The weather this week is enough to make one wish it was July 4, 1776 rather than July 4, 2012–you can see Thomas Jefferson’s notes on the weather at Monticello’s website and his highest temperature recording on July 4th was 76 degrees and on the 5th it was only 74 degrees. Not too bad–and definitely …
Today marks the anniversary of the Battle of Monmouth, a fact which came to my mind as I was looking at nearby New Jersey sites for a summer camping trip. The battle on June 28, 1778 was the first major engagement after the Continental Army’s winter at Valley Forge, and it was fought under weather …
Before we dive into this week’s blog post, first a big thank you to everyone who attended or assisted with this year’s Bloomsday. Also, a big thank you to the weather gods–can we order up another picture-perfect day for next year, please? We considered writing a Bloomsday wrap-up post for the blog this week, but …
It seems slightly sacrilegious to post on a non-Joycean topic right before Bloomsday, but we wanted to highlight some of the research our collections intern Anna Juliar has been doing. James Joyce did write a group of (now lost) short sketches called Silhouettes circa 1897, so, as with all things, there is some Joycean connection. …
I can’t believe it, but Bloomsday is a week from tomorrow! The entrance of Ulysses into the public domain in much of the world lends an especially festive air to the proceedings this year, while here at the Rosenbach we are celebrating our twentieth Bloomsday. Do you have your hat picked out? Do you know …
Next Tuesday evening, there will be a transit of Venus, visible beginning around 6 PM (at least for those of us here in Philly). A transit of Venus means that Venus will pass between the earth and the sun and will be visible as a black dot moving across the sun. These transits are rare, …
This year’s Bloomsday exhibition is here–it was slated to open next Wednesday, May 30, but we managed to get everything in place early. Below, you can see a couple of the photos I snapped during the installation. The theme this year is Who Owns Ulysses? Joyce and Copyright and it delves into the fascinating legal …
As I was stuck in traffic this week, a bright spot amid my frustration was hearing that NPR had picked Heart of A Samurai, a young adult novel about Manjiro, as their May selection for their “Backseat Book Club” for children. I haven’t read the novel, but I am excited that more young people will …
Photo courtesy of Michael O’Reilly Since Maurice Sendak’s death two days ago we’ve been seeing an outpouring of remembrances, as well as a lot of renewed interest in his work, both online and in our galleries. Everyone seems to be asking the same question: What is Sendak’s legacy? Everyone has a different way of answering …
One of the great things about working at the Rosenbach is getting to meet and work with great folks from other local museums. Last Friday night I volunteered to help the Mütter Museum (our closest museum neighbors) with a really neat event– Murder at the Mütter 2TM. Courtesy of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia …