Pitts’ new window to its world renowned collection of rare books and archives, the 30 Day Display, has changed faces for April! Housed on the main entry level of the library, the 30 Day Display highlights a new rare book or archival item every month, complete with a state-of-the-art, customized exhibition case and digital display. The Emory community and beyond is invited to drop by the library to view the item on display (find Visitor Policies here).This month, Pitts highlights items from Sarah Wesley’s Correspondence and Poetry (MSS 159). 
Sarah Wesley (1759 or 1760-1828), known to friends and family as “Sally,” was the only surviving daughter of Charles Wesley (1707-1788). She was a devoted daughter and sister, as well as traveler and socialite. Sarah was also a poet, though her works were never published. On display here is a personal letter Sarah sent to her long time friend, Dr. Thomas Griffin Tarpley. The letter is addressed with the request, “To be opened at my Death.” In the letter, dated February 1788, about a month before her father died, Sarah explains, “There is no other Person in the World to whom [Sarah] would entrust these Papers,” and she insists she would have “burnt all if [she] had not promised [Tarpley] in the year 1777, their Perusal at [her] Death.” 
Sarah notes that the papers were largely written while she was in her teens, and she asks Tarpley “to destroy all that have an immediate tendency to Religion & Morality,” insisting that “none of them will be found.” Whether Tarpley destroyed the papers is unknown. Curiously, the collection of poems and notes on display here, one of which is addressed to Tarpley himself and many of which are dated between 1777-1779, may show that Tarpley deemed Sarah’s words too precious to destroy.
The 30 Day Display is available for viewing during library open hours on Level 2 of Pitts Theology Library.
ohn August Swanson was born in Los Angeles in 1938 to parents who had immigrated to the United States – his mother was from Mexico and his father from Sweden. While a student at UCLA in the 1960s, Swanson became increasingly interested in political and social issues and began creating posters. In 1967, Swanson studied with Corita Kent at Immaculate Heart College. Corita’s serigraphs (screen prints) were bold and colorful – features also found in Swanson’s early work. Just like Corita, Swanson would adopt the serigraph as his primary medium. From the late 1960s to the 1980s, Swanson’s serigraphs became increasingly more complex and innovative. They became known for their intricately detailed layering of ink, each requiring their own stencils and screens. He typically employed 30 to 50 (or more!) printing layers in each of his serigraphs, thus taking him multiple months to produce an edition. These serigraphs are vivid, colorful, highly technical, but also organic.
The library holds specimens of Swanson’s artwork spanning his whole career – from 1969 to 2021. The collection not only contains finished works of art, but it also demonstrates how the artist created his pieces. Individual layers of prints are retained which function as witnesses to the way that pieces of art progressed in the studio. Various color proofs, progressive proofs, stencils, drawings, and color tests complement the completed pieces. In addition to serigraphy, Swanson also utilized lithography, painting, engraving, and etching. In the last decade of his life, he shifted his focus to giclées and posters. The collection at Pitts Theology Library contains examples from all of these media. Staff at the library frequently use the Swanson collection for instruction and exhibition and researchers can schedule appointments to view the collection as well.
