Collections Spotlight, Fall 2025

Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587), letter to Elizabeth Hardwick Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, undated. Acquired before 1920; MA 23928

DOUBLE-DEALING
In the 1570s and ’80s, Queen Elizabeth I feared that many felt her claim to the English throne was weaker than that of her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. To distance Mary from both London and Edinburgh, Elizabeth sequestered her in the Midlands, where she was guarded by a series of aristocratic families. Two of those genteel jailers were the Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, the famous Tudor dynasty-builder known as “Bess of Hardwick.” In this letter, Mary writes to the countess about the treachery of her half- brother, James Stewart, the Earl of Moray. Previously one of her advisers, he and other members of the Protestant nobility had rebelled against her, and in 1567, when she was forced to abdicate in favor of her one-year-old son, Stewart became the regent

Effie Lee Newsome (1885–1979), “Child and Nature, a Children’s Reader,” typescript, 1941–44(?); James Lesesne Wells (1902–1993), Illustrations for “Child and Nature, a Children’s Reader,” pen and black ink over graphite, 1941–44(?). Purchased on the Drue Heinz Fund for Twentieth- Century Literature, the Elisabeth Ball Fund, and the Edwin V. Erbe Jr. Acquisitions Fund, 2023; MA 23884.1–2

CHILD AND NATURE: A CHILDREN’S READER
Effie Lee Newsome (born Mary Effie Lee) was a poet, librarian, and gardener who is considered the founding figure of Black children’s poetry in the United States. Her poems regularly appeared in the NAACP’s magazines The Crisis and Brownies’ Book, and in 1940 she published the influential volume Gladiola Garden. In her work, Newsome effortlessly identified with the child’s perspective, translating complex social concepts into charming, memorable verse. This typescript of her poem “Two Travelers,” paired with an annotated illustration by the artist James Lesesne Wells, showcases a collaboration in progress: two pioneering Black American artists uniting art and poetry to uplift Black children’s experiences. Unfortunately, however, “Child and Nature” was never published.

Effie Lee Newsome (1885–1979), “Child and Nature, a Children’s Reader,” typescript, 1941–44(?); James Lesesne Wells (1902–1993), Illustrations for “Child and Nature, a Children’s Reader,” pen and black ink over graphite, 1941–44(?). Purchased on the Drue Heinz Fund for Twentieth- Century Literature, the Elisabeth Ball Fund, and the Edwin V. Erbe Jr. Acquisitions Fund, 2023; MA 23884.1–2

CHILD AND NATURE: A CHILDREN’S READER
Effie Lee Newsome (born Mary Effie Lee) was a poet, librarian, and gardener who is considered the founding figure of Black children’s poetry in the United States. Her poems regularly appeared in the NAACP’s magazines The Crisis and Brownies’ Book, and in 1940 she published the influential volume Gladiola Garden. In her work, Newsome effortlessly identified with the child’s perspective, translating complex social concepts into charming, memorable verse. This typescript of her poem “Two Travelers,” paired with an annotated illustration by the artist James Lesesne Wells, showcases a collaboration in progress: two pioneering Black American artists uniting art and poetry to uplift Black children’s experiences. Unfortunately, however, “Child and Nature” was never published.

Virginia Woolf (1882–1941), letter to R. W. Chapman, London, November 13, 1930. Purchased on the Drue Heinz Fund for Twentieth-Century Literature, 2017; MA 8893

“WHAT A CASUAL READER I AM”
Virginia Woolf was a great admirer of Jane Austen’s novels. In this self-effacing letter to a leading Austen scholar, Woolf singles out Persuasion as a personal favorite and explains her reluctance to critique it. The reason she gives—that Austen “generally slips out of the critics hands”—echoes a famous observation she made in The Common Reader: “Of all great writers [Austen] is the most difficult to catch in the act of greatness.” In a postscript at the top of this letter, she names famous readers of Austen whose letters might “throw more light on her,” including Charles Darwin, for whom Persuasion was also a favorite.

Book of Hours (“Hours of Infante Don Alfonso of Castile”), in Latin, illuminated by the workshop of Juan de Carrión, Spain, perhaps Burgos or Segovia, ca. 1465–80. Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951; MS M.854, fols. 161v–162r

ALL EQUAL BEFORE DEATH
This luxurious Book of Hours was likely made for the younger brother of Queen Isabella I of Castile (1451–1504). The book contains prayers that were intended to be recited by laypeople at set times throughout the day. The miniature above marks an opening for the Office of the Dead, a cycle of prayers for the souls of the recently deceased. Death as a skeletal figure with bat wings rides a pale horse and aims his bow. Surrounding Death are seven figures: a queen, soldier, monk, cardinal, pope, bishop, and youth. The scene symbolizes the inevitability of death across all ranks. Written in Latin on the facing page is Psalm 23 (“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want . . .” [King James Version]).

King Abenner of India Giving Orders for the Killing of Christian Monks, cutting from a Speculum historiale by Vincent of Beauvais (ca. 1190–1264), illuminated by the Master of the Geneva Boccaccio, France, Angers(?), ca. 1460. Purchased as the gift of Dr. Robert DaVanzo and the Driver Family Foundation, 2024; MS M.1251.2

KING ABENNER: A FATHER IN CONFLICT
This miniature was originally part of a deluxe copy of the Mirror of History, a twelfth-century encyclopedia that remained popular for centuries. The manuscript was likely commissioned by King René of Anjou (1409–1480). In the eighteenth century, this miniature and five others were removed and assembled into an album of cuttings for Daniel Burckhardt-Wildt (1752–1819), a silk merchant based in Basel. Shown here is the Indian king Abenner, father of Josaphat, a legendary prince who later became venerated as a Christian saint. Hoping to protect his son from the spread of the new faith, Abenner sent his soldiers to violently expel its monks from his kingdom. Despite these efforts, Josaphat defied his father’s wishes and embraced Christianity, eventually inspiring the king to convert as well.

Nizami Ganjavi (ca. 1141–1209), Khamsa (Quintet), in Persian, India, probably Ahmedabad, ca. 1618. Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1910; MS M.445, fol. 229r

THE SEVEN BRIDES OF BAHRAM GUR
This book belongs to a closely related group of manuscripts produced in the western Indian province of Gujarat. It contains the collection of five works of Nizami known as the Khamsa, a classic of Persian poetry. Shown here is a miniature from one of those works, the Haft Paikar (Seven portraits), a romance involving the fifth-century Sasanian king Bahram Gur and his seven wives. Bahram builds a palace containing seven domes for his brides, each dedicated to one day of the week, governed by the day’s corresponding planet and bearing its emblematic color. On Wednesday, the day of Mercury, he visits the turquoise dome of Princess Piruza. Stylistically, the miniature demonstrates how Mughal artists looked to Persian painting for inspiration.

Robert Schumann (1810–1856), “Des Knaben Berglied,” autograph manuscript, 1849. Mary Flagler Cary Music Collection, 2010

A SCHUMANN DISCOVERY 
“Des Knaben Berglied” (Song of the mountain lad) was published in 1849 in Robert Schumann’s opus 79 collection, Lieder für die Jugend (Songs for the young). The composer’s manuscript for the song, set to a poem by Ludwig Uhland, was unknown until it resurfaced in 2010. In November 1891 the manuscript had been presented by his widow, Clara Schumann, to Edward Speyer, a banker, collector of autographs, and friend. Her annotations appear around the lower and right-hand margin. On the verso is Schumann’s “Vom Schlaraffenland,” no. 5 (“Cockaigne”) in the collection. Lieder für die Jugend, composed for his children, was modeled on Schumann’s earlier collection of piano pieces, Klavieralbum für die Jugend (Album for the young).

John Cage (1912–1992), [Dance no. 1], from Three Dances for two prepared pianos, autograph manuscript, December 1944–October 1945. Mary Flagler Cary Music Collection, 1972

THE PIANO AS PERCUSSION INSTRUMENT
Early in his career, before embracing the I Ching and chance operations as compositional aids, John Cage was writing for percussion ensemble. On one occasion, when asked to provide music for a dance performance, he found the venue too small to accommodate his musicians. Cage therefore sought to replicate the sounds of the ensemble using only a piano. To achieve this, he placed bolts, screws, and other objects between the strings of a grand piano to deaden the sound, thus emphasizing its percussive nature and creating what came to be known as a prepared piano. The experiment proved so fruitful that Cage went on to compose several prepared piano pieces, including Three Dances.

Ford Madox Ford (1873–1939), Antwerp Cover illustration by Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957), London: The Poetry Bookshop, [1915]. Bequest of Kenneth A. Lohf, 2002; PML 190286

ON THE SUBJECT OF WAR 
Reflecting on contemporary poetry in 1917, T. S. Eliot referred to Ford Madox Ford’s “Antwerp” as “the only good poem I have met with on the subject of the war.” It first appeared in this standalone chapbook in 1915, just three months after the Belgian fortified city of Antwerp was overcome by the German military. Ford, already a seasoned novelist and poet, was greatly admired by figures in London’s youth- driven modernist circles. One such admirer was Wyndham Lewis, who founded the Futurist- inspired movement in Britain called Vorticism. Lewis’s bold cover design for Antwerp uses the acute angles and careening geometric lines of Vorticism to evoke modern warfare. Six months after the poem’s publication, Ford enlisted in the British army.

Anonymous needleworker, seventeenth century, satin, silk, and silver-gilt metal binding, on: Biblia latina Venice: Franciscus Renner, de Heilbronn, 1483. Gift of Junius S. Morgan, 1906; PML 820

A CHRISTMAS BOUQUET 
This embroidered book cover on a fifteenth- century Italian bible was made by an anonymous craftsperson in England. Creating highly decorative bespoke covers for bibles goes back centuries, as demonstrated by the bejeweled Lindau Gospels to the left of the fireplace. Most embroidered bindings, including this one, date from the seventeenth century, when English needlework reached its peak. In this example, the white satin and multicolor silk threads are protected from wear by three- dimensional elements comprised of silver-gilt threads. This book was a Christmas gift to J. Pierpont Morgan in 1906 from his nephew, the rare-book adviser Junius Spencer Morgan (1867–1932).

Collection of pamphlets and prints related to Mary Toft (1703–1763) England, nineteenth century Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan with the Toovey Collection, 1899; PML 9313

BIRTHING BUNNIES
Mary Toft became a controversial subject in 1726 after her midwife reported that Toft had given birth to rabbits. Several physicians who examined her, including the surgeon general to King George I, believed her story, turning Toft into a national sensation. She eventually confessed it had been a hoax and was briefly imprisoned for fraud. Toft’s story speaks to the era’s general ignorance of female anatomical knowledge and its fascination with human monstrosities. This satiric print by William Hogarth (1697–1764) is one of twenty- one items related to Toft that were bound together by a collector with a macabre sense of humor (the volume is bound in rabbit fur).