Harbingers of Springtime

Celebrating the coming of spring, I took a gleeful stroll through our Rare Books Collection and pulled out some of my favorite harbingers of the season. This also happens to be a great way of highlighting our substantial holdings in Natural History, Earth Science, and Nature. And, of course, Emily Dickinson, who cannot meet the spring unmoved. She and I have that in common.

Emily Dickinson "I cannot meet the spring unmoved," AC 230, F 1122, J 1051 — Emily Dickinson “I cannot meet the spring unmoved,” AC 230, F 1122, J 1051

Our holdings in Ornithology include an outstanding copy of the double elephant folio edition of John James Audubon’s Birds of America, as well as the Richard L. Soffer (Class of 1954) Ornithology Collection.

Richard L. Soffer ’54 has donated an extensive collection of volumes about birds, with many books specifically focused on the various methods and techniques that have been used to reproduce illustrations of birds. The books in the collection provide examples of every type of illustrative technique: hand painting, woodcut and wood engraving, etching and engraving, lithography, and modern photomechanical methods.

robin018 — Brasher, Rex, and Lisa McGaw. *Birds & trees of North America*. New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 1961.

Early signs of spring in our area are the return of the American Robin (Turdus migratorius) and the Woodcock (Scolopax minor).

Rickman, Philip. A selection of bird paintings and sketches. London: Curpotten, 1979. Print.from the Richard L. Soffer (Class of 1954) Ornithology Collection — Rickman, Philip. *A selection of bird paintings and sketches*. London: Curpotten, 1979. from the Richard L. Soffer (Class of 1954) Ornithology Collection

Emily Dickinson wrote several poems about the early returning Robin. This and all of Amherst College’s Dickinson manuscripts have been digitized and are viewable on the Amherst College Digital Collections repository.

Emily Dickinson "The robin is the one," AC 92-1, F 501, J 828 — Emily Dickinson “The robin is the one,” AC 92-1, F 501, J 828

The Robin is the One
That interrupt the Morn
With hurried—few—express Reports
When March is scarcely on—

The Robin is the One
That overflow the Noon
With her cherubic quantity—
An April but begun—

The Robin is the One
That speechless from her Nest
Submit that Home—and Certainty
And Sanctity, are best

In the yard and woods, early appearances of the season include the blooming croci and bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). The two images below are hand colored engravings from a 4 volume 1850s publication of A.B. Strong’s The American Flora.

crocus009 — Strong, A. B.. *The American flora: or history of plants and wild flowers*. New-York: Strong and Bidwell, 1853.

bloodroot012 — Strong, A. B.. *The American flora: or history of plants and wild flowers.* New-York: Strong and Bidwell, 1853.

Just this week we’ve started hearing spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) and the salamanders have begun to emerge after the rains. These images are from a 1842 publication of the Natural History of New York.

peepers001 — DeKay, James E.. *Natural history of New York: Zoology*. New York: D. Appleton :, 1842.

salamanders002 — DeKay, James E.. *Natural history of New York: Zoology*. New York: D. Appleton :, 1842.

The Charles M. Pratt Lepidoptera Collection includes numerous volumes about New England butterflies, some containing beautiful hand colored plates. At this time of year, the Brown Elfin (Callophrys augustinus) and the Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon) can be found throughout Massachusetts.

And finally, one of the more bizarre springtime beauties which I have seen coming up recently: the Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). This image is also a hand colored engraving from The American Flora.

skunkcabbage011 — Strong, A. B.. *The American flora: or history of plants and wild flowers*. New-York: Strong and Bidwell, 1853.

These and other holdings in Botany, Ornithology, Zoology and Nature can be found in the Archives and Special Collections. And don’t forget that a little madness in the spring is wholesome, says Emily Dickinson.