Last week we heard from Library staff who’ve been involved in cataloguing the Sir C.M. Yonge Collection, and in this week’s post, we take a look at some of the other tasks involved in caring for, and interpreting, this fabulous collection. Bronwyn McBurnie, Manager Special Collections, said that when new collections were received, it was particularly important to ensure that items were free of insects.
“Incoming collections and materials are inspected for live insects or evidence of insect activity. That inspection might indicate that freezing items is a good idea to ensure there is no live insect life still present,” Bronwyn said.
Bronwyn McBurnie, Manager, Special Collections, placing books in the freezer.
“Many of the rare books from the Yonge Collection were frozen and stored in our chest freezer at below -20 degrees Celsius for three weeks. In preparing for this freezing the items were carefully packed into airtight polyethylene bags. Upon removal from the freezer the items remained packaged until they had slowly come back to room temperature, before they rejoined the Collection,” she said.
“For this process to be effective it is necessary to use a temperature below -20 degrees Celsius, place items in the right type of airtight bags and freeze them for a substantial period of time.”
Before you try this at home read more about the process from the experts (note that some items should not be frozen). Look to the State Library of Queensland’s advice about freezing collections and the University of Texas conservation pages.
Special Collections Volunteer, Jennifer Tompkins, has been transcribing cataloguing information onto acid-free cards to insert inside the rare books in the Sir Charles Maurice Yonge Collection. Jennifer said that she feels privileged to have the opportunity to hold and look at books that were published before Captain Cook sailed up the east coast of Australia. Jennifer is pictured below, writing a card for a book titled Of the natural history of the Adriatic Sea by Doctor Vitaliano Donati, published in 1750.
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| Jennifer Tompkins, Special Collections Volunteer |
When it came to researching and writing blog posts about the Sir C.M. Yonge Collection, and the story of Yonge’s 1928 expedition to the Great Barrier Reef, Special Collections Library Officer, Trisha Fielding, found that there were a number of fascinating aspects about the early expedition she really enjoyed exploring.
“It struck me that the expedition to the reef that Sir Maurice Yonge led in 1928 would have been such an incredible adventure for those people who were involved. The researchers from the UK were a highly talented group of young scientists, with varying specialties in the fields of zoology, biology, hydrography, botany and chemistry,” Trisha said.
“It was a great adventure just getting from England to Australia, and when they arrived here they were treated as VIPs. They were billeted with some of the most important families in Brisbane, and treated to a lavish welcome dinner held in their honour,” she said.
“One of the most unexpected things for me, was discovering how many women were involved in the expedition. But not, as you might perhaps expect, in a domestic capacity. Mattie Yonge, wife of C.M. Yonge, was the expedition’s medical officer, but she also assisted with practical field work. Several others - zoologists Sheina Marshall, Elizabeth Fraser and Sidnie Manton - were all highly accomplished in their field. Sidnie Manton had completed her university studies at Cambridge at the top of her class, but because women were not considered full members of the university, she was not awarded the University Prize.”
“So it must have been exciting for them to participate in such a groundbreaking scientific expedition, given that they sometimes missed out on opportunities because of their gender.”
Trisha Fielding, Special Collections Library Officer, researching the story behind the Sir C.M. Yonge Collection.
“Those women who were not scientists themselves also contributed much more than might at first be assumed. This was particularly true of Anne Stephenson, who is credited as co-author with her husband T.A. Stephenson on two articles resulting from the research at Low Isles (and on another twelve articles with him on subsequent research in South Africa and North America).”
“Gweneth Russell, wife of the expedition’s deputy leader, Frederick Russell, was evidently a very useful person to have around, as she had been awarded an MBE for her work during the First World War, organising the labour supply for a munitions factory.”
“I also enjoyed learning about how Sir Maurice Yonge had built up his scientific library over the course of six decades. In his travels throughout the world, he often visited antiquarian book stores in out-of-the-way places, and would purchase books to add to his collection.”
“When I was first introduced to the Sir Maurice Yonge Collection, its size and scope reminded me a little of the library onboard the submarine-like vessel, the Nautilus, in Jules Verne’s book 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Although Verne’s book is a work of fiction, Captain Nemo’s library contained thousands of volumes on natural history and science, not unlike the library that Yonge spent a lifetime building.”
“It’s just incredible to think that such a significant collection is now housed here at James Cook University Library.”
Our regular Blogger for the Special Collections Fossicking’s Series, Liz Downes, has been actively researching a totally unique item she discovered in the Collection titled British Marine Algae. This volume contains 35 stunning botanical pressings (of seaweed) prepared by Annie Slade and gifted to Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Slatter in 1884. Liz has been researching and learning about the unusual pastime of seaweed collecting and pressing which was popular with Victorian women.
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| Pages from British Marine Algae, an album of pressed seaweeds, prepared by Annie Slade. |
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| Special Collections Volunteer and Fossickings blogger, Liz Downes working with the British Marine Algae Album. |
Stay tuned to the JCU Library News blog as Liz will share her discoveries with us later this year.
If you missed earlier posts in this series - you can catch up here
* Read more about the Sir C.M. Yonge Collection
** Browse the titles in the Sir C.M. Yonge Collection
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