The Bentley Rare Book Museum at Kennesaw State hosted its monthly Coffee with a Curator meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 28 over Zoom to provide rare book enthusiasts an opportunity to discuss historical literature and sip a warm drink of their choice.
The Bentley Rare Book Museum is Georgia’s first rare book museum and the state’s third largest museum-grade rare book collection according to the museum’s website.
This month’s meeting featured KSU Assistant Professor Dr. Leah Benedict as a guest speaker. She gave a presentation on the connections between sexuality and electricity in 18th-century literature.
“The 1700s were the Age of Enlightenment, which meant people were searching for new discoveries and analyzing the world in a more scientific way,” Benedict said.
Benedict started off the presentation by sharing one 18th-century scientist’s curiosity about what electric shocks might do to humans if they can make a frog’s corpse convulse and twitch. That was only the start of the many unique historical pieces that Benedict would share.
Even the most scientific descriptions of electricity’s effect on the human body paralleled the language of erotic sensations, which was shown in many literary examples that Benedict provided.
Her presentation traced the history through literature, from the first scientific discoveries of electric currents to intentional metaphorical descriptions in fiction published later. One example that Benedict shared was “The Electrical Eel” by Adam Strong, a satirical poem that replaces the infamous snake in the tale of Adam and Eve with an electric eel.
The virtual presentation featured everything from literature excerpts to engravings of devices that inquisitive individuals in the 1700s would use to electrically shock themselves.
The discoveries and literature of that century of enlightenment fostered an intellectual belief that everything humans do is an exchange of energy and electricity, according to Benedict. She even touched on the influence that language has had on scientific discoveries about reproduction.
Attendees discussed the presentation with one other in Zoom’s chat box during the session, and Benedict was happy to answer anyone’s questions.
Before the end of the meeting, Bentley Rare Book Museum curator JoyEllen Williams shared photos of some of the rare books and newspapers from the 18th century that can be found inside the museum. Interested individuals can physically touch and hold some of these historical relics if they schedule a research appointment online, Williams said.
Williams also highlighted the museum’s fundraising efforts. The museum hopes to raise $6,000 to restore and conserve its own copy of the Declaration of Independence from 1843. So far, the fundraiser has raised $905.
The Coffee with a Curator program invites anyone interested to gather virtually once a month, grab a hot drink and participate in presentations, discussions and sometimes even games, according to curator Williams.
It is a place for individuals to share their interests in literature and history with one another. The group calls itself a #rarecommunity, Williams said.
Anyone who would like to attend future Coffee with a Curator meetings can email rarebooks@kennesaw.edu to get monthly reminders. Recordings of past meetings can be found on an official YouTube playlist. To donate to the museum’s fundraiser, visit their website.
