Can you type without looking at the keyboard? This used to be a skill taught to people who wanted secretarial or clerical jobs. Now of course many of us type quickly because we use computers on a daily basis. But what about the predecessor to the keyboard we know? This is it – a typecase, filled with individual letters which had to be assembled by hand to create anything which needed to be printed.
W&M Libraries Blog
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April 5, 2017Posted in: Special Collections -
March 29, 2017Posted in: Special CollectionsThe island of Taiwan, once commonly known in the West by the Portuguese name of Formosa, has recently resurfaced in the news in connection with the One China policy. In the past it was also a subject of interest, although information coming from Taiwan itself was often scarce. -
March 22, 2017Posted in: Special CollectionsThe arrival of Europeans in the Americas was an event of global importance, and its effect on the people already living here was devastating. That is why in 1552 the Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas wrote a book that he called Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias, or A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies. -
December 14, 2016Posted in: Special CollectionsIn the basement of Swem Library is a room used mostly for storage. Along two walls are machines and wooden cases full of drawers. The machines are printing presses and the cases are filled with type – individual letters cast in metal, designed to be set by hand and printed on the machines. -
November 13, 2015Posted in: Special CollectionsAt Homecoming this year, Special Collections opened a new exhibit showcasing selected items from our holdings arranged from A to Z.
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October 24, 2014Posted in: Special Collections
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August 4, 2014Posted in: Special Collections
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July 28, 2014Posted in: Special Collections
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June 4, 2014Posted in: Special Collections
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January 27, 2014Posted in: Special CollectionsTasked w