“Per post, sir, received your last invoice and letter, 

No consignment of your’s ever suited me better: 

The burnt bones (for flour) far exceeded my wishes, 

And the coculus indicus beer was delicious." 

 A snippet of "Death (A dealer) to his London Correspondent” from Death’s Doings. Boston: Charles Ewer, No. 141, Washington Street.; Dutton and Wentworth–printers, 1828. Illustrations by Richard Dagley. 

For #typeTuesday this week we’re featuring this children’s primer printed in Germantown, PA in 1789. We love the alphabets printed in gothic type, and absolutely adore the tiny animals printed on the facing page.  

Hoch-deutsches reformirtes A B C und Namen Büchlein, für Kinder, welche anfangen zu lernen. Germanton [Pa.] : Gedruckt und zu haben von Michael Billmeyer,1789.

It’s October, which means it’s time for a spooky and #spinetingling #LibrariesofInstagram challenge as we count down the days to #Halloween! What better way to start than with a skeleton hanging out with a couple of snakes on a barrel of whiskey? 

Two snakes and a skeleton on a whiskey barrel envelope. King & Baird, ca. 1861-1865. 1 envelope; 8 x 14 cm. (3 x 3.5 in.)

If you are in need of an electrotyped type ornament, Bruce’s New York Type Foundry probably has what you’re looking for.  Beehive? Got it.  Tiny chair? Absolutely. Oyster? No problem.  Avocado? Sure, why not, just use the oyster.

An Abridged Specimen of Printing Types, made at Bruce’s New-York Type-Foundry. New-York: George Bruce’s Son & Co., 1869. 

Our feed has been looking a little gray-scale this week, so we decided to introduce a little color. But then we couldn’t decide which color, so we just did all of them.  

G. W. Septimus Piesse. Chymical natural and physical magic intended for the instruction and amusement of juveniles during the holiday vacation. London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts, 1859.

We’ve still got Shakespeare on the mind, so decided to highlight the Wayward Sisters again, this time #PublishersBindingThursday style. 

This is volume 6 of a 15 volume set of  the works of Shakespeare, each volume with a different gold-stamped decoration to match the contents. If you look very closely, you can see the name of the die-cutter, [John] Feely, engraved into this stamp, in the folds of fabric just under the Witches’ fingers.

The plays and poems of Shakespeare. Edited by A.J. Valpy. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1842.
  

Our #TinyTuesday offering this week is too small for its own woodcuts, but no matter. We think they look just fine sideways, don’t you? 

Charles Perrault. Cinderilla; or The little glass slipper. Litchfield [Conn.]: T. Collier, ca. 1800.

It’s #PublishersBindingThursday, which means it’s almost Friday! If you’re still making plans for the long weekend, we have just the book for you. Impromptu charades, anyone? William B. Dick. What shall we do to-night? or, Social amusements for evening parties. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1873.

Conservator, Andrea Krupp is rebinding a collection of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper using a sewing frame. Here she is sewing a handy archival pocket for a foldout map to the binding. The bindery, by far has the best #ToolsOfTheLibraryTrade.

This month we are joining the #IGlibraries challenge #buildingblocks first by highlighting the old Ridgway Building located on Broad and Christian Streets. The building housed our collections and reading room from 1878 to the 1960s when we moved to our current building. Though it no longer houses Library Company collections, the Ridgway Building still serves those who wish to learn as the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts.  

Library Company of Philadelphia. Ridgway Building. ca. 1940.