We are so excited for the #SleepingInTheStacks challenge! Watch for sleepy images from our collection every Wednesday in May, beginning with one of our favorite glass negatives from our Marriott C. Morris Collection.

Morris captured this playful group portrait in November, 1885, and accompanied it with a note that reads “Knock em down group on Uncle Chas’ porch, Haddonfield”. We wish we knew the story behind the group’s moniker– any guesses?

Morris, Marriott Canby, 1863-1948, photographer.  Knock em down group on Uncle Chas’ [Rhoads] porch, Haddonfield, [NJ] [graphic]. November 18, 1885.  1 photograph: glass negative; 4 x 5 in.

Exhibition Opening TODAY: 

William Birch, Ingenious Artist : His Life, His Philadelphia Views, and His Legacy 

When William Russell Birch (1755-1834) moved to Philadelphia in 1794, he was already well-known in his native England as an ingenious artist, producing both landscape prints and enamel portraits. The project that established his reputation in America was The City of Philadelphia in the Year 1800. It was the first color plate book produced in the United States, and it was enormously successful, in part because it caught the spirit of the city when it was both the political and the cultural capital of the new nation. 

To learn more visit : http://librarycompany.org/birch2018/ and watch this space for more posts about the exhibition. 

Birch, William Russell, 1755-1834 engraver. Arch Street ferry, Philadelphia [graphic] / Drawn, Engraved & Published by W. Birch Springland near Bristol Pennsylvania 1800. [Philadelphia: John McAllister] [1860]

Queen B! We found this royal insect in our copy of Charles Butler’s The Femininʻ Monarchiʻ, or The Histori of Beeʻs (Oxford, 1634), which was likely previously owned by Benjamin Franklin. #MacroMonday

Butler, Charles. The femininʻ monarchiʻ, or the histori of beeʻs. Oxford [England], Printed by William Turner, for đe author. M.DC.XXXIV. [1634]

We shared this sweet scaleboard binding a few weeks ago and our conservation staff were horrified by the 1960s-era repair that was visible on the front cover. So here it is again, fresh from the lab, looking so much better! #FlashbackFriday

Here’s the text from the original post:

We love the decorated paper and scaleboard binding on our copy of John Witherspoon’s A Series of Letters on Education (New York, 1797).

Witherspoon, who was the president of Princeton College in 1797, was an avowed and determined disciplinarian. In a Series of Letters, he recommends parents “begin the establishment of authority” at the age of eight or nine months, and goes on to say “Do not imagine I mean to bid you use the rod at that age; on the contrary, I mean to prevent the use of it in a great measure, and to point out a way by which children of sweet and easy tempers may be brought to such a habit of compliance, as never to need correction at all.”

We find it interesting that the work was issued in such a tiny format, as though it were meant for the children themselves and not their parents. #MiniatureMonday

Witherspoon, John. A series of letters on education. New-York : printed by J. Buel, for C. Davis. 1797. 108 p. ; 10 cm.

We are much obliged by this trade card advertising escort card designs. 

May I. C. U. home? [graphic]. [United States], [ca. 1870] 1 print:  relief;  5 x 8 cm. (2 x 3.25 in.)

It’s time for our final #BookBouquets feature! We love the delicate gilt-stamped decoration on our copy of Frances Osgood’s The Floral Offering (Philadelphia, circa 1846). In addition to poetic meditations on a variety of flowers, The Floral Offering includes several colored plates of floral bouquets.

Browse our database of 19th-century cloth bindings to see more!  

Osgood, Frances S. The floral offering, a token of friendship. Philadelphia : Carey and Hart. [c1846].

This pass for the St. Louis, Vandalia, Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad (ca. 1870s) has a beautiful but difficult to decipher typographic logo. Each letter is actually multiple letters interlaced: TH for Terre Haute, STL for St. Louis and IR for Indianapolis Railroad. 

Arthur Power Dudden collection of railroad, steamboat, and omnibus passes, 1865-1876.

This week’s #MiniatureMonday is for the birds! 

Measuring just over 8 cm, The History of Curious and Wonderful Birds (New York, circa 1830s) is filled with woodcut illustrations of birds from all over the world. We especially love the vibrant yellow printed paper wrappers on our copy.

The History of curious and wonderful birds.  New-York: : Printed and sold by Mahlon Day, at the New Juvenile Bookstore, no. 376, Pearl-Street., [between 1833 and 1839?] 16 p. :  ill. ;  88 mm.

This man-faced lion looks like he’s ready for the weekend! #FelineFriday

19th century Chicago based pharmaceutical company Van Schaack, Stevenson & Reid included this image in an 1877 trade catalog, along with a statement regarding the rebuilding of their warehouse after the Great Fire of 1871. 

Van Schaack, Stevenson & Reid. Annual prices current (to the trade.) Chicago, [1877]. 

This die cut trade card advertising D.S.B. & Co., soap makers & perfumers must mean you can be creative and outdoorsy while smelling your best.

D.S.B. & Co. New York. Soap makers & perfumers. [graphic]. [New York : ca. 1880.]  1 print : chromolithograph ; 10 x 7.5 cm. (4 x 3 in.)