait in the creatures that the Gubbaun and his children encounter. Many of these seem to be a conglomeration of shapes and animal-parts that are constructed into their own unique beings. In one illustration, a goblin with the arms of a praying mantis stands next to a beast with tusks, horns, and three pairs of ears. In another, the neck of a horse-like creature morphs and merges into the snout of its own rider. These stylistic inventions help bring Young’s stories into a space out of time, that “golden childhood of the world,” while also serving as a precursor to Artzybasheff’s later work, when he would anthropomorphize technology, merging human and machine in the modern world.

“Our King bespeaks your help.
Behold the gifts and tokens of Balor!”
Page 65 from The Wonder Smith and His Son.

Image courtesy of the Villanova University Digital Library.

Enjoying Falvey Library’s Advent Calendar Cookbook? If you’re looking for more recipes, check out this notebook (no date) from author Annie L. Tuttle (nee Gribus), of New Haven, Connecticut. Newly digitized, the Annie L. Tuttle papers are comprised of 13 notebooks filled with Tuttle’s “manuscript writings…poetry, short stories, songs, and recipes, along with a copy of sheet music for ‘The Quinnipiac River,’ a song she composed the lyrics to, and was published in 1912.” Shown above, the page from Tuttle’s notebook features three pudding recipes. Happy cooking, Wildcats!

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library. 

The Villanova Digital Library recently added a title that had not been previously digitized elsewhere: a 1914 edition of Divry’s vest-pocket English-Greek and Greek-English dictionary, published in New York by Demosthenes Constantopoulos Divry (1877-1927). An introductory letter, written in the formal “katharevousa” form of Greek prevalent in writings of the time, describes the book as “a necessary and trustworthy advisor to the Greek in America.” To that end, the dictionary includes not only translations from English to Greek and vice versa, but also useful appendices on irregular English verbs, major holidays, units of measurement, currency exchange rates, epistolary conventions, USPS mailing conventions, and more.

Title page of Divry’s dictionary

Introductory letter in Divry’s dictionary

It is evident that the book was heavily used by a previous owner, likely the “Andreas” mentioned in an inscription on the rear pastedown. As other inscriptions on the front pastedown and elsewhere indicate, a reader added words that were not already present in the dictionary. Moreover, the US map listed on the table of contents was seemingly torn out by a reader who presumably found it useful. It is uncertain whether the book was primarily used by a Greek immigrant adjusting to American society or a student of English in Greece. Inscriptions on the rear pastedown mention two streets located at the heart of Athens: Ermou and Papagianni. Ermou cuts through the Monastiraki neighborhood, which is adjacent to historic sites like Hadrian’s Library, the Stoa of Attalos, and the Acropolis of Athens. Monastiraki is known for its flea markets and shops that sell historical materials; Divry’s 1914 dictionary was found in one of these shops.

View of Monastiraki Square, Athens, Greece. Courtesy of Aggelos1357 via Wikimedia Commons (Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication)

The Villanova Digital Library preserves and offers access to rare materials that shed light on human experiences during various periods of history, such as Divry’s 1914 dictionary. The book joins the growing number of titles on the Digital Library that relate to modern Greek history, like the recently digitized early-twentieth-century souvenir album with photographs of Corfu.

Program, Villanova University Falvey Memorial Library Dedication, Saturday November 16th, 1968.

On November 16, 1968, Villanova celebrated the dedication of Falvey Memorial Library’s new building. As part of the celebration, Dr. Francis M. Hammond of the U.S. Office of Education received an honorary Villanova degree in recognition of his contributions to interracial justice and higher education.

Dr. Hammond was serving as Higher Education Facilities Program Officer at the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare at the time of his honorary degree. Originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, he had previously taught at Seton Hall University and was the institution’s first African-American faculty member (1946). Photos of the event from University Archives are now online in the Digital Library.

Dr. Francis M. Hammond, 1911-1978.

Photograph, Falvey Memorial Library Dedication (Convocation), 1968.

Dr. Francis M. Hammond with wife and family, receiving an honorary degree from Rev. Robert J. Welsh O.S.A. (28th president of Villanova) at the dedication of Falvey Memorial Library.

After the presentation of the degree, Dr. Hammond delivered the address at the ceremony. You can read the text of the words he spoke to dedicate the new library building – now in the Digital Library here: https://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:757210.

You can also read more about Dr. Hammond and the Falvey Memorial Library dedication ceremony on p.2 of the Villanovan (November 13, 1968) here: https://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:187269. 

Rebecca Oviedo is Distinctive Collections Librarian/Archivist at Falvey Memorial Library.

Photo courtesy pf the Villanova University Digital Library.

In 1975, Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week (HHAW) was started by Father Ray Jackson and a group of Villanova students. This organization has a deep history at Villanova. This year, HHAW week is Sunday, Nov. 13 to Saturday, Nov. 19. You can donate a meal or enter the raffle to win prizes at this link. This week’s Throwback Thursday (TBT) is a letter from 1986 that Katie Dean, Chairperson of Run for Hunger, distributed to Villanova faculty.

Anna Jankowski ’23 CLAS is a senior Communication major from just outside Baltimore who ​​works as a Communication & Marketing Assistant in Falvey Library.

Photo courtesy of the Villanova Digital Library. Special Olympic contenders and Villanova Students, November 1987.

This week’s Throwback Thursday (TBT) celebrates the annual Special Olympics Pennsylvania Fall Festival hosted and organized by Villanova University students. The festival is the largest annual student-run Special Olympics event in the world. More than 1,200 athletes will compete at the 34th Fall Festival at Villanova University on November 4-6, 2022. To learn more about Fall Festival visit this webpage.

Ethan Shea, Graduate Assistant at Falvey Library, highlighted additional throwbacks to past Special Olympics on this blog. On Falvey’s third floor, Beaudry Rae Allen, Preservation & Digital Archivist, curated an exhibit containing facsimiles of photographs and programs from the early days of the event.

Best of luck to all the athletes competing this weekend!

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Memorial Library.

By Kallie Stahl 

Image courtesy of the Villanova University Digital Library.

Looking for a quick read during fall break? Celebrate spooky season and check out this handbook by A. Anderson. Published in 1898, How To Tell Fortunes by the Hand explains the rules of fortunetelling for readers. Learn more about the art of palmistry—Explore the full manual here.

Don’t miss your chance to see more mystical materials at Distinctive Collections Annual Halloween Event on Monday, Oct. 31, at 1 p.m. in front of Holy Grounds (First Floor, Falvey Library). On display will be Special Collection’s spookiest material along with a ghoulish game and treats.

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Memorial Library.