Bridwell Library has been busy acquiring new manuscripts and hosting a number of exciting events over the winter months. You can read all about them in our latest publications, which are now available to view online. We hope you will enjoy the Winter 2024 issues of The Bridwell Quarterly and The Bridwell Quill, a Note from the Director.
This issue of The Bridwell Quarterly is a special issue dedicated to the manuscripts and acquisitions that Bridwell Library has recently obtained. Over the winter months, Bridwell Library has not only acquired many new manuscripts, but we’ve held several exciting events. We hosted The New Yorker cartoonist Amy Kurzweil, held our annual Light Crust Doughboys concert, enjoyed our annual Bridwell Edible Book Contest (BEBFest), and more. Additionally, this year, we held our inaugural Sam Wesley Bad Poetry Contest which will surely become a beloved annual tradition.
Samuel Wesley, father of John and Charles, is credited by many resources as a clergyman, writer, and poet. Indeed, he published his first volume of poetry in 1685 following his graduation from Oxford University. What many people fail to mention about Samuel, however, is just how awful a poet he was. His book, entitled Maggots: or, Poems on Several Subjects Never Before Handled, contains such captivating poems as “On a Supper of Stinking Ducks,” and “A Tame Snake Left in a Box of Bran Was Devoured by a Mouse after a Great Battle.” Wesley’s work can be found online through the ProQuest One Literature Database or Early English Books Online. For a limited time, a copy of Wesley’s work and the winning entries from the bad poetry contest can be found in the vitrine in Bridwell Library’s front lobby.
