These pressed flowers were sewn onto a page and surrounded with lines of verse as a New Years gift to Sarah from her mother in 1843

Found in: Pleasant memories of pleasant lands. By Mrs. L. H. Sigourney. Boston: James Munroe and Company, 1842.

Sarah Josepha Hale was born in New Hampshire on October 24, 1788. Home-schooled and self-educated, Hale was a prolific poet and novelist, especially known for her nursery rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” In 1837 Hale began as editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, a position she would hold for 40 years (though she preferred the term “editress”) making her one of the most influential female voices of her time.  She was a champion of abolition and higher education for women, a widowed mother of five, and the one who persuaded President Lincoln to declare Thanksgiving a national holiday. She died at her home in Philadelphia in 1879 at the age of 90, and is buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Image 1: [Sarah J. Hale] / painted by W.B. Chambers and engraved expressly for Godey’s Lady’s book by W.G. Armstrong. [Philadelphia]: Printed by H. Quig, [1850?]

While we should avoid shaking hands with one another, who said we can’t make an exception for our four-legged friends?

Marriott Canby Morris, Geo. Vaux & Ralf in Vaux’s backyard, 1886. Glass negative.

Image depicts Marriott C. Morris’ third cousin George Vaux wearing a bowler hat and long coat kneeling down to shake hands with Ralf, a medium-sized brown dog crouching on its hind legs. Ralf wears a wide collar and tilts his head slightly to look at Vaux. A fence bordered by bare shrubs runs behind Vaux.
   

The Library Company is pleased to announce the hiring of Kinaya Hassane as the Graphic Arts Department Curatorial Fellow in support of Imperfect History: Curating the Graphic Arts Collection at Benjamin Franklin’s Public Library, a project generously funded by the The Henry Luce Foundation. 

Kinaya will provide essential research and curatorial support to curators Sarah Weatherwax and Erika Piola as they prepare the exhibition, digital catalog, and publication for Imperfect History. The two-year project in commemoration of the Department’s fiftieth anniversary in 2021 will explore the evolution of American graphic arts curatorship and collections obtained over three centuries at Benjamin Franklin’s pivotal public library. It will make visible the often unseen people, places, meanings, and aesthetics — “the hidden lives” — of the stewards, original artwork, and printed graphic materials representing the Library Company’s distinct, complicated, and imperfect history. 

Learn more about the project here.

We couldn’t have said it better.  

#FinisFriday finispiece from: Academia Litteraria de Humanidad, que Presentan al Publico, y dedican Al Principe Nuestro Senor Don Carlos Borbon. Madrid: Antonio Marin, 1765.

Our #publishersbindingThursday post this week features a signed binding by designer Amy Richards. (Can you find her initials AR in there?)

Binding on the 1904 Appleton edition of “My Literary Life” by Mme. Juliette Adam.  

Jane Aitken was a Philadelphia printer, publisher, and bookbinder.  The daughter of Robert Aitken, publisher of the first English bible to be printed in the United States (1782), Jane inherited her father’s business after his death in 1802. Jane’s imprint can be found on nearly 60 published works, including the notable 4 volume Thomson Bible, published in 1808.  However, in addition to the print shop and bindery, Aitken also inherited nearly $3,000 of debt and despite her best efforts (and the efforts of John Vaughan, Librarian at the American Philosophical Society) she lost the business in 1814. She was sent to debtor’s prison, and remained virtually unheard of until her death in 1832. A historical marker at 11 Market Street commemorates Robert, but makes no mention of Jane.

Spring may not have arrived yet, but this (slightly) warmer weather means it’s not too early for a nice bike ride! 

William Harvey Doering, Bicycling trip, with Al Lindsay and William Doering in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, ca. 1895. Lantern slide. 

Image depicts Al Lindsay (standing in the foreground) and William Doering (photographer, right of Al Lindsay) posed with three other men with their bicycles on a trail in Fairmount Park.

Here’s hoping that March brings warmer weather and plenty of beautiful blossoms! 

Marriott Canby Morris, Elliston P. Morris Jr. and Roses, 1901. Cyanotype. 

Image depicts Marriott C. Morris’ son Elliston Perot Morris Jr. as a child standing next to their home at 6706 Cresheim Road. He looks up at a flowering shrub to his right. He wears a long, light colored frock with a ribbon around the waist and has long hair.   

Who else is excited for that extra day tomorrow?  Happy Leap Day!

Image:  Mayer, Merkel & Ottmann, printer. Use Dalley’s magical pain extractor. The great family ointment. New York : Mayer, Merkel & Ottmann, lith, [ca. 1880].