Today, was one of the most exciting days of my librarian life. In my life, As a naturalized American, I had never thought that I will one day, indirectly meet General Álvaro Obregón Salido in the Main Library’s stack through his own handwriting. As a librarian who is responsible for multiple areas, I sometimes spend time looking through our collections of Latin American and East European Studies. Today, was one such day, as I was browsing and reacquainting myself with the heroes of Mexican Republic through their writings, I came across an already digitized by HathiTrust item: Ocho mil kilómetros en campaña ; relación de las acciones de armas, efectuadas en más de veinte estados de la República durante un período de cuatros años, por el e. general Álvaro Obregón, y descritas por él mismo.
The image below is from Harris & Ewing – This image is available from the United States Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID hec.18978. This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons: Licensing for more information.
The book that we have in main stacks is a 1917 copy of the same title but with a little difference. The copy that has been sitting in our stacks since 1917 has been inscribed by General Álvaro Obregón as a gift to the University of California. Please see the photos below. I was afraid that it might be an inaccurate observation from my part so I searched for the image of his signature and came to the conclusion that it might be really signed by the General. The heroes of the Mexican Republic often remind me of my childhood heroes of India and other developing world countries. What an honor it was to meet the General through his handwriting! The book will be offered to Bancroft Library for safekeeping for the next generations of American students and scholars who will I am sure wonder about the librarians who were not only collecting in the epoch of new normal in public education but also safeguarding it for the posterity. It does not matter where you from, it matters how responsible are you when it comes to curating your own collections for you are the temporary holder of the post. These objects of cultural significance will outlast us!
I do not consider myself either the specialist on the inks or signatures. I checked the signature on our book against the one here.
One can see the photos that I took today here.
