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Tag: Washington State Library Special Collections

Spotlight on State Library Special Collections: The Holy Roman Emperor, the Conquistador, and the Emperor of the Aztecs

Spotlight on State Library Special Collections: The Holy Roman Emperor, the Conquistador, and the Emperor of the Aztecs

Recently a question hit the State Library Twitter feed that requires a little more explanation than Twitter’s 280-character limit allows. That very fine question was: “What is the oldest book in the library’s collection?” Well, the State Library has a lot of older books and maps in our Special Collections, but the Territorial Collection has the distinction of holding the oldest book.[i] It also happens to be amongst the earliest European accounts about the Americas: it is the first Latin edition of the…

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WSL Special Collections holds evidence in a mapping mystery!

WSL Special Collections holds evidence in a mapping mystery!

From the desk of Sean Lanksbury. PNW & Special Collections Librarian Well, perhaps that title is a touch dramatic, but we are very pleased to share with you a very interesting item with importance to northwest cartographic history.  The mystery starts with a gentleman named Sir Francis Drake.  Perhaps you have heard of him.  If not, then you should know that Sir Francis was the second seafarer to circumnavigate the earth, from 1577 to 1580, second only to Ferdinand Magellan, and…

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