Our national celebration of Washington comes on his birthday, February 22 (February 11 according to the Julian calendar that he would have used then), but December 14 marks the day of his death. Given that Washington has often been revered as a sort of secular saint, it seems only fitting to remember him today as …
I’m Emelye, a new intern here with an inclination towards all things medieval. This week I want to share little bit about a particularly impressive item in the Rosenbach’s incunabula collection. Titled Rudimentum Novitiorum, this book was printed in Lübeck, Germany in 1475 – one year before the printing press even came to England. The …
What are you doing next Wednesday night at 6? Here at the Rosenbach we will be having a special docent-led thematic tour on “Jewish History & Heritage in the Rosenbach Home.” In order to support this tour (which will also run December 12 and 19) we will be putting out some special Jewish materials in …
Although the last Thursday of November wouldn’t be set aside as a national holiday until 1863, the day was widely celebrated in the decade or so before, thanks in large part to the efforts of Godey’s Ladies Book editor Sarah Josepha Hale, who wrote scores of articles, petitions, and letters to officials promoting the idea …
This week’s election prompted much conversation here at the Rosenbach, as I’m sure was the case at lunchrooms and water coolers around America. A topic that came up around our lunch table was relief at the end of the the advertising onslaught, which prompted some discussion of the historical use of campaign slogans and symbols. …
If by your art, my dearest father, you have Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them. The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch, But that the sea, mounting to the welkin’s cheek, Dashes the fire out For some reason, The Tempest seemed an appropriate choice for this week. And for today, …
So what are you going to be for Halloween this year? If you haven’t picked yet, perhaps you could go as Mistris Tannakin Skinker, the hog-faced woman. According to a 1640 pamphlet in our collection, Mistris Skinker was born in 1618 with the snout of a pig after her mother turned away a beggar woman …
We all know the appeal of new-car smell, but here at the Rosenbach we also know the appeal of old-book smell. Many of our collections objects have the generally pleasing smell of age, but I thought I’d point out a few particularly fragrant items that I would include on a “scratch-and-sniff” tour, if such a …
Two weeks ago Judy Guston, Elyse Poinsett and I had the opportunity to present at a symposium on Reaching and Teaching Through Material Culture, held at the Winterthur Museum. The three of us participated as part of a session on using technology and our presentation “A Tale of Two Programs: Using Technology Judiciously to Improve …
Here are the answers to the “detail detective” questions we posed two weeks ago. How many did you get correct? This unicorn is part of the British royal coat of arms on the magnificent Paul Storr candelabra in the dining room. This carved detail comes from the back of a chair in the first floor …