Smithsonian Libraries

February is National Cherry Month

Maria Sibylla Merian, Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung und sonderbare Blumennahrung, 1730

Don't worry, cherry blossoms will be featured this month, too . . . But this beautiful engraving by Maria Sibylla Merian was too good to resist. 

The daughter of an engraver, step-daughter of a painter, Merian was always surrounded by art. But she also had a curious and scientific mind, which led to her studying insects, especially the transformations from caterpillars into butterflies, and the plants they inhabited.

The Libraries has digitized many more beautiful images from this volume, housed in its Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum Library in New York. Enjoy.—Elizabeth Periale

Calendar Girl: Kate Greenaway's Almanacs

This sweet group of pocket-sized almanacs by British children's book illustrator Kate Greenaway (1846-1901) were issued between 1884 and 1895. Greenaway's scenes of beautifully-dressed children frolicking in the countryside were popular during the late Victorian period, and her images still exert a strong nostalgic charm. These books also display the talents of Edmund Evans, one of the finest engravers and color printers of the 19th century. This collection of Greenaway's almanacs is housed in the Bradley Room of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Library.—Diane Shaw

January 15th is Hat Day

Journal des dames et des modes, 1914

Today would be a good day to choose to don a fabulous hat, tam, sombrero, turban, cappello, chapeau . . . the possibilities are endless.—Elizabeth Periale

Happy Birthday Elvis!

The Libraries has quite a series of titles from across its collections featuring the King of Rock 'n' Roll. There is also an interesting link on the National Postal Museum website with the backstory of the Elvis stamp issued in 1993. Uh huh huh huh...

Highlights include:

Elvis in the post: catalogue and guide to Elvis Presley international postage stamps, by Jo Woodward, 1997.

Elvis: his life in pictures, 1997.

Elvis musical pop up, Rob Burt, 1986.

In search of Elvis : music, race, art, religion, edited by Vernon Chadwick, 1997.

Elvis + Marilyn: 2 x immortal, edited by Geri DePaoli; conceptual organization, Geri DePaoli, Wendy McDaris, 1994.

Dead Elvis: a chronicle of a cultural obsession, by Greil Marcus, 1991.

Elvis fashion: from Memphis to Vegas, Julie Mundy, in association with Graceland, 2003.

As far as the Smithsonian is concerned, Elvis is in the building . . .

—Elizabeth Periale

p.s. check out our other blog, Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn for images of Elvis pop-ups!

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Top Ten Countdown

R.E. Rodda Candy Company, Rodda Easter Candy , ca. 1925, chocolate bunny (above), chocolate chicken (below)

Taking a page from O Say Can You See, the National Museum of American History blog, the Libraries has also taken a look back at its blog entries since February 2009, when we started posting daily.

Libraries staff have created some very interesting posts—as interesting and varied as its collections. We are all having fun sharing our collections and activities and are happy to report that our traffic has increased—so you must be enjoying it, too!

Here are the top ten posts for 2009:

1. Sunday, April 12—Chocolate Rabbits and...Elephants!—Apparently the delicious combination of chocolate, rabbits, and elephants proved hard to resist in our most popular post—Alexia MacClain's wonderful Easter-themed entry, from the trade literature collection at the National Museum of American History Library.

2. Tuesday, April 14—National Library Workers Day—It's heartening to discover that one of our most popular posts this year focused on the staff of the Libraries. Whoo hoo for us!

3. Tuesday, September 15—Apollo XI and beyond!—The National Air & Space Museum librarian Bill Baxter and Liz O'Brien put together this little bit of air and space history post about a gift of lunar module flight manuals.

4. Monday, April 13—Thomas Jefferson's Birthday—Some of the most fun posts to put together are ones that highlight hidden gems from Libraries' collections on a single topic. In this case, books about Thomas Jefferson from all over the Libraries help to create a portrait of the third president of the United States.

5. Thursday, October 15—October is National Stamp Collecting Month!—this post by National Postal Museum Library staff Cassie Mancer, Paul McCutcheon & Mary Ann Wilson highlights stamp collecting and links to wonderful images on the Libraries flickr site.

6. Wednesday, September 16—Scholars and the Everywhere Library—Dan Cohen's popular lecture generates multiple page views as people continue to tune in to his webcast, which was part of the Libraries' ongoing lecture series.

7. Tuesday, November 10—New and Notable Pop-ups & Movables: Yellow Square—this post by Elizabeth Broman from the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum Library in New York highlights our other blog, Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn as well as our upcoming pop-up exhibition of the same name which will open in May 2010 at the National Museum of American History.

8. Wednesday, September 30—A Second Look Uncovers a First Edition: a Manuscript Page from Darwin's Origin of Species—Kirsten van der Veen's interesting post gives a glimpse into research and scholarly inquiry at the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology.

9. Thursday, November 12—Sylph—A Fairy Inhabiting the Air; Airy, Graceful—Webster—National Museum of American History Library intern Mary Jinglewski contributed this post highlighting an 1892 bicycle trade literature catalog.

10. Wednesday, October 7—Closing for Renovation: Freer-Sackler Library—This informative post is generating a lot of traffic as patrons keep up with what's happening at our Freer/Sackler Library.

Thanks so much to everyone who reads this blog. Please continue to join us, follow us, subscribe, and leave a comment on anything of interest, and we promise to continue to focus on the Libraries and its wonderful collections!—Elizabeth Periale

Happy New Year!

Scenes from The winter's tale.

Let the Revels Commence!

Country Life, December 1920 issue.

Happy New Year's Eve from the Libraries!—Elizabeth Periale

The Master Silk Printer

The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Library recently acquired another issue of the The Master Silk Printer, trade magazine of the Oriental Silk Printing Company published from 1922 -1927. It was self-promotional but also served as a vehicle within the fashion industry for providing information related to silk apparel for women. The Paterson-Haledon area of New Jersey was the main center of the silk textile manufacturing industry in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most of these factories had showrooms in New York City in what is still known as 'The Garment District’, and many advertised through this trade publication. Companies selling other fashion industry goods such as dyes, machinery, chemicals, ribbon, and related products also advertised here.

The Master Silk Printer, self proclaimed as “a journal devoted to silk uplift”, and “a journal devoted to printed silk,” published on the fifteenth day of each month for a target audience of “Buyers of Broad Silks and Ribbons, Buyers of Silk Costumes; Cutting-Up establishments, Leading Dressmakers, to the Middlemen; to the Upholstery Trade; to the Manufacturers and Converters; to the Distributing Market Houses, to the Commercial Associations, and to Clubs."

A typical issue consisted of several editorial features, general and timely topics of interest specific to the silk trade, fashion trends abroad, new print patterns, and fashion forecasting. The April 1923 issue cover presented the new “Thebian prints” for the upcoming season—following the craze for anything Egyptian that developed  following the opening of King Tut’s tomb the previous year. Industry-related governmental regulations, patent information, corporate personnel news, and industry exhibitions were reported. In the buyers' guide small paragraphs about topics such as “ Polka Dot Phases”, “Magpie Prints" (black and white patterns), or “Handkerchief Squares” were interspersed with longer feature articles or supplements. Black and white photographs, color illustrations, line drawings, ornament vignettes, and cartoons made this an attractive and informative publication that is of historical interest today.—Elizabeth Broman

The High Price of Tea

Thomas Webster, An Encyclopedia of Domestic Economy, 1845

Today is the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. The Libraries has many books on this important historical event—in its collections at the National Museum of American History Library, Smithsonian American Art/Portrait Gallery Library and even its Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum Library in New York:

Tea leaves: being a collection of letters and documents relating to the shipment of tea to the American colonies in the year 1773, by the East India Tea Company. / Now first printed from the original manuscript. With an introd., notes, and biographical notices of the Boston Tea Party., 1970.

The night the Revolution began; the Boston Tea Party, 1773, / by Wesley S. Griswold, 1972.

The Boston Tea Party, Catayst for revolution. An exhibition commemorating the 200th anniversary. / [by] Arlene Phillips Kleeb, 1973.

The Boston Tea Party. Labaree, Benjamin Woods. New York, Oxford University Press, 1964.

The Boston tea party, December 1773 / / drawn by H.W. McVickar ; text by Josephine Pollard, c.1882.—Elizabeth Periale

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The Master Silk Printer

The Master Silk Printer of April 1923, a trade publication in the Cooper-Hewitt Museum Library collection, joined in the “Egyptomania” phenomenon and featured a new line of printed fabrics inspired by the Tomb of King Tut.

Pattern books of Egyptian ornament became available that designers could reference in creating their own stylized designs for the graphic arts, textiles, and furnishings. The discovery of King Tut’s tomb continued to influence international design and culture throughout the 1920’s, and well into the Art Deco period of the 1930’s. The treasures of Tutankhamen’s tomb are among the most traveled artifacts in the world. 

In 1972 another Egyptian Revival was created when the Treasures of Tutankhamen tour opened in London, and then moved to the U.S. organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which ran from 1972 -1979.More than eight million people attended it them, and a most recent exhibition tour which began in 2005 and ended in 2008, drew many millions of people. 

The lure and fascination of Howard Carter’s great discovery holds its appeal generation after generation.—Elizabeth Broman 

Additional images may be viewed on the Libraries' flickr site.