Special Collections & Archives Hatch Room : Notable Items

The first collected edition of William Shakespeare’s plays which were collated and published in 1623, seven years after his death is within our special collections. It was published by a London syndicate headed by Edward Blount and Isaac Jaggard. Isaac’s father William Jaggard printed the works at his London printing shop but after his death before the book was completed, his son Isaac took over completion and the shop. The works include Shakespeare’s comedies, histories, and tragedies. Within the 900 pages contains 36 different works of his most popular plays and even the unknown. It includes: Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Othello, and King John to name a few.

Paradise Lost, was written by English poet John Milton (1608 - 1674) and illustrated by French graphic artist Gustave Dore (1832 - 1883). Robert Vaughan (1795 - 1868) was an additional author who included notes and the life of John Milton after it was officially published in 1667.

Within the poem it tells a more in-depth account of the story of the fall of mankind, the story of Adam and Eve, that was not included in today’s Bible. The story has two narrative arcs, one about Satan and the other about Adam and Eve. The epic begins after Satan and the other fallen angels are banished to Hell. Sulking in his defeat, he devises a plan to corrupt God's most favored creation, Adam and Eve. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve are caught in a blissful existence, free from sin. Even the world's first romance is not without its troubles. Adam's love smothers Eve until she asks to be left alone. Solitude in Eden makes Eve easy prey, and Satan is nothing but a skilled predator.

 Satan the serpent wraps Eve into sin. Adam, in his love for Eve, falls likewise. Milton paints Adam as a hero for his love and loyalty, and yet also a greater sinner, for he could not claim ignorance as his defense. For a brief moment, Adam and Eve are caught in the charms of lust, and believe they have escaped the consequences of a willing ignorance. Their hopes are usurped as they suffer night terrors, and feel the weight of a new feeling: guilt and shame. Adam and Eve made the choice to trust a serpent's trap, Satan made his choice to ensnare them - Milton sees to it that God punishes them both. Satan and his minions are doomed to be limbless, voiceless serpents. Adam and Eve, stained by sin, are removed from communion with God, and cast out of the Garden of Eden.

Samuel Johnson (September 18, 1709 – December 13, 1784) is most known for single handedly conceiving and producing A Dictionary of the English Language. He was often called in his life Dr. Johnson and was an English writer who also made contributions as a playwright, poet, sermonist, biographer, and literary critic.  His work The Rambler focused more on moral than social issues. These works were targeted to the middle-class audience that were increasingly marrying into aristocratic families in order to create socio-economic alliances, but did not possess the social and intellectual tools to integrate into those higher social circles which required great understanding of subjects.

The Portrait of a Woman was painted by American painter Gilbert Stuart. Stuart was best known for his numerous paintings of first United States President George Washington. One of his portraits of George Washington is currently to this day featured on the one dollar bill, that portrait is called the Athenaeum which is an unfinished portrait of Washington. The Portrait of a Woman is an oil painting, acquired by Lorenzo and Anne Hatch between 1925 - 1930. Today it sits in the Hatch Room and is one of the first paintings a patron can view upon entrance.

Sir William Searle Holdsworth (May 7, 1871 – January 2, 1944) was an English legal historian and Vernerian Professor of English Law at Oxford University. He put compromised throughout his career 17 volumes of The History of English Law and were published between 1903 and 1966. Holdsworth was only able to complete volumes 1 – 12 as volumes 13 – 16 were posthumously edited by A.L Goodhart and H.G Hanbury and the last volume, volume 17 was completed by John Burke. The work begins with Anglo-Saxon times, and is an account of legal procedure and court organization down to the Judicature Acts of 1875 and the important phases of substantive law through the 18^th Century. The context of the works also includes: The Mediaeval Common Law, The Common Law and its Rivals, and The Centuries of Settlement and Reform.

In our collection we have a facsimile of the first impression of the original 1611 edition of the King James Bible. It is one of an edition that’s limited to 1500 copies of which we have in our collection #259. The laid paper was specially made by the Ventura Mill at Cernobbio located in Italy. The binding of this book is a faithful replica of an original contemporary binding. The coat of arms on the slip case of which this book is held is that of King James I.

The Portrait of a Girl is an oil canvas that was created by English painter John Downman who was born in Wales, United Kingdom. He exhibited 148 works into the Royal Academy between 1769 and 1819. 

The Faldistorium (folding stool) from the Davanzati Palace, Florence, Italy, is the oldest piece of furniture within the Hatch Room. Dating from the 16th Century, it is covered with an Italian Velvet cushion with "cloth of gold" borders and embroidered episcopal arms. 

The Refectory Table was made with an Elm Top, Oak Legs, and Stretcher. It was made in England circa 1575, a highly elongated item that was used originally for dining in monasteries during Medieval Times. In the Late Middle Ages, this table gradually became a banqueting or feasting table in castles and other noble residences. King Henry the VIII is reported to have sat at the table himself.