This week I have been working hard on wrapping up label copy for the upcoming exhibit Voices of 1863:Witnesses to the Civil War, which will open on May 1. The show focuses on three events of 1863–the Emancipation Proclamation, Vicksburg, and Gettysburg, and as the title suggests, the main goal of the exhibit is to …
Sometimes good things come in small packages, which is certainly true for this petite pocket timepiece. It measures only 2 inches across, but I think its interest far exceeds its size. Ludovico Theodatus Muller, sundial. Brass. Augsburg, 1725-1775. Rosenbach Museum & Library 1954.2082 Nowadays, when folks want to know what time it is, they generally …
With all the news this week being about the conclave and the new pope, I couldn’t resist writing this week’s post about an illustration of a pope. Pallavicini Master, Presentation of a book to Pope Julius II by a Benedictine. Rome, ca. 1505-1510.Rosenbach Museum & Library. 1954.569 This lovely illustration on vellum exists in our …
Here is what we were promised. George Cruikshank, Boney Hatching a Bulletin or Snug Winter Quarters. 1812. Rosenbach Museum & Library 1954.501 And here’s what we got. George Cruikshank, Anglo-Gallic Salutations In London. 1822. Rosenbach Museum & Library 1954.1880.1562 I, for one, am saddened by the lack of Snowquester here in Philadelphia, since I was …
This week’s post is another in the series of posts adapted from papers on Rosenbach objects written by our wonderful new class of docents. – – – – – – – Marianne Moore’s typewriter came to the Rosenbach Museum & Library in 1972 through a bequest of the poet. We previously believed that this typewriter …
So how do museum staff learn to be museum staff? There are many different pathways, as those of us at the Rosenbach can attest, but it typically involves a combination of study and practical experience. Here at the Rosenbach we have an active internship program to help train the next generation of museum and library …
(C) 2013 by the Estate of Maurice Sendak. My Brother’s Book, the last book completed by Maurice Sendak before he died in May of 2012, was published ten days ago and it has already sparked a number of interesting literary associations ranging from Shakespeare to Austen. It makes sense that a number of reviews so …
On February 8, 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed after almost twenty years of imprisonment. The anniversary seemed a good time to showcase a letter from Mary. (Yes, this date is in the Julian calendar not the Gregorian, but we’re going to ignore that for convenience sake). George Vertue, Maria Scotorv Regin et Franciae …
This week’s post is another in a series adapted from papers on Rosenbach objects written by our wonderful new class of docents. – – – – – – Interior of front cover of Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the astronomer-poet of Persia. Translated into English verse. Edward Fitzgerald, trans. London: Bernard Quaritch, 1859. EL3.F553r859 Part translation, …
This week’s blog post is again courtesy of Emelye Keyser, the Rosenbach collections intern who wrote a previous post on Rudimentum Novitiorum. Given that Emelye came to the Rosenbach after graduating from the University of Edinburgh, we couldn’t resist asking her to write a piece for tomorrow’s Burns night. — — — — — — …