Special Collections

While there were many literatures to chose from in the Special Collections Library the one I was drawn to was Beowulf. First, the font of story caught my eye right away because it was so elegant and feminine for a plot filled with heroes and villains I was surprised. As I got a closer look at the text I realized that the font really made the story pop by how big and elegant the letters were and how it really enhanced the feel of the heroine story. Although I did find it ironic that the author chose such a feminine font for what I considered a masculine story I realized it overall fit nicely by capturing the main character Beowulf and almost having the words leap off the page. In addition, I learned how in medieval times the authors switched from the color blue and red and Beowulf's story followed that pattern as the red and blue were represented in a pattern in each introduction of the page. I found the bold color chooses really made the story pop and caught my attention on each page, which overall made the story seem more appealing. To go along with the beautiful font, there were illustrations on every page, and sometimes two per a page that were so detailed in small ways but not in such that when Beowulf was illustrated his identity was distinguished by the author. By this I felt there was still mystery and I was still able to picture my own images while enhancing them with the illustrations. Comparing the Beowulf that I read in my textbook to the one in this library was incredible, I discovered how minor details could play a huge role in the appearance of the book. For instance, in the libraries Beowulf the words were spaced out so that each page seemed very light and easy, almost as a child's book while in my copy sentences are clustered together they could practically run off the page. In addition, while the illustrations really did bring a youthful feel to the book, the way the colors used for the text (blue and red) matched the colors used for the picture really added an edgy feel and made the book compelling and intriguing in a sense. I feel if the pictures had every color in it the book really would of loss the perspective of the story and been all about the pictures. However since the illustrations were only in two colors it did not take away from the plot at all but rather enhanced it. While my version had zero pictures I can really see how illustrations can impact a readers thought process by allowing them to stop, think and analyze the page for a moment. Overall I really enjoyed looking at a different Beowulf copy and learned a lot about how a story can seem completely different based on how the book itself is built.