Library Company of Philadelphia
Learned canary birds perform the most astonishing feats!
We would especially like to see Grandpapa standing on his head, and Grandma sitting in her chair.
Sig'r Blitz, the stage name for Antonio van Zandt, was a British ventriloquist and magician who moved to Philadelphia in 1834. During the Civil War, Blitz performed what he estimated to be 132 shows to 63,000 soldiers recuperating at various Civil War hospitals in Philadelphia.
This is a broadside playbill from a benefit show in 1863. Sig. Blitz, The Great Magician and Ventriloquist with his Learned Canary Birds, (Philadelphia, 1863).
We don’t love it when a book loses its spine, but we do love seeing the hidden binding waste that is revealed!
Can anyone identify either of these fragments? (Bonus points if you can find the cat!)
Wilhelm Ihne. The history of Rome . London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1871-82.
In the age of flashy and persistent advertising, it’s hard to imagine keeping the endless stream of promotional material that crowds our mailboxes or the flood of targeted ads in our emails. The trade cards of the nineteenth century, however, were meant to be collected as keepsakes as much as they were meant to promote various businesses and products.
Scrapbook (possibly compiled by Fanny Keene), ca. 1885-ca. 1889.
Among the many photographs in the William Harvey Doering Lantern Slide Collection is this image of a promotional poster for “Souls Adrift,” a silent film that was released in 1917.
The film tells the story of a wealthy young woman, Elma Raybourne, who runs into her ex-fiancé while aboard her father’s yacht. Drama ensues when the former couple become castaways on a deserted island after an explosion on the boat.
William Harvey Doering, [Movie poster for “Souls Adrift” with Ethel Clayton.], 1917. Lantern slide.
Apron is on, oven is preheating, hallelujah it’s National Cookie Day! What a perfect day for a baking themed #ArchivesHashtagParty! We’re starting it off with a staple: flour.
This metamorphic tradecard is for the Washburn-Crosby Co. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pop open the doors of the unassuming windmill to see all the bags of Gold Medal flour and a view of the Washburn-Crosby Co.’s flour mill complex and St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis. Cadwallader C. Washburn’s business began as the Minneapolis Milling Company at the St. Anthony Falls site ca. 1856. John Crosby entered the partnership in 1877, and they consolidated into General Mills in 1928.
Gugler Lithographic Company. The best flour inside: View of the famous Washburn, Crosby Co. flour mills and St. Anthony Falls, Minneapolis, Minn. Milwaukee: Gugler Litho. Co, ca. 1890.
This book belonged to Harriet.
We love seeing these traces of ownership and provenance, these hints at the history of treasured objects. Do you mark your favorite books in any way? Maybe with an ex libris or even a simple signature?
History of Constantius and Pulchera; or, Virtue rewarded. Exeter: W.C. & S. Hardy, 1831.
Hope you’re having a better Wednesday than these cats.
They probably just need a few scritches. Well maybe not that one of the right, best to just leave that one alone for now.
House cat and wild cat (can you tell the difference?) detail from John Johnston. A Description of the nature of four-footed beasts. Amsterdam, 1678.
While the official start of winter is still a few weeks away, we can’t help but ask, “Why do the summer roses fade?”
Anyone else thinking about everything you need to get done this week?
Portrait from the Stevens-Cogdell/Sanders-Venning collection of family photographs.
More cornucopias?!
Just in case you didn’t your fill this Thanksgiving here are a couple more, just for good measure. Happy #FinisFriday!
Finispiece from: The vvhole book of Psalmes. London, 1617