Mercedes de Acosta

With last Friday’s Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage and this weekend’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1965 march in Philadelphia that helped spark the LGBT-rights movement, it seems a good time for a post about one of the most famous lesbian figures in the Rosenbach collection: the writer and socialite Mercedes de …

Tanoa

What do the Marianne Moore room and the American Samoa state quarter have in common? They both feature a tanoa. A tanoa, as I just learned this week, is a Samoan ceremonial bowl. Marianne Moore’s brother Warner sent her the bowl as a gift, presumably when he was stationed in Samoa as a Navy chaplain …

Monteith Madness

Is your home equipped with a monteith? The Rosenbach certainly is. John Sutton, monteith. London, 1708. 1954.1784 Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philadelphia What, you may well ask is a monteith. A monteith is a vessel with a notched rim that served to hold the feet of stemware while their bowls were chilled in …

Moore on Vinyl

Marianne Moore listening to playback of her recording in Caedmon’s studio in New York, 1956.  From the Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Moore XII:28:07, 2006.7542. Did you know June is Audio Book Month?  I had no idea, but I’m a late adopter: it took a 13-hour drive to Charleston last summer for me …

Bike to Work Day

In celebration of Bike to Work Day, here are some wonderful images of bicycles from our collection. George Cruikshank, Hairbrain. London, 1818.The Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philaedelphia.1954.1880.0880 This image dates from around 1818, when early bicycles became popular in England. The sheet refers to the man as riding “a velocipede,” a word imported …

What Is It?

Can you identify these objects from around Rosenbach collection? Post your thoughts and the answers will be revealed next week. Item #1: The Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philadelphia Here’s a side view of this piece of Victorian silver. The Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philadelphia And here’s a top view Item #2: …