Rare Books to be Donated to Raynor Memorial Library; Includes Early Edition of Gulliver's Travels Released: June 2, 2005 Event Information Date: Friday, June 3, 2005 Time: 3 p.m. Location: Raynor Memorial Library Archives - Third Floor (Map) Dr. and Mrs. William Schull will donate a collection of antiquarian books to the Marquette University Raynor Memorial Libraries on Friday, June 3, at 3:00 p.m. in the archives of the library. Including many first editions, the collection spans a wide array of topics ranging from the history of the Far East, the American West, and the Society of Jesus, to essays addressing slavery in North America and Isaac Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. "This donation will substantially enhance Marquette's rare book collection,” said archivist Matt Blessing. “This generous gift from Dr. and Mrs. Schull not only supports faculty scholarship, but gives Marquette professors another tool for the classroom.” An Imaginary Adventure The most valuable book in the collection is a 1726 edition of Jonathan Swift's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, a work better known as Gulliver's Travels, which tells the tale of the four fantastic voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a British surgeon. Scholars of the 18 th century consider Swift's fantasy a satire of seminal importance. Marquette is the first library in Wisconsin to own a first edition of the work and one of only 20 in North America. Two faculty members in Marquette 's English department are scholars of Swift. Dr. Albert J. Rivero is the author of Gulliver's Travels: Based on the text 1726 Text, Contexts, Criticism (W.W. Norton: 2002). Dr. Steven Karian, also in the Department of English, recently wrote his dissertation on Swift. "Generous gifts like these give students direct access to the forms and appearances of early printed books, and brings us closer to the experiences of contemporary readers, said Dr. Steve Karian, assistant professor of English. "This book is particularly valuable, since it helps us see how Swift's great work was made to look like an actual travel narrative." A Historic Exploration The Schulls will also donate Emmanuel H.D. Domenech's Seven Years' Residence in the Great Deserts of North America (1860).  Another first edition, this two-volume set contains 58 beautiful hand-tinted maps of the American West.  The author was a French missionary who served as the private chaplain to the Emperor Maximilian during his residence in Mexico. This book outlines the early American frontiers of Texas, New Mexico, California , Oregon, Utah, Louisiana , Missouri and Minnesota, and much of the content is compiled from the reports of the surveys of the Pacific Railroad. The second volume describes various Native American tribes, their origin, customs, languages, character and antiquities. Seven Years' Residence will augment Marquette's important manuscript collections documenting Christianity among Native Americans. Dr. and Mrs. Schull both graduated from Marquette in the 1940's and spent many years in Japan. They now reside in Houston. Interested media should call Jennifer Schwarz in the Office of Public Affairs at Marquette University for mpore information Office of Public Affairs Contacts Christopher Stolarski Media Relations Specialist Phone: (414) 288-1988 Send e-mail