Smithsonian Libraries

SIL to exhibit at ALA Annual!

It's a chilly February day here in Washington, D.C., but our thoughts have jumped ahead to sunny Anaheim in June.  That's the location and date (June 21-26, to be exact) of the American Library Association's Annual Conference. Smithsonian Libraries will be a new exhibitor this year, co-hosting a space with the Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press.

ALA Annual, which attracts up to 20,000 attendees and exhibitors, is the world's largest event for the library community. We are very excited to have the opportunity to meet fellow librarians and publishing professionals from across the country, as well as around the world, and to discuss our tools and resources.

Registration for attendees is open now. Will you be there? If so, is there anything in particular you would like to see from SIL or SISP?  We're looking forward to seeing you!

Happy Ferris Wheel Day!

Typically, February 14th is a day set aside for love, flowers and candy. For those in a less romantic spirit, we suggest celebrating Ferris Wheel Day instead! Ferris Wheel Day celebrates the birthday of George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. and his most famous invention. 

This image, from Hubert Howe Bancroft's The book of the fair : an historical and descriptive presentation of the world's science, art, and industry, as viewed through the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893 (Chicago, San Francisco: The Bancroft Company, 1895), shows the very first Ferris Wheel at the Columbian Exposition's Midway Plaisance. Ferris build the attraction, sometimes know as the "Chicago Wheel", as a landmark for the Fair. After being dismantled and rebuilt multiple times all over the country, it was finally destroyed in 1906.

Bancroft's work, featured here, is one of many titles on World's Fairs and Expositions in the Smithsonian Libraries collections. Both the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology and the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum branches have extensive holdings on the subject. See our selected bibliography here for more information.

Smithsonian Libraries Seeking 2013 Penick Fellow

The Margaret Henry Dabney Penick Resident Scholar Program supports scholarly research into the legacy of Patrick Henry and his political circle, the early political history of Virginia, the history of the American Revolution, founding era ideas and policy-making, as well as science, technology, and culture in colonial America and the Early National Period.

The stipend for this long-term fellowship is $45,000 for nine consecutive months. Senior scholars are particularly encouraged to apply, however, applicants in their post-doctoral phase or, with outstanding achievements in their pre-doctoral phase may be also considered for the fellowship. Fellows are expected to give at least one public lecture during the tenure of the fellowship as well as to show progress toward a publishable manuscript by the end of the fellowship period. Fellows are also asked to cooperate with the Library administration in planning scholarly programs. The Smithsonian Institution Libraries offers its fellows the rich holdings of its research collections, especially at the National Museum American History Library, the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology, the Smithsonian American Art / Portrait Gallery Library, and the American Civilization Collection at the National Museum of the American Indian. The Libraries also provides guidance and contact information to relevant historical collections in the Washington DC area, especially regarding the holdings of Patrick Henry materials and resources of the American Revolutionary and colonial eras.

For further information about the Resident Scholar Program, including application forms and procedures, please visit the SI Libraries’ website: www.sil.si.edu/Galaxy.cfm?id=3.3. Additional inquiries may be addressed to SILResidentScholars@si.edu or Smithsonian Institution Libraries / Resident Scholar Programs / P.O. Box 37012 / NMAH 1041 MRC 672 / Washington, DC 20013 7012. Resident Scholars are required to be in residence during the award period, which must be taken during the 2013 calendar year. All application materials must be submitted by March 15, 2012.

 

The Fix: Lectiones Cutlerianae

An interesting book with an intriguing provenance arrived in the conservation lab this month from The Dibner Libray of the History of Science and Technology.  “Lectiones Cutlerianae”, a book created from the collection of six lectures given by the English philosopher and polymath, Robert Hooke, from 1674-1678, was published in 1679. The book is part of the Heralds of Science collection. The lectures touch on various topics including the annual motion of the earth, a description of helioscopes and microscopical discoveries. Hooke was a contemporary and bitter rival of Isaac Newton.  He was also a close friend of the architect Christopher Wren.  Hooke conducted over half of the surveys in London after the great fire of 1666 that Wren utilized in his plan to re-build the city after the disaster.

 

 

Lectiones Cutlerianae, before treatment, cover.

 

Our particular copy of “Lectiones Cutlerianae” belonged to Baron Grenville former Prime Minister of England (1806-1807) and Chancellor of Oxford University.  The binding bears Grenville’s armorial seal on the front and back covers.  The book has been previously re-backed, with a new piece of leather on the spine, as well as re-sewn.  The re-sewing led to pressure being placed on the title page, causing a tear. There was also an unsightly previous attempt at paper repair to one of the 17 plates in the book.

 

 

Lectiones Cutlerianae, before treatment, previous repair

 

The title page was humidified using Gore-Tex sprayed with de-ionized water.  The page was then re-attached, this time to the page below it using wheat starch paste and Japanese tissue. 

 

 

Lectiones Cutlerianae, after treatment, title page.

 

As the book was re-sewn, the plates were attached with tabs.  It was a simple procedure to humidify the tab portion of the plate enough to entirely remove it from the textblock.  With the plate removed, the plate could be immersed in de-ionized water to remove the previous paper repair.  The washing also lessened the appearance of tide lines on the plate (from previous water damage.)  Once the plate was dried and flattened the repairs were re-done and the plate re-attached to the tab. 

 

 

Lectiones Cutlerianae, after treatment, newly repaired plate.

 

— Katie Wagner