ITHACA, N.Y. -- As the entire Cornell University community "celebrates a new beginning" with the inauguration and installation of President Jeffrey S. Lehman, a timely new history of Cornell also is arriving at the Cornell Store during Inauguration Week.

Cornell: Glorious to View , written by Cornell lecturer and historian Carol Kammen and published by Cornell University Library, takes a fresh and engaging look at the university's origins, historical challenges and its achievements. The title of the book is derived from Cornell's famous alma mater. Drawing on the extensive holdings of manuscripts and photographs housed in the Cornell Archives, Kammen's concise account conveys the intimate details and the unique character of almost a century and a half of the Cornell experience.

"The book is an overview, and I focused on the flock and not the birds," said Kammen, "Part of the reason I wrote it is to more thoroughly answer some of the most frequently asked questions about the origins of the university."

Cornell: Glorious to View departs from Morris Bishop's classic A History of Cornell (Cornell University Press, 1962) text in several ways, said University Archivist Elaine Engst. The account in Bishop's work ends in the early 1960s, while Kammen's work takes Cornell's history into the 21st century, including a quote from, and photo of, President Lehman. In addition, Kammen's book is illustrated and fleshed out with documentary details that will be new to readers familiar with Bishop's fine account and with Cornell in general.

Walter LaFeber, the Marie Underhill Noll Professor of American History emeritus at Cornell, and one of the university's notable historians, has composed an eloquent preface to the new history. LaFeber states that Kammen's work "is an important, highly revealing account of the tests faced by a university committed to melding into a single mission the advancement of humanistic idealism and modern economic and scientific development." Cornell: Glorious to View also includes brief reflections by Cornell presidents emeriti Dale R. Corson, Frank H.T. Rhodes and Hunter R. Rawlings.

"Carol has a mastery for weaving everyday occurrences with grand ideals to construct a complex panorama," said Thomas Hickerson, Cornell's associate university librarian. "She has completed a work that will extend knowledge of this unique history to generations of Cornellians to come."

University Librarian Sarah Thomas said she is proud of Cornell Library's role in publishing this important work, and she offered special thanks to university alumnus L. William Kay '51 for sponsoring the project.

"Bill is a wonderful friend and supporter, and his devoted interest in Cornell's history is outstanding," Thomas said.

Cornell: Glorious to View will be on sale in the Cornell Store beginning Inauguration Week, Oct. 13-19. Author Kammen will be available at the Cornell Store to sign copies of her book between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18. Copies also can be ordered directly from Cornell University Press. Call (607) 277-2338 or visit the press's Web site at http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu

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