European and Asian History

Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections holds nearly 5,000 works printed in England or English-speaking places around the world up to the year 1800. The collection of reference works and periodicals contains, among other works, 6,600 issues of the London Gazette, considered to be the world's first newspaper. Other holdings include almanacs, conduct literature, biographies, works of significant literary and historical authors, histories of places and topics, books on voyages and travels around the world in the era of discovery, books on household management, cookery, and works on the practical arts and sciences that reflect Michigan State University's roots as a land grant institution. Also of note are the French Monarchy Collection, which includes over 6,000 monographic volumes and 3,000 pamphlets; the Charles and Ruth Schmitter Fencing Collection, one of the finest of its kind in the country, containing nearly 600 rare and unique titles; the German Criminology Collection, made up of over 1,500 manuscripts and printed works; and the Bill and Yvonne Lockwood Collection, which, together with the Victor Weybright Archives of Gypsy Studies, makes the Murray & Hong a vital resource for Romani studies. In addition, we hold several hundred Japanese and Chinese books on the history, culture, and literature of those areas. Numerous works on Asian foodways and cookery are well represented, including a 25 meter-long scroll with hand-drawn illustrations depicting the Japanese art of hocho shiki (“kitchen knife ceremony”), a ritual in which a chef carves fish and poultry using a special knife, without ever touching the animal with their hands.

For more information, please contact Tad Boehmer, Rare Books Curator.

Resources

British Studies: the Eighteenth Century, a Guide to Topics in the MSU Libraries' Collections