Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

Textiles and silver and chairs! Oh, my!

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I recently returned from having spent two weeks participating in the Winterthur Institute, which is an intensive course on decorative arts. Winterthur, the former residence of Henry Francis du Pont, is a museum of 175 rooms which house a collection…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

Factory Portrait Complete!

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I recently posted on artist Adrienne Langer’s visit to our collection to research a local factory in order to create a “factory portrait” of the exterior.  The Main Belting Factory, located on Carpenter Street in South Philadelphia,…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

Revisiting the Past

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Over the summer the Print Department hosted a half-day orientation for teachers attending a Library of Congress “Teaching with Primary Sources” seminar about the history of photography in relation to identity. In preparing for the presentation,…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

Portrait of Once-Thriving South Philadelphia Factory Building

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The Print and Photograph Department was recently visited by artist Adrienne Langer, who was looking for information about the Main Belting Company factory located at 1217-37 Carpenter Street in South Philadelphia.  Langer has studio…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

Outtakes

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Inspired by my visit to the Library Company this spring, I have spent the summer as a Visual Culture Program Intern happily creating new works based on the Schoenhut circus toy catalog from 1917 and the other toy-related materials in…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

A Playful Record: Victorian Photo Collage

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Recently, I was given the opportunity to design an event invitation for the Philadelphia on Stone book launch party on October 23 at The Library Company. As the party is an ode to the great lithography of the Victorian era, I played with styles…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

Lucy the Elephant Enjoys Seaside Views Year-Round

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If you’ve ever taken a trip to the New Jersey Shore, chances are you’ve encountered more than one peculiar roadside attraction.  If you happen to be heading north from Ocean City towards the Atlantic City Expressway, as I recently…
Back covers of Leavitt & Allen gift books with papier-mâché medallions.

Medallions on 19th-Century Bindings

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I have written previously about book bindings with papier-mâché elements.  (click here to read that post.) Now, I’d like to present a particularly interesting group of books that have papier-mâché medallions attached to the leather…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

Rare Books CSI

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Dealing with rare books, our job can seem a little bit like that of a detective and a little bit like a scientist. We have to track down clues and then piece together what information we can, while maintaining objectivity and without embellishing…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

Songs of the 19th Century

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As a Library Company intern, I am used to going into the stacks and seeing books such as copies of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and Dr. Benjamin Rush’s copy of the account of the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. I am also used…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

Reuse

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A big trend in the art world is found-object art, as is using trash to create new things. I find that because my upbringing involved shopping at thrift stores and reusing everything and anything, this is a natural way for me…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

21st Century Maps Inspired by Library Company Collections

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We were recently visited by Mark Adams and Jason Killinger of Eyes Habit, who were interested in viewing our map collections to gather inspirations for a map they were creating focusing on Philadelphia’s river wards.  In their words,…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

Tin Toys and Pulley Animals: My First Month as a VCP Intern

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Toys inspire me. They always have, even back when I thought all their creators were probably dead. I like things that move and things that you can interact with as a viewer, whether they are in the fine art world or in a toy store. When…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

“Old Ironsides” in 2012

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During my recent trip to Boston to attend the Digital Directions conference, I was fortunate to visit the USS Constitution docked at the nearby Charleston Navy Yard after the closing session.  Knowing that we had various USS Constitution…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

What’s Your Type?

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Recently the Print Department acquired three Centennial Cabinets, sets of quirky souvenir cards printed in color on site at the Centennial Exhibition of 1876. Manufacturers Empire Press Co., Degener & Weiller, and Greenwood & Batley…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

Binding Books with Ingenuity and Efficiency

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Lippincott, Grambo & Co. offered The Iris, An Illuminated Annual for 1851 in six different binding styles, two of which are shown above. At the top is what they advertised as “Turkey Morocco beveled, inlaid with Papier Maché”…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

Root Beer and Ice Cream: Culinary Trade Cards at the Library Company

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How do you decide what food to buy? Despite all intentions, everyone’s shopping habits are influenced by the constant presence of advertising. From billboards to newspaper inserts, colorful images try to tell us that their product tastes better,…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

Visual Essay of the Before Madison Avenue Conference, March 15-16, 2012

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The recent conference co-sponsored by VCP at LCP about the visual culture of early American advertising not only inspired thought-provoking discussions, it also inspired the library’s digitization technician and artist Concetta…
Full calf, “sunk panel” on The Iris: An Illuminated Souvenir for 1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851.

How Did People Learn about the World before the World Wide Web?

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With the “Arab Spring” in the headlines over the past year, many people have needed a look at the map to figure out where these events were occurring. A quick Google search might start to fill us in nowadays, but how knowledgeable were people…