Initial Capitals Found at the State Library

A whaling cruise to Baffin’s Bay and the Gulf of Boothia

There are many beautiful books in the State Library’s collections. Covers and spines are the flashiest, catching your eye as you walk by the shelf, but it is always a welcome surprise to open a plain-looking book and find detailed illustrations. My favorite genre of these illustrations are initial capitals. During a recent project I kept finding more and more of these initial capitals and thought it would be fun to highlight them for our patrons.

An initial capital refers to when the first letter of a section of text is larger than the rest for emphasis. The history of initials goes way back, all the way to before the invention of lowercase letters. People used to write in all capitals, and to differentiate the start of a new section people began to use a larger initial letter. Eventually, people began incorporating decorations and illustrations to those initial letters. Thus was born a long and beautiful history of “initials.”

Voyages of Samuel de Champlain (left) The Great Centennial Exhibition (center) and
Whale hunt: The narrative of a voyage by Nelson Cole Haley (right)

Some of the most famous and most intricate initials come from the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript from around 800 A.D. These initials sometimes took up an entire page. If you’re interested in seeing some of this stunning artistry, this website has collected and organized them all.

With the invention of the printing press, people less often illustrated initials by hand and instead carved them out of wood blocks. Though this style is quite different from a hand illustration, it is still just as striking. These carved initials often were done without magnification and in natural light—an impressive feat for a work of art that is often no larger than a postage stamp! In the 19th century, people grew so enamored with initials that it was a trend to cut them out of books and trade them as though they were baseball cards. Modern readers are likely to be more accustomed to simpler initials. Often a text will just increase the font size of the first letter without any embellishment-- for example, this blog post! 

The Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution

Whether an initial is a full page of gilded color or a square inch of black ink, an initial elevates the reader’s sense of the text’s content. Though initials are not confined to any one genre or style of writing, their beauty and artistry indicate a care for the design of the text. In this post, I’ve included some of my favorite examples of initials in the State Library's collection. Enjoy!

Emily Colson

Government Documents Intern

Sources:

(2018, August 21). An illuminating workshop and exhibit with Bill Moran. Hamilton Wood Type &    Printing Museum. https://woodtype.org/blogs/news/an-illuminating-workshop-and-exhibit-with-bill-moran

(2020, August 20). Make the letter bigger. I Love Typography. https://ilovetypography.com/2020/08/20/history-of-illuminated-initials/

Haley, N. C. (1948). Whale hunt: The narrative of a voyage by Nelson Cole Haley, harpooner in the ship Charles W. Morgan 1849-1853. Ives Washburn, Inc.

Heller, S. (2018, July 31). Initial caps: The birth of illustrated typography. Design Observer. https://designobserver.com/initial-caps-the-birth-of-illustrated-typography/

Lossing, B. J. (1860). The pictorial field-book of the revolution. Harper & Brothers, Publishers. 

Markham, A. H. (1874). A whaling cruise to Baffin’s Bay and the Gulf of Boothia. Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and Searle. (image one)

Otis, C. P. (1880). Voyages of Samuel de Champlain. Prince Society.

Sandhurst, P. T. and others. The great centennial exhibition. P. W. Ziegler & Co. Publishers.

In Celebration of MA250 and America250: Author Talk with Donna A. Seger and Brad Austin

• Salem’s Centuries: New Perspectives on the History of an Old American City - Edited by Donna A. Seger and Brad Austin
• Wednesday, June 10, 2026. 12pm - 1:00pm
• In-person and Virtual event. No registration required.
• State Library of Massachusetts - Room 341, Massachusetts State House
• Livestream on YouTube

In honor of Massachusetts250 and America250 the State Library of Massachusetts Author Talks Series is celebrating with the 2026 release Salem’s Centuries edited by two local professors from Salem State University, Donna Seger and Brad Austin.

This is an in-person and virtual event. The livestream available on our YouTube channel courtesy of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Broadcast Services. Tune in at noon! 

Be sure to sign up for our Author Talks newsletter and follow our social media channels (Instagram, Facebook, and X) for the latest information on our visiting authors. If you are unable to attend, the recording will be posted to our YouTube channel to watch anytime - view all past recordings here!

About the book: Salem’s Centuries celebrates the 400 year history of the city from multiple perspectives. The book is a compilation of essays written by Salem State University History Department faculty and graduates of the university’s master’s program. Of course the book includes the infamous witch trials, but the focus is on the other areas of Salem’s vast history. Included are essays on Salem and the Civil War, Salem’s maritime history, and Salem’s labor and industrial history; the essays not only highlight Salem’s history beyond the witch trials but emphasize the history of the indigenous and enslaved peoples of Salem. Salem’s standing as a centuries old city is a reflection of not only Massachusetts history but the nation’s.

Donna A. Seger is Professor of History at Salem State University. She is the author of The Practical Renaissance: Information Culture and the Quest for Knowledge in Early Modern England, 1500–1640 and manages the blog Streets of Salem.

As a resident of Salem, Seger has a passion for local history. This passion combined with her professional and academic background resulted in Salem’s Centuries. Seger holds a doctorate from Brandeis University and is professor of medieval and early modern European History at Salem State University.

Brad Austin is Professor of History at Salem State University. He is the author of Democratic Sports: Men's and Women's College Athletics during the Great Depression and the coeditor of Understanding and Teaching the Vietnam War and Teaching U.S. History through Sports.

Austin holds a PhD in modern American history from Ohio State University. He is the current chair of Salem State University’s History Department.

As always, this author talk is free and open to all. Assisted listening devices will be made available upon request courtesy of the State House ADA Coordinator. If you are able to join us in person for this talk, attendees will be able to participate in a question-and-answer session with the authors.

Any questions or concerns, please email us at AuthorTalks.StateLibrary@mass.gov. For more information on the State Library Author Talks series, please visit our site.


April Pascucci
On behalf of the Author Talks Committee

Delving Into the History of the Cape Cod Canal

With the summer fast approaching, some of us will again create fond memories of our time on Cape Cod. The beaches, the waves, and the cool breezes remind us why we love the Cape. However, we do not have fond memories of the times spent waiting to cross the Sagamore and Bourne Bridges over the Cape Cod Canal to reach our destinations. The waiting can be an hour or more, especially on the weekends, and you may ask yourself, “Why do we have those bridges?” The history of those bridges is intrinsically linked to the Cape Cod Canal whose initial conception goes back to the 1800s. The State Library of Massachusetts has primary and secondary sources for both research and personal curiosity.

The concept of building the Cape Cod Canal started back to the late 1700s as described in an article from Cape Cod Magazine. The Massachusetts legislature began considering a canal as early as 1860 through House legislation prompted by the suggestion of Governor Nathaniel P. Banks. The author Clemens Herschel describes the early proposal and how it would affect the people living in the Canal area. The General Court’s Committee on Harbors and Public Lands had many sessions regarding the Canal as outlined in the book titled Hearing as to Incorporating the Bass River Canal Company from 1893 that provides an excellent history of what happened during those sessions.

The impetus for a Canal continued for decades with frustration mounting as discussed in the pamphlet  titled Cape Cod Canal. There were different proposals regarding the exact location of the Canal from Cape Cod Bay to Buzzards Bay. Hand drawn maps in the Special Collections Department illustrate those different approaches with examples including one map by the Massachusetts Commission on Waterways and Public Lands from 1917 showing one approach and the Massachusetts Board of Internal Improvement showing another very early approach.

Sagamore Bridge Construction

Since those times, several books have been written on the subject. One of the earliest was a book by George Everett Burbank in 1916 with more recent books including a book by William James Reid in 1961 and Robert H. Farson in 1993.

The State Library and its Special Collections Department have other resources for those interested in the history, issues, and construction of a major civil engineering project in Massachusetts. Search for materials in our library at www.mass.gov/lib or visit us during our hours of operation to delve into a fascinating and complex story.

Francis Alix

Cataloging Librarian

Wrens Alight and Delight in the Library!

We're heading south this month, as we continue to commemorate the thirteen original colonies by displaying their state bird in our Audubon case. This month's print depicts the Great Carolina Wren (plate 78), which is South Carolina's state bird. But despite its name, the Carolina Wren has a large range and can be seen up and down the east coast.

Milder winters have contributed to the Carolina Wren venturing further north, and now you can spot these petite brown birds with a white stripe in both suburban landscapes and wilderness thickets here in Massachusetts. Read more and hear their call on the Mass Audubon website. And look closely at the wren at the top of this print, he looks like he is caught mid-call! 

We all know that "April showers bring May flowers" so in keeping with that theme for this month, this print was also selected for display because the Carolina Wren is shown in the vibrant flowering branches of the dwarf red buckeye (Aesculus pavia). Unfortunately, this shrub is native to the southern and eastern part of the country, so we aren't likely to see it here in Massachusetts. All the more reason to visit the library from May 12 through June 9 to see this print on display!

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

A CMR Adventure: Tracing the History of a Massachusetts Regulation

Last year we published a blog post titled Understanding the CMR. If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to give it a read! That blog helps you understand what the CMR is and how it's organized. Now it’s time to go to the next level and learn how to research the history of a Massachusetts regulation. We wrote about this in 2013, but our collections have undergone some changes since then, so we thought it was time for an updated post.

With that in mind, let’s look at 105 CMR 125.004. Let’s say you’d like to see all the changes that regulation has gone through since 2015. We’ll trace the history of this regulation together.

To start, we’ll need to go to the Cumulative Tables. The Cumulative Tables, sometimes called “indexes,” are published in the final Massachusetts Register of each calendar year. The cumulative tables start in 1976 and continue through to the present. These tables document all regulation filings, including amendments, new regulations, and emergency regulations, published in the Register during that year.

You’ll find the Cumulative Tables in our digital repository. We also maintain a binder of Cumulative Tables from 1978 to the present, available in our Reading Room alongside the CMR. If you don’t know when a regulation was first added or when it was amended, you should begin by looking at the earliest Cumulative Table and work forward through each year. This helps you create a timeline of the regulation’s history.

As we mentioned, we want to see all the changes that 105 CMR 125.004 has gone through since 2015. We’ll start by looking at the Cumulative Tables file that includes 2015, using the Tables found in our digital repository.

Our digitized Cumulative Tables are keyword searchable, meaning you can do a “ctrl + F” search within the file for “105 CMR.” Each page of the Cumulative Tables is organized as follows:

• Left-hand side: Agency title numbers (also called “digit title numbers”) in bold, with their chapter numbers listed beneath.

• Right-hand side: Two columns showing
1. The Register issue number where the regulation was published, and
2. The effective date of the amendment or filing

From there, you’ll see if section 125 is listed. If it is, you’ll want to make note of the Register number and the effective date to use later. If it’s not included, it means that changes to that section did not take place that year.

For example, a page from the 2014-2025 year-end Cumulative Table shows there were amendments to 105 CMR during that time period. The first amendment for 105 CMR 125 appeared on 2/24/17. By noting the Register issue number (1333), you’ll know exactly where to look to find the full text of the change.

Once you’ve identified the relevant Register issue number, the next step is to look at that issue of Massachusetts Register. Each issue contains the text of the regulation as it was filed, allowing you to see exactly how the regulation appeared at that time. The State Library houses the complete set of Massachusetts Registers in print, and many issues are also available in our digital repository.

Hint: look for the Settings section on the left side of your screen. Set the “Sort By” to “Z→A.” This will sort the Registers from newest to oldest, making it easier for you to find the specific Register you need. In our example, you’ll want to look at Register 1201 through 1400. Next you’ll search for Register 1333 to see if sub-section .004 is listed.

You’ll want to repeat this process until you’ve traced the history of the regulation up through the year you’re interested in. You would keep looking through the Cumulative Tables for changes to 105 CMR 125, find the appropriate Register number, then check that Register to see if sub-section .004 is listed.

In our example, 105 CMR 125 was updated on the following dates, focusing only on the changes that have occurred since 2015 :

2/24/17 (Register 1333)

From there, we’d look in the Registers to see if sub-section .004 is listed. You can search for a specific Register by searching for “no. XXXX” in the Search bar above the list of Items. Here are our search results when we search for Register 1333 using that format:

By using the Cumulative Tables and the Massachusetts Registers together, you can trace how a regulation has evolved over time, whether it was newly created, amended, or repealed. While the process can be a bit tedious, these resources make it possible to construct the full history of a Massachusetts regulation.

Whether you are conducting legal research, exploring public policy, or just curious, the State Library’s collections and staff are here to help you navigate the CMR and its associated resources.

Jessica Shrey
Legal Research Reference Librarian

State Library Newsletter - May Issue

With a new month comes a new newsletter! In this issue, read about our seasonal displays, a resource highlight, and find links our past exhibit on native plants in the Commonwealth and to any Author Talks you may have missed.

Pictured here is a preview, but the full issue can be accessed by clicking here. And you can also sign up for our mailing list to receive the newsletter straight to your inbox.

Explore the Coast and the Harbor Islands from a Bird’s-Eye View

In Boston, one of the markers that summer is on the horizon is the relaunching of the Boston Harbor Islands Ferry! To coincide with the spring schedule kicking off on May 15, we are displaying a 1905 map titled, "Bird’s Eye View of Boston Harbor and South Shore to Provincetown: Showing Steamboat Routes" in our Collections Spotlight case. This map prominently features Boston Harbor and the many islands found within, and also illustrates part of Boston, the South Shore, and Cape Cod from a bird's-eye perspective (not the cloudy view over parts of Boston, to emphasize that you are viewing it from above).

While this map has been unfolded and is currently stored flat, it originally would have been folded into a 4 inch by 8 inch rectangle partially affixed to a cardstock front and back cover. For preservation and access purposes, the covers have been removed and are normally stored in an acid-free paper sleeve in a folder along with the map. But this month, the cover is on display as a complement to the map. The cover features the title printed in an eye-catching font and informs us that the price was 10 cents (which would calculate to about $3.75 today, though maybe more if you were purchasing it from a touristy spot downtown!). It was published by John F. Murphy, a news agent and businessman who operated newsstands in railroad stations in the region, including South Station, where this map was likely sold. Also on display is a facsimile of the inside of the front cover, where an index to the map was printed. This is an especially useful resource as it indicates notable buildings and landmarks. For lighthouse fans, this map includes many, including Race Point Light (#32) jutting out from Cape Cod, Gurnet Light (#27) in Plymouth, and Boston Light (#23) in Boston Harbor. What’s missing from the list is Graves Light, also in Boston Harbor, as that lighthouse wasn’t constructed until 1905 and likely missed the publication date of this map.

Beyond lighthouses, there are many details to discover on this map. Note the numerous shipping routes leaving Boston, which could take you as close as Nantasket or as far as Europe. And the tourist-centered entries, like Hotel Pemberton (#18) at the end of Hull and the Myles Standish Monument (#28) in Duxbury. But one of the most interesting details is how many buildings are located on the Harbor Islands. Today, we generally consider recreation to be the Harbor Islands' primary function, but at the turn of the 20th century, they served a more utilitarian purpose. If you visit the islands today, you'll come across some foundations and building remnants that shed light on their past lives. Featured on this map are some of the following buildings: 

• A farm school on Thompson’s Island (#6)
• The City of Boston Almshouse and Hospital on Long Island (#9)
• The City of Boston Quarantine Station on Gallop’s island (#14)
• The City of Boston House of Reformation for Children on Rainsford Island (#16)

Also identified on the map are Fort Andrew (#17) on Peddocks Island and Fort Warren (#15) on George's Island, which exist as historical structures today.

We have previously highlighted a similar bird’s-eye view map that also shows the Harbor Islands and the eastern coastline from Boston to the Cape via the South Shore. This map is a bit more recent, published in 1920, and provides a more detailed view of Boston. You can check it out in this blog post and then compare it to the 1905 map, which is on display in our reading room from May 5 through June 16. Stop by to see it before you catch the ferry to the Harbor Islands!

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian