Most people today know Clement Clarke Moore’s enchanting tale of the mysterious Christmas Eve visitor, St. Nicholas. Moore, a noted theologian and biblical scholar, wrote this classic more than 180 years ago. Nancy H. Marshall started collecting Moore’s poem, The Night Before Christmas, over 45 years ago. As the number of books and other The Night Before Christmas-related items approached one thousand, Marshall realized that it was perhaps one of the largest collections held in private hands. She began to think about its final disposition. Having spent more than a decade as the Dean of University Libraries at the College of William and Mary, she decided to give it to Swem. In 2005, Marshall donated her collection to the Special Collections Research Center in the Swem Library. Today, students, scholars, and visitors young and old enjoy the many treasures of the Nancy H. Marshall A Visit from St. Nicholas Collection. This year’s exhibit also features books and artifacts from the Chapin-Horowitz Collection of Cynogetica, a comprehensive collection from the 16th through 21st centuries that provides research opportunities in every aspect of the canine from literature to psychology, the Woodbridge-Weston Collection of Christmas Books donated by Julia Woodbridge Oxrieder, Manuscripts Collection, and the Swem Library book collection.

Curator: Chandi Singer, Burger Archives Assistant; Exhibit design and installation: Chandi Singer, Burger Archives Assistant, Priscilla Wood, SCRC Volunteer, Liam Anastasia-Murphy '12, SCRC Student Assistant, Nathaniel Baako '11, SCRC Student Assistant, Kimberly Bassett '10, SCRC Volunteer, Ashley Hughes '12, SCRC Volunteer, Justin Ferrell '11, SCRC Student Assistant, Fred Haskell '11, SCRC Intern, Staci Chapman '11, SCRC Intern, Kerry Browder, SCRC Volunteer.

Images of the installed exhibit are available at the SCRC's Flickr page.