Smithsonian Libraries

Happy Holidays!

May you have a happy and peaceful holiday season and a joyous new year!

New & Notables: December 2011

We're testing out a new way of displaying our "New & Notable" books by combining them in to one post per month. Also, above the book listings, you'll see a slideshow with links to the WorldCat records for each book. If you are not a user of our physical collection, WorldCat will help you find a copy of the book in a library near you. If you enjoy our "New & Notable" section, we would love to hear your comments below.

 

Here are some of the newest additions to the National Air and Space Museum Library collection:

	Ascend or Die: Richard Crosbie: Pioneer of Balloon Flightsby Bryan McMahon.  History Press Ireland, Dublin, Ireland, 2010.  TL620. C76 M36 2010
	Fighting Seventeen: A Photographic History of VF-17 in World War II by Lee Cook.  Schiffer Military History, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2011.  D790. 375 17th C66 2011
	Millville Army Air Field: America's First Defense Airport (Images of Aviation) by John Galluzzo.  Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina, 2011.  UG634.5 M55 G35 2011
	Storms of Controversy: The Secret Avro Arrow Files Revealed by Palmiro Campagna.   Dundurn Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2010.   TL685.3 C35 2010

—Leah Smith

 

New books in the National Museum of American History Library:

	American Eden : from Monticello to Central Park to our backyards : what our gardens tell us about who we are by Wade Graham. New York : HarperCollins Publishers, c2011. SB451.3 .G718 2011
	Born southern : childbirth, motherhood, and social networks in the old South by V. Lynn Kennedy. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010. RG652 .K46 2010
	The sword of St. Michael : the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II by Guy LoFaro. Cambridge, MA : Da Capo Press, c2011. D769.346 82nd .L64 2011
	Master mechanics & wicked wizards : images of the American scientist as hero and villain from colonial times to the present by Glen Scott Allen. Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, c2009. Q127.U6 A6815 2009
	American tempest : how the Boston Tea Party sparked a revolution by Harlow Giles Unger. Cambridge, MA : Da Capo Press, 2011. E215.7 .U64 2011

— Trina Brown

 

New items in the Botany-Horticulture Library:

Edible Landscaping by Rosalind Creasey. San Francisco : Sierra Club Books, 2010 SB475.9.E35 C74 2010

— Robin Everly

 

New books in the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Library:

	Crystal and arabesque : Claude Bragdon, ornament, and modern architecture . Jonathan Massey. Pittsburgh, Pa. : University of Pittsburgh Press, c2009. NA737.B65 M37 2009 CHM From the 1890s to the 1930s, Claude Bragdon enjoyed an international reputation as an architect, designer, and critic working in the progressive tradition associated with Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Prairie School. In 1915 Bragdon created “projective ornament,” a system of geometric patterns designed to serve as a universal form-language integrating not only architecture, art, and design, but also a society divided by differences of class, gender, religion, culture, and national origin. Spreading across the surfaces of buildings, posters, books, and the settings Bragdon designed for massive community singing festivals, projective ornament came to symbolize the progressive potential of modernity for thousands of Americans.
	Triumvirate : McKim, Mead & White : art, architecture, scandal and class in America's Gilded Age / / by Mosette Broderick. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2010. NA737.M4 B76 2010 CHM A rich, fascinating saga of the most influential, far-reaching architectural firm of their time and of the dazzling triumvirate—Charles McKim, William Mead, and Stanford White—who came together, bound by the notion that architecture could help shape a nation in transition. They helped to refine America’s idea of beauty, elevated its architectural practice, and set the standard on the world’s stage.
	Bauhaus : a conceptual model / / editor, Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin/Museum für Gestaltung, Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau, and Klassik Stiftung Weimar ; in cooperation with, Museum of Modern Art, New York ; [translations, Benjamin Carter... et al.]. Ostfildern : Hatje Cantz, c2009. N6868.5.B27 B38 2009 CHM Essays: The Bauhaus on the market : on the difficult relationship between the Bauhaus and consumer culture / Regina Bittner ; Escape into the public sphere : the exhibition as an instrument of self-presentation at the Bauhaus / Patrick Rössler -- Selective appropriation : remarks on the reception of Bauhaus pedagogy in Germany / Rainer K. Wick ; Teaching at Black Mountain College and the New Bauhaus : the seperation of art and design / Gabriele Diana Grawe ; The Bauhaus : internationalization and globalization / Klaus von Beyme ; "Timeless gothic" instead of "Dentist-style with housing cubes" : The National Socialist opposition to the Bauhaus / Justus H. Ulbricht ; Vice versa-art of the people? / Ulrike Bestgen and Werner Möller ; The Bauhaus today / Philipp Oswalt.
	Gerrit Rietveld  by Ida van Zijl.   London ; New York, NY : Phaidon, 2010. NA1153.R5 Z54 2010 CHM From his first great design masterpiece, the Red-Blue Chair, to his final design for the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Gerrit Rietveld created a significant body of work and left a remarkable legacy. His simple yet dynamic design style has greatly affected international furniture design and has made a significant contribution to the history of architecture. His unconventional approach and extraordinary furniture, hailed by Theo van Doesburg as 'the new sculpture', inspired many of his contemporaries just as it continues to inspire today's designers; he has he has been cited as a source of inspiration by designers ranging from Verner Panton to Konstantin Grcic. This detailed yet accessible monograph is structured chronologically and richly illustrated with photographs and sketches of Reitveld's furniture design and his twenty-odd architectural projects.

—Elizabeth Broman

Cooking from the Collections: More sweet treats!

Welcome to Part II of December's Cooking from the Collections feature! This month, our intrepid recipe testers tried their hand at old fashioned sweets.  The treats included Martha Washington’s recipe for sugar cookies, a boozy 1950’s  rum pudding, and a gingerbread cookie that might have been a favorite of James Smithson.  Who do you think would win a holiday bake-off? The founder of the Smithsonian, our very first First Lady or an aspiring June Cleaver?  Today we present the remaining two recipes. Click over to Friday's post to learn more about James Smithson's gingerbread.

All three desserts ready for sampling.

 

Martha Washington’s Sugar Cookies

Before there was Martha Stewart in the kitchen, there was Martha Washington. Thanks to a transcription by Karen Hess of Martha Washington’s Booke of cookery, anyone can whip up the the original First Family’s favorite treats for the holidays.  Not only does Hess dutifully transcribe Martha Washington’s personal cookbook, she also translates ingredients and cooking methods for modern times.  These basic cookies (callled "cakes" by Martha) were really rather plain, but could easily be spruced up with vanilla or lemon zest or festive royal icing.  If nothing else, they’ll make an excellent conversation starter. Do you think George was a fan of sweets? That might explain the teeth.

 

 

Adapted from Martha Washington’s Booke of cookery, transcribed by Karen Hess. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1981. Makes about 30 cookies.

Ingredients:

•  3 cups of unbleached pastry flour
• ½ cup of raw granulated sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 4 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons rose water
• 10 tablespoons butter, cold and cut in to small pieces

 Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees. Line 2-3 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift together flour and sugar in large bowl.
3. Stir in egg, cream and rose water.
4. Transfer mixture to food processor  and add butter pieces. Pulse just until the mixture forms a solid dough.
5. Allow the dough to rest.  The directions are a bit fuzzy on this. I put mine in the fridge, so that it would be easy to roll out, for about 15 minutes.
6. Roll the dough out (I worked in sections and kept the unused part in the fridge) and cut in to shapes. Use a water glass if you’re going for authenticity!
7. Space the cookies about an inch apart on the pans and bake, about 8-10 minutes, rotating the pans half way through. Remove to wire racks for cooling.

— Erin Rushing

 

Swedish Rum Pudding

This recipe is from Elegant Desserts , published by Culinary Arts Institute, the same folks that brought us The Casserole Cookbook, previously discussed here. Of course I wanted to serve it with lingonberries they are Scandinavian and besides it would also mean a trip to IKEA and it doesn’t get more Swedish than that.  Overall, this dish did turn out. To some the rum maybe overpowering but it had just enough. 

 

 

Adapted from the Elegant Dessert pamphlet published by the Culinary Arts Institute 1955.

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup of cold water
• 2 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin
• 4 egg yokes
• 2 cups of heavy cream (I used whipping cream)
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• 3 tablespoons rum
• lingonberry or raspberry sauce

Directions:

1. Set out six custard cups
2. Pour water into small cup and sprinkle evenly with gelatin. Let gelatin stand about 5 minutes to stoften
3. Meanwhile blend well in the top of a double boiler the egg yolks, cream, sugar and salt. Cook over simmering water, stirring constantly and quickly, until egg yolk mixture coats a silver spoon (Here I used an everyday flatware spoon)
4. Remove from heat and strain into a bowl. Immediately stir in gelatin. Stir until gelatin is completely dissolved. Set aside to cool stirring occasionally. Add in the rum and stir until thoroughly blended. Pour mixture into the custard cups and set in the refrigerator to chill (about 2 hours).
5. When ready to serve, unmold desserts by carefully running a knife around inside edges of cups; invert onto serving dishes.
6. Serve with lingonberries or Raspberry Sauce.

— Ninette Dean

A Winter Vacation of the Past

This past summer, we featured travel and vacation related items, including ones about express steamers, a beach hotel, and a lake resort.  Each month this winter, we will do the same.  But this time we will feature winter vacation related items.  This month, we are featuring a 1906 brochure about The Court Inn.

 

Court Inn, Camden, SC.  Brochure, 1906, The Court Inn.

 

The Court Inn was a winter resort located in Camden, South Carolina.  The resort, which accommodated about 200 guests, opened each year on Thanksgiving Day.  The 1906 Brochure described the resort as having "every modern comfort and convenience, including electric lights, steam heat and open fireplaces, call bells, and bath-rooms, both public and private."

The resort had a lot of outdoor activities for guests to enjoy.  In front of the hotel, there was a garden with flowers and shrubs.  A five hundred foot long arched evergreen walkway and the Grove of Towering Pines was also located on the grounds.  Other outdoor activities included fishing and boating at a nearby lake, playing polo, and playing golf at the nearby Sarsfield Golf Club.

This 1906 Brochure about The Court Inn can be found in the Trade Literature Collection at the National Museum of American History Library.  Take a look at the Galaxy of Images to see more pages from this brochure.

Check back in January and February to read about other winter vacation resorts of the past!

-Alexia MacClain