The library of TheUnitySociety is spread over most of the rooms of the second floor of 122 - there is only one entrance, though, and next to this is the ledger for writing down borrowings. Most books are on open shelves, but there is an old wardrobe that serves as the repository for rare or valuable volumes. The key to this is kept by MrFlanagan, who notes any borrowings in a seperate ledger kept inside the wardrobe.
<<< I thought it might be a good idea to have somewhere where members of the society could store Mythos books where they're accessible to all. Any objections, shout now... -- RobHague >>>
<<< Having just re-read the note on TheUnitySociety page, I guess this might impinge on Alden's lock - if so, appologies; feel free to change/remove it. -- RobHague >>>
<<< No - that's fine. I just didn't want anyone asserting that there wasn't a basement, or that it was four foot square with bags of sand in it. My lock doesn't apply to this question. -- AldenSpiess >>>
<<< That said, I'm not sure I like the 'old wardrobe' idea: surely the society can at least afford a sturdy oak cupboard? -- AldenSpiess >>>
<<< When I said "old", I was aiming for "heavy and sturdy" as opposed to "rickety and falling to bits", so we basically agree. The "wardrobe" bit was to fit in with the overall ramshackle, thrown-togther nature of the library. -- RobHague >>>
<<< And provide a convenient escape-route to Narnia, should such a thing ever become necessary. -- StevenKitson >>>
<<< Because we don't have enough of those in our basement... --BenChalmers >>>
There is no catalogue, but books that are known to be in the library include...
Religion
- The Bible
- King James -- cheaply bound, initialed EAM and dated 1817; annotated in one hand throughout
- King James -- leather bound recent purchase by an NPC
ASV (American Standard Version) -- excellent quality, leather-bound, used but well cared-for. Inscription on the first page With Love, Margaret -- 1907
- The Koran
Palmer, E.H. -- The Koran 3rd edition, dated 1889.
- others...
History
Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
- Livy, several volumes of his history of Rome
- C19 biographies of Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, John Adams
- Recent accounts of the Civil war
- Several histories of war of independence, including a couple in French
Subscription to the Journal of American History (quarterly, see http://www.indiana.edu/~jah/ )
Signed first-edition copies of Plague - the Black Death in Europe and England and France - The Hundred Years War by RobertJohnson
Natural History
Darwin, Origin of Species (first US edition)
Someone, Natural History of New England (volumes on each state)
The Natual History of the Unity Area, Printed, First Edition, Louise Burke, 1831. A clear, comprehensive summary of the ecology and wildlife of Unity and it's surroundings.
Bird Species of Jenks' Hill, Printed, First Edition, Robert Burke, 1833. A slim volume, glossing over any of the more complex aspects.
Geology
Geography
- Good maps of Unity and Rhode Island, from 1847, framed, on facing walls of the library
- More recent maps of Unity and Rhode Island, including one with several pin-holes forming a pentagram
Chemistry and Pharmacy
- Several basic chemistry textbooks
A complete subscription to the "Journal of The American Chemical Society" (the most presitigous american journal in chemistry) since April 1921, courtesy of JuliusErlich (who would rather read at TheUnitySociety than at home).
A few other chemistry journals. One of them contains a paper by DietrichErlich.
Astronomy and Astrology
- Several star charts, at least 50 years old and covered in dust.
- Basic texts on astrology.
A rather nice, though quite dry, work on astronomy and relativity, courtesy of JuliusErlich
An illustrated manuscript covering the zodiac in detail, and dating to 1690, donated to TheUnitySociety on the occasion of its 50th anniversary (by ??).
Fiction
- Good late C19 editions of the complete works of Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, HG Wells, Jules Verne
<<< I don't think there was a good 19th Century version of Shakespeare: the Victorians tended to chop them to ribbons to suit their own perculiar tastes. --StevenKitson (competing with Mike for most petty historical aside) >>>
<<< Ahhhh but thats British versions, this is American -- MikePitt bluffed furiously. (By good I meant pretty and well bound) >>>
Signed copy of TheLastWinter, by JackProctor
Copy of TheGraveyardElm, by SarahCarpenter
Assorted issues of various fiction magazines, including The United Amateur, The Vagrant and Home Brew
Politics
- 1847 leather bound edition of the US constitution and amendments to that point
Volumes of American Nationalisation Records from 1790 onwards. The records from 1790 to about 1830 have symbols in the margin, mostly next to Irish names. The society receives the volumes by post as new ones become available; they are still sent to "JulianSmyth"
The Occult
- Several collections of folk myths (wolfmen, vampires etc) from around the world.
- These are still being added to the library either by an NPC whose interest in local folk myths has spread into a more general study
In ShadowTheatre, the collection was shown to include Scandinavian myths.
In HereBeDragons, the collection was shown to include Russian myths.
- An autobiography purporting to have been written by Alistair Crowley.
<<< Its a fake then. Alistair Crowley called the book about his life a hagiography -- BenChalmers >>>
Mechanical Prayer Wheels of the East, Written and bound by hand, parchment and leather, Louise and Robert Burke, 1838. Focuses on the technical aspects of mechanised prayer wheels, with some discussion of the philosophical implications. Some passages in chinese (Mandarin).
Almanacks and Encyclopædiæ
The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica ( http://1911encyclopedia.org )
Newspapers
Current edition of The Unity Reporter, The Unity Times Chronicle, Providence Express and The Unity Gazette
Bound back issues of The Unity Times Chronicle. This is very piecemeal and many are lost. Issues known to be available:
In Jan 1923 there was a bound set from April-June 1881 (see SandersonGhost)
In Feb 1923 there were issues from FixMe (see TheAnathemaDevice)
The Club
- The minute books for the club
Personal papers of Edwin Arnold-Mallory in several unsorted packing cases
Mythos Books - see UnityMythos for further details
Symbolica - currently on loan to DrGarfieldParrish
<<< Should this be here, as well as UnityMythos? I think it makes sense, as long as we can keep them in sync. -- RobHague >>>
<<< Perhaps only those books that are actually in the society Library should appear here. -- SimonBooth >>>
<<< I agree, although we need to decide whether "in the society library" means "belonging to the collection of books kept by the society for the use of it's members" or "in a particular room in 122 Mallory Way at the present time (or t-80, depending on your point of view)". I'd vote for the former, with a note to indicate the cases where the latter isn't also true. -- RobHague >>>
<<< How about:
Book
Location
On loan to
Lock
TheLibrary
The vault of the MuseumOfAntiquities at JenkinUniversity.
-
TheLibrary
-
The Boiler Manual
TheLibrary
-
TheLibrary
-- AldenSpiess >>>
<<< Good, but belongs in UnityMythos, I'd say. If the location isn't TheLibrary, they shouldn't be on this page. -- SimonBooth >>>
<<< What about books that belong to the library, but are currently missing? -- BenChalmers >>>
<<< Record them here; I see "Location" as where they belong, and "On loan to" as where they are. -- SimonBooth >>>
<<< Wouldn't it be better to add a note to the entry in the list? After all, the main question is "Where is book X?", and not "Which books aren't in the library?". We could add a note to say if the book is out, if it is habitually kept somewhere else, and who owns a lock on it. In most cases, none of these things apply, so no note is neccesary.
We also need a system for recording who is reading what and who has read what. The latter is simply a matter of adding a list or table to your character page. I think the former would be best served by having a table on the UnityMythos page; I'll add one, so see what you think.
-- RobHague >>>
<<< I like it; and I'd say we shouldn't hava anything on this page concerning Mythos books other than a list of which ones belong in the library, if only to keep the function and format of this page consistent. -- SimonBooth >>>