Library Company of Philadelphia
There’s still time to apply for our First Biennial Innovation Award! We’re pleased to announce we are extending the deadline until next Thursday, August 8.
The recipient of the Innovation Award will receive a $2,000 prize, a spotlight interview in our “Talking in the Library” podcast, and recognition at the 288th Annual Dinner of the Library Company of Philadelphia (October 29, 2019).
Proposals will be evaluated by a committee of leaders in higher education, research libraries, and cultural heritage institutions who will evaluate how proposed projects make scholarly work new again. That scholarly work might take the form of an article, chapter, academic monograph, scholarly edition, or other project, in either print or digital form. “Innovation” will be defined broadly, and may include refashioning scholarly work with new partners, for new audiences, or into new forms.
We welcome proposals from applicants in all fields and at all career stages, including graduate students, junior and senior faculty, as well as independent scholars. Visit the Innovation Award webpage for complete details.
Joe Freeman Collection of Trade Cards. United States, [ca. 1874 - ca. 1910]
We are excited to be leading an #ArchivesPHL social media challenge! Bring your collections to life by publishing GIFs every Wednesday of October using the hashtag #animatedarchive.
This circa 1880 trade card features some playful bubbles that needed a little help to find their bounce.
Yates & Co. Clothing. circa 1880. Newbold Trade Card Collection.
Tomorrow we welcome Michael Zinman, renowned collector of Americana and inventor of the critical mess theory of collecting, to speak at our Annual Meeting reception and celebrate the opening of our exhibit, The Living Book: New Perspectives on Form and Function. Mr. Zinman has given the Library Company some amazing additions to our collection including texts for the blind and many with unique bindings, such as this dos-a-dos, Psalms and Hymns (1810), on display in the gallery.
Psalms and Hymns (New York, 1810). The Michael Zinman Binding Collection.
Life and Loves: adventures with books and booksellers (highly enjoyable and often successful); with women (entertaining but a non-starter in this environment); and with my epiphanies du jour (invariably disastrous); in all, a merry dessert for a merry evening. To attend, register HERE.
We are excited to feature this beautiful leather wallet with flap binding and tie closure, originally owned by John Barker Sr. The wallet Includes four slots to hold promissory notes, which are arranged in rough alphabetical order by last name with dates ranging from 1842 to 1869. The slots are labeled in black ink: ABCDE, EGHIKL, MNOPQR, and TUVWXY. The wallet also includes an attached leather envelope with button closure.
John Barker Sr., a 19th-century merchant and grain broker, moved from Andover, Massachusetts to Michigan City, Indiana in 1835. In 1855, Barker bought interest in the passenger and freight car firm of Sherman, Haskell, Aldridge & Company and the firm’s name was changed to Haskell, Barker & Aldridge. In 1858, the firm became known simply as Haskell & Barker.
By the late 1850s, the firm ceased manufacture of passenger cars and devoted themselves to freight cars. The American Civil War brought an increase in business due to government contracts, which made the firm one of the largest employers in Indiana, and one of the wealthiest. In 1871, the firm was incorporated as the Haskell & Barker Car Company.