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 …
We’re delighted to announce that the Rosenbach has recently acquired a rare first edition (1818) of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus, as well as first editions of Shelley’s novels Valperga (1823), The Last Man (1826), The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck (1830), and Falkner (1837). These terrific additions to our collections of English Romantic …
“I’ve put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that’s the only way of insuring one’s immortality.” Jame’s Joyce’s famous quip about Ulysses is a challenge which exhibition curator Beth Blum takes up in this year’s Bloomsday exhibition: Deciphering Ulysses: A …
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 …
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 …
This week marked the end of the four-and-a-half year run of our “Today in the Civil War” blog and this weekend is also the final weekend of our Oscar Wilde in Philadelphia exhibit, so what better way to celebrate both of these occasions than with a poem by Walt Whitman about the death of Abram …
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 …
Here are the answers to last week’s mystery objects: Spoon warmer. 19th century. 2002.0326 The Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philadelphia Spoon warmer. 19th century. 2002.0326 The Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philadelphia Item number one is a spoon warmer. It would have been filled with hot water and used to keep serving …
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: …
Taking boats, sitting in carriages, and wandering on foot, a man makes his way from Charleston to New York, then winds around Lake Ontario and Southern Canada. His adventures recall the excitement and the trials of modern travel: at one point he gets sick, and reluctantly stays in his room while friends go out and …