Professor of English Antonio Barrenechea has produced two videos on rare books in the Special Collections at the UMW Simpson Library.
Barrenechea’s work with Special Collections is featured in a story that appears in this week’s The Weekly Ringer.
The first two videos in the series focus on twentieth-century literary works:
- 2023: Rare Books Spotlight #1, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four
- 2023: Rare Books Spotlight #2, James Joyce’s Ulysses
Barrenechea’s project aims to highlight the resources of UMW’s special collection, the oldest book of which dates to 1496. Barrenechea states, “I would also love to have more outside scholars be aware of how strong our collections are—particularly in Joyce studies.”
Barrenechea holds a copy of James Joyce’s Ulysses from the UMW Simpson Library Special Collections.
Barrenechea’s work with UMW’s Special Collections connects with his research into rare books. Last year, Barrenechea received the William Reese Fellowship at the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley for his research project on rare books. For 2023-24, Barrenechea was also awarded an M.C. Lang Fellowship in Book History, Bibliography, and Humanities Teaching with Historical Sources at the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.
Two more videos are planned for the project.
In the Department of English and Linguistics, Barrenechea teaches such courses as Introduction to Cinema Studies, New World Writing in the Colonial Period, Washington through Cinema, and Literature and Nation-Building in the Americas, among other offerings.
Barrenechea holds a copy of George Orwell’s 1984 from the UMW Simpson Library Special Collections.