Remember creating time capsules in elementary school? Perhaps you had to imagine what you would place inside: a front page of the daily newspaper, a cassette tape, or maybe a favorite toy? Such a capsule exists at the special collections department at Cornell University-but instead of relying on a shoebox full of ancient knick knacks, this awe-inspiring collection of literary material uses books to tell a story of our past. The Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, located in the climate-controlled lower level of Cornell’s Kroch (pronounced “Crock”) Library,  boasts 70 million maps, manuscripts, and photographs and over 400,000 rare books. Fulfilling my bibliophile dream, I had the opportunity to view a smattering of these well-persevered beauties up close upon a recent visit to the collection. My tour guide is reference and instruction librarian, Lance Heidig, “The physical artifact is so important,” he explains while gently unpacking a 500-year old specimen.”It tells a story. Obviously the contents of the book are important, but the actual physical nature of this book tells us information about where this came from and how it was used.” He produces a prayer book from 1495. The covers, made of wood and bound in pig skin, bind a hybrid collection of Latin prayers, half of which are hand-written, and the other half done with the then incipient printing press. But perhaps the most interesting characteristic of this ancient tomb is the thick chain attached to its spine. “This is library security 15th century style,” jokes Lance.…

Linda J. Spielman gave a presentation at the Nevins Center in the Cornell University Botanic Garden on July 16 at an event which celebrated the launch of her new book, A Field Guide to Tracking Mammals in the Northeast (Countryman Press/W.W. Norton). This wasn’t like any other book launch I’ve ever been to and I mean that in a good way. Cornell University provided eight rows of ten chairs and an overhead projection system. The large room backlit by panoramic views of the botanical gardens had been set up like a lecture hall. People of all ages filled every seat, and an overflow of dear friends at the back of the room made for a spectacular turnout. After Linda’s lecture, the line for book signing went on for an hour. But it was Linda J. Spielman whom they had come to see as a teacher and tracker. And now I know why. Her presentation packed a punch. Tracking wildlife is a lot like doing scientific research of any kind. And Linda is a naturalist who looks and listens from the depth and breadth of multiple scientific disciplines. She began by describing her fascination as a child with what evidence she saw in the woods back behind their house. Evidence that made her wonder who had been there and what happened when she wasn’t there. It’s the puzzle of figuring things out. What critter left that imprint in the mud? Who galloped across the field in the snow? The tracks, or evidence, tell a…

Martin Sweeney from Homer, NY, has written a captivating account of three native sons who played pivotal roles in Abraham Lincoln’s presidency and the United States’ history. [Martin Sweeney, Lincoln’s Gift from Homer, New York: A Painter, an Editor and a Detective, McFarland & Company, Inc., 2011.] The painter, Francis Carpenter, brushed “The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation before the Cabinet”—the iconic image of Lincoln with sunken eyes and sharp jaw line which hangs today in the U.S. Capitol Building. The editor, William Stoddard, served as the president’s personal assistant secretary. He penned the first copy of the Emancipation Proclamation from Lincoln’s notes and later published the seminal Life of Abraham Lincoln, which Lincoln historians and enthusiasts consult today. The detective, Eli De Voe, who had been tracking a virulently anti-Lincoln cell in Baltimore, unearthed (and thus foiled) a plot to kill the president en route to his first inauguration in February 1861. That three men so closely linked to preserving Lincoln’s life and legacy should all hail from Homer, New York is a remarkable coincidence. Yet, for those of us who know and love upstate New York, there is nothing coincidental about this convergence of great leadership, especially in the Civil War era. Seneca Falls is home to the Women’s Rights National Historic Park where the first women’s rights convention was held. Here Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, and other greats gathered to rally for women’s suffrage and abolition. The house of Harriet Tubman, “conductor”…