#special collections libraries

"I believe that there will ultimately be a clash between the oppressed and those who do the oppressing. I believe that there will be a clash between those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and those who want to continue the system of exploitation. I believe that there will be that kind of clash, but I don't think it will be based on the colour of the skin... Malcolm X"

Opening of Isl. Ms. 229 (Istanbul, 1791 or 2), an album of "taklid" (imitation) by the Ottoman calligrapher Mahmud Celâleddin Efendi (d.1829) reproducing pieces by the master Hafız Osman Efendi (d.1698).

Join us this Thursday, 9 April, 6-8p in the Hatcher Gallery for a conversation and collection visit with artists specializing in Ottoman classical book arts. 

Aisha Imam, director of Reed Society for the Sacred Arts will lead a panel discussion with

Dr. Nihad Dukhan — a resident of Farmington Hills who received his icazet (ijāzah — calligraphy diploma) in sülüs and nesih (thuluth and naskh) styles from Istanbul grand master calligrapher Hasan Çelebi in 2009, and in talik (taʿlīq) style in 2013 from master calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya

Khalid Casado — a Madrid-based calligrapher who received his icazet in sülüs and nesih styles under the masters Hasan Çelebi, Ferhat Kurlu and Nuria García in 2014

Behnaz Karjoo — a New York-based Iranian-American tazhib (illumination) artist who has been classically trained under a distinguished master of Turkish illumination

Following the panel, curator Evyn Kropf will join the artists to lead a guided viewing of pieces from the Islamic Manuscripts Collection. This collection includes a significant number of works by well-known Ottoman masters of calligraphy and illumination to which contemporary calligraphers and illuminators trained in Ottoman traditional practices trace their artistic lineage.

This month’s recipe offers a preview of Special Collections’ Fall exhibit: Faster and More Fun: American Home Cooking in the 1920s, which will open September 21, 2026!

Marie P. Hill. Fun in the Kitchen: A Record Cook Book of Easy Recipes for Little Girls. Chicago: Reilly & Lee Co., 1927. Gift of Eunice Burns. 

Fun in the Kitchen is one of several books in this exhibit that exemplifies authors’ and publishers’ efforts to make cooking seem like a fun activity that was practically a kind of leisure, with updated appliances and the novelty of temperature-controlled gas and electric ranges. 

In this book, author Marie Hill offers “easy recipes for little girls,” with pages decorated by drawings of girls with bobbed hair in oversized aprons and whimsical depictions of cats, monkeys, and toys.

An inscription on the front paste-down of JBLCA's copy reads “To Jan / Love Dad / 1927.” Jan, or Janet as she writes her own name in the book, apparently prepared several of the recipes. Her descriptions are not verbose, but she described the Chocolate Blanc Mange as “good” and recorded that it was eaten by “Janet, Grandpa, and Grandmother.”

Chocolate Blanc Mange from Fun in the Kitchen: A Record Cook Book of Easy Recipes for Little Girls (1927)  Two cups milk Two tablespoons corn-starch One half cup sugar One fourth teaspoon salt Three tablespoons cocoa One half teaspoon vanilla Mix the corn-starch, sugar, salt and cocoa together in the top of the double boiler. Smooth out this mixture with a little of the cold milk. When all the lumps are removed add the rest of the milk slowly.  Put two cups of hot water in the bottom of the double boiler and place over a lighted burner. Put the top part of the boiler in the lower part.  When it begins to thicken on the bottom, stir constantly until it is all about as thick as custard.  Take from the stove and add vanilla. This should be smooth, but if it isn’t, strain through a strainer. Let cool a few minutes and pour into a large serving dish or into individual glasses. When cold set in the ice box or a cool place.  Serve with cream. 

Each recipe in this book is credited to a little girl between the ages 8 and 12, so I decided to call on a child assistant to take the lead on this recipe. To a 21st century parent (at least to this one), age 8 seems young to operate a range, so I wasn’t prepared to leave my assistant chef entirely to her own devices. However, she measured and mixed the cornstarch, sugar, salt, and cocoa (perhaps not quite to Fanny Farmer’s level-measurement standard, but close enough for purposes of pudding) and poured in the milk. However, she rather lost interest during the (admittedly prolonged) stirring and waiting stage. I called her back when the pudding began to thicken and she excitedly stirred in the vanilla, and was eager to try to results, which she declared “great!”

"Unite against war, racism & repression - YWLL" (1971)

Chloe!

Charmander!

Roxanne!

Oliver!

Like April's Corn Bread, this month’s recipe is drawn from Ella Hall’s manuscript cookbook, which will be available to purchase as a facsimile from the University of Michigan Press in June. One of the first recipes that caught my attention when I read through this book was “Sweet Pickled Apples,” credited to "Mrs. Rhea on Ann St." As Dr. Jessica Kenyatta Walker notes in her forward to the new facsimile, Ella Hall’s notebook functions not just as a collection of recipes, but almost as a kind of neighborhood rolodex. 

For many years, Mrs. Hall ran the Fifth Ave. house as a boardinghouse for Black students at the University of Michigan. These lightly pickled apples might well be one of the dishes that students enjoyed at Mrs. Hall’s table. 

1 quart good vinegar 3 lbs sugar A little ground cloves A little gound cinnamon Seven pounds of sweet apples Boil vinegar, sugar and spices for 10 minutes then add apples and boil until tender. If too much vinegar, take apples up and boil vinegar a little longer, then pour over apples. 

Ella Hall's recipe only lists vinegar as the sole liquid in the ingredient list. In doing an internet search of modern pickled apple recipes, I found that the vinegar is most often mixed with an equal portion of water, as in these “Quick Pickled Apples” from Food52. I began to think that Mrs. Hall had probably just left water off her ingredient list because she knew it would be equal in amount to the vinegar and her notebook was just to jog her memory. 

However, when I did a search of historical recipes for “sweet pickled apples” in Hathi Trust, I was surprised to find that recipes from The Orange Judd Cook Book (1914) and The Modern Priscilla Cook Book (1924) are very specific in their ingredient list and instructions, and they do not include water! Now, this is a limited sample, of course, and another near contemporary cookbook, The Barton Cook Book (1913), does include water. But I ultimately decided to prepare Mrs. Hall’s recipe as written, although I did substantially cut it down in size since 7 lbs  would be a couple dozen apples!  

I used apple cider vinegar to complement the taste of apples and regular granulated sugar. I also ended up only using 3 apples instead of 5 because the ones I had on hand were super-sized Pink Ladies and I could tell as I was slicing them that the volume of sliced apples was already going to be exceed the volume of vinegar. I decided to follow The Orange Judd Cook Book’s lead and leave the peels on.

After boiling the vinegar, sugar, and spices for 10 minutes, I added the apple slices and simmered for about another 5 minutes. The results were delicious! The apples don’t taste “pickle-y” at all. Instead, the vinegar adds a nice, tart undertone that complements the sweetness of the apples. If you choose one recipe to prepare for yourself from this monthly recipe series, make Mrs. Hall’s Sweet Pickled Apples. It is definitely going into my own recipe notebook. 

Reduced Recipe for Sweet Pickled Apples 

1 cup vinegar

1 ⅔ cup sugar

¼ tsp ground gloves

½ tsp ground cinnamon

5 apples 

Read more!

Join us for a talk by Julia Miller about her experience describing and documenting the bindings on 100 Greek manuscripts held in the U-M Library's Special Collections Research Center. Julia will show us what “magnificent” can mean with regard to the binding and repair of some of our oldest books; her presentation will be accompanied by a display of seven exemplars from our collection of Greek manuscripts. The event takes place on Tuesday 9 June at 5:30 pm in the Special Collections Research Center on the sixth floor of the Hatcher Library. Refreshments will be provided.