Mayo Circle
About
Named for Librarian Dr. Thomas Mayo, considered by many to be the leader of cultural and intellectual life at Texas A&M during his tenure, the Mayo Circle supports the acquisition, preservation and exhibition of rare and special materials for Texas A&M University Libraries' Cushing Memorial Library & Archives.
Cushing's collection focuses on Texas and Borderlands History, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Western Americana, Military History, Colonial Mexicana, Gender and Ethnic Studies, Book and Printing History, and the University Archives. The library's Maps Collection, a relatively recent highlight, is an immense historical and informational treasure, containing centuries of real and imagined geographies. The maps serve as beautiful works of art and present information in novel ways for students and scholars.
Membership
Mayo Circle members who make an annual contribution of $1,000 and higher are invited to participate in select activities, such as exclusive sneak previews of exhibitions, private receptions and behind-the-scenes tours.
Thanks to the generosity of Mayo Circle members, the vibrant history and culturally significant treasures of the University Libraries are being developed, stewarded, and shared for future generations.
Previous Projects Include:
- The "true" first edition of Gulliver's Travels predates all others, with the second edition being published just one month later.
- The Hunt and Randel Map of Texas, compiled from surveys on record in the General Land Office of the Republic of Texas (1839). One of the earliest large maps of the Republic that shows the newly laid out town of Austin.
- The second British edition (1823) and the first American edition (1833) of Frankenstein: or, the Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.
- The restoration of an iron handpress.