Guide to the Collections, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (review)

Reviewed by: Guide to the Collections, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Robert L. Dawson Guide to the Collections, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center. Edited by Margaret J. Barker. Austin: University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Center, 2003. 157 pp. $12.00. Published to coincide with the opening of the new reading room and galleries, the Guide to the Collections of the Harry Ransom Center (HRC) is a comprehensive narrative describing in considerable detail the wide range of materials housed in one of the most important research libraries in the United States, indeed, the world. A glance at the table of contents reveals the various areas of interest, from American studies, architecture, art and art history, through gay studies, music, Texana, women's studies, and more. At the end are a few pages devoted to "Special [End Page 344] Collections: Personal Effects, Decorative Arts and Special Rooms," followed by explanations about using the HRC, programs and fellowships, a useful bibliography, and a thorough index. There are numerous illustrations (color and black-and-white), largely reflecting the twentieth century, mirroring the direction taken by the HRC under the able leadership of Dr. Thomas Staley during nearly a quarter of a century (1980 to the present). There are so many treasures in the HRC that it is impossible even to highlight them in a page or two. During the more than quarter century that I have been at the University of Texas (the most assiduous of the many readers at the HRC, I might add), I have seen many changes and a steady stream of new acquisitions, from a copy of the Gutenberg Bible through the David Selznick archives. When I wanted to show a class one of the costumes from Gone with the Wind, I was asked, for reasons relating to conservation, to pick something else. So the students got to examine a dress worn by Joan Crawford in her 1945 comeback film, Mildred Pierce, for which she won the Academy Award for best actress. Since I am a specialist in eighteenth-century studies (especially French), I would like to present a few reflections about what can be found in the HRC in that domain. First of all, the HRC has been one of the more important contributors to the English Short-Title Catalog (ESTC) database, which, originally limited to the eighteenth century (as the Eighteenth-Century Short-Title Catalog), now covers a period extending from the origins of printing in England to 1801. Aside from the wealth of early material relating to the scope of the ESTC, the scholar will find one of the most important Voltaire collections in the Americas. One of the beauties of the collection is that it was formed in England (by Desmond Flower) and thus contains a wide range of British eighteenth-century Voltaire editions in French (usually with false imprints) absent from, for example, the magnificent collection of such materials in the National Library of France. As I read through the Guide, I came across a reference to the Affair of the Queen's Necklace. (In a nutshell, Marie-Antoinette refused to purchase what was surely the most important diamond necklace ever assembled. It was swindled from the jewelers who had made the offer. A cardinal—and prince of the blood—was arrested at court; there was a trial with far-reaching consequences. The affair did much to undermine the prestige of the royal family, especially the queen's, and, in more than one way, it helped usher in revolution.) I knew about the various briefs and engravings relating to the affair housed in the HRC, but I did not know that the printed materials are complemented by a highly important manuscript subcollection (as yet uncataloged). There are letters and documents concerning nearly all of the principals in the affair, providing behind-the-scenes insights at crucial moments. There are lists of just who went to visit the Cardinal de Rohan in the fortress of the Bastille; original police interrogations of the cardinal and of Mme de La Motte-Valois (a chief crook), signed by the accused; letters by the infamous Cagliostro; and much more. Were this material put up for sale in France...

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