After last weekend’s cold and gloom, it has been a beautiful sunny week here in Philadelphia–the kind of week that makes me glad that I work only three blocks from Rittenhouse Square and can soak in the sun on my lunch break. It’s also the kind of weather that gets me in the mood for …
Personals with Personality
Our fabulous collection intern Joanna Hoover has been going through our Civil-War-era newspapers and creating summaries, to be used in our upcoming Civil War 150 web project (coming this fall to a computer near you!). She admitted to me that she wasn’t expecting much from this January 26, 1861 issue of The New York Herald–after …
Quick Correction: Carroll Tours Are March 10, 14, and 19th
In my last post I noted that I will be giving three Carroll-themed hands-on tours this month in honor of the movie. However I incorrectly gave the third date as March 17th, when it really should be March 19th (I think my mind was somewhere through the looking glass as I was typing furiously to …
Much of a Muchness
In case you missed all ads during the Olympics (and the ads that are plastering bus shelters around my house), Tim Burton’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland opens tomorrow, March 5. On one hand, I think it’s great since I’m sure lots of people will go to see it and I’m always in favor of …
Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels–Or You Might Be Hanged
First of all, thanks to everyone who came out last weekend for our Philagrafika events, the event was a great success and one thing we definitely learned from the watercoloring exercise is that adults like to do craft projects too! I realized through conversation that my label for George Cruikshank’s “Bank Restriction Note,” which was …
Winter Weather, Revolutionary Style
As we continue to pick our way through snow and slush on the streets of Philadelphia our librarian Elizabeth Fuller just pointed me to a great winter letter from William Floyd to George Clinton on January 28, 1780. Floyd was serving in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, while Clinton was governor of New York. William …
Greetings from the Frozenbach
Yup, there’s a lot of snow out there! But we’re back on the job and we got the finishing touches on the “For Ruthie” exhibit in time for opening today, so everything’s going full speed ahead. In honor of the snow and the upcoming President’s Day holiday, I’d like to direct everyone to last year’s …
A Gallery is for Painting
…or at least that’s what it feels like as we prepare to install our next Sendak exhibit “For Ruthie: Ruth Krauss, Maurice Sendak, and Their Young Philosophers,” which will open next Wednesday (2/10). Or perhaps, to riff on another Krauss title, I could say “I want to paint my gallery green.” We haven’t actually painted …
Some Things Never Change
With Valentine’s Day just two weeks away and the unseasonably warm weather at the beginning of this week lifting our spirits, we’ve been getting ready for some romance at the Rosenbach. We’ve reinstalled the dining room as a romantic dinner for two, changed the highlights in the partner deck to a more romantic theme, and …
The Italian Assassin: A Rosenbach Collections Mystery
This is a guest post by Rosenbach Collections Intern Jessica Walthew George Cruikshank, The Italian Assassin. London, probably 1810. 1954.74a Even the most industrious researcher can be waylaid by a red herring. Today we’ll relate the tale of “The Italian Assassin” and the clues that led (and misled) the collections and library staff at the …