Happy Mardi Gras! All this festive scene is missing is some king cake! 

[Academy of Music trade card] (Philadelphia: 1881). Chromolithograph. 

Image depicts several men, a woman, a cherub, and two butterflies celebrating Mardi Gras. 

Happy #FinisFriday from this garlanded ram. #27daysuntilSpring 

From: Wisdom in Miniature. Worcester: Thomas, Son and Thomas, 1796.

Last week our friends over at the American Antiquarian Society posted about their love of variants, so we thought we would, too. We think this clutch of binding variants (all embossed leather!) for the 1842 Rose of Sharon is *chef  kiss* 

How we’re charging into the week!

O.E. Kirchhoff, photographer (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Chromolithograph.

Image depicts a child riding on the back of a rabbit and holding up a sign reading “Lead, but never follow”.  

Happy Presidents’ Day! The Library Company is closed but will reopen to the public tomorrow, February 18th.

Mason Lange, Columbia’s Noblest Sons (New York: Kimmel and Forster, 1865). Lithograph.

Image depicts portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln surrounded by scenes from their respective presidencies. The allegorical figure, Columbia, stands in the center of the image.    

This week’s #BindingAppreciationPost is brought to you by these floral printed paste papers. 

Also, #36DaysuntilSpring! 

Ein christlicher send-brief, an geistliche personen geschrieben. Allentown: Gedruckt fur die Verleger von A. und W. Blumer, 1835.

What exactly is going on in this beach scene and where can we try it? 

[Detail of] New Excursion House, Atlantic City (Philadelphia: Lineaweaver and Wallace, ca. 1870). Advertising broadside.

Image depicts uniformed men on a beach performing a training exercise in the water. Other uniformed men observe nearby and a horse-drawn carriage drives past the scene.

Is it too early to be excited for the post-Valentine’s Day candy sales?

A Sweet Tooth (Philadelphia: Chas. W. Logan, ca. 1880). Lithograph.

Image depicts a seated young girl in a large red bonnet eating two sticks of candy.   

These shell marbled endpapers and matching fore edge are helping us celebrate #EndoftheWeekEndpapers *and* #ForeEdgeFriday! TGIF indeed!

James Thompson. The seasons; with the Castle of indolence. New York: W.B. Gilley, 1812.

We have a #BindingAppreciationPost to share this Thursday because it’s grey and rainy here in Philadelphia and this stained leather beauty is making us think of blue skies, blue oceans, and sandy beaches. #135daysuntilSummer 

The Works of Cornelius Tacitus. In Six Volumes. Philadelphia: Printed for H.C. Carey & I. Lea, et al., 1822.