Are you planning a getaway for the upcoming holiday? Don’t forget to pack your suitcase!

This circa 1930s cardboard suitcase, displaying several Railway Express labels, is from our Stevens-Cogdell/Sanders-Venning Collection. #FlashbackFriday

Suitcase. ca. after 1929-1940s. Cardboard, metal ; approx. 20 x 11 ¾ x 6 ½ inches.    

This maze has two puzzles, can you solve them? One is to reach the center, the other is a hidden message. If you solve the latter please share your answer in comments! 

The charmed circle of good dressers [graphic]. [United States]: [no publisher identified], [ca. 1895] 1 print:  relief in red ink;  21 x 26 cm (8.25 x 10.75 in.)

Smell like wet dog? The “new” soap will take care of all unwanted scents that stick to your clothes, especially after playing in the park with your four-legged best friend.

Chas. Shields’ Sons, printer. Colgate & Co.’s “new” soap. The “new” soap in oval cakes unequalled for laundry use. New York : Chas. Shields’ Sons, [ca. 1880].     

The first step in making a reduced image of a painting or a print was graphing it onto paper.  This sketch of Ary Scheffer’s (1795-1858) small oil portrait of Lafayette was used to make an enamel.  The lines helped Birch keep every part of the picture in proportion.  He probably used the same technique to reduce or enlarge his own enamels, which he offered in a range of sizes.

William Birch after Ary Scheffer, Preparatory sketch for Marquis de Lafayette portrait, 1824.  Pencil sketch. Library Company of Philadelphia.

William Birch after Ary Scheffer, Marquis de Lafayette, 1824. Enamel on copper. Courtesy of the Yale University Art Gallery.

William Birch, Ingenious Artist: His Life, His Philadelphia Views, and His Legacy is on display through October 19, 2018. To learn more visit : http://librarycompany.org/birch2018/

Marriott C. Morris captured this dreamy image in the summer of 1909 while camping with his family at the Pocono Lake Preserve.  #MorrisMonday

Morris, Marriott Canby, 1863-1948, photographer. [Two women holding a basket], Pocono Lake, [PA] [graphic]. 1909. 1 photograph: film negative; 3.5 x 5.5 in.

Shareholder Spotlight: Ms. Mary Jeanes

Part two of our new Shareholder Spotlight series takes a look at the life of Ms. Mary Jeanes, who became shareholder number 1166 on March 22, 1866. Read about Mary’s lifelong commitment to charitable causes today on the Library Company blog: http://librarycompany.org/2018/06/21/shareholder-spotlight-ms-mary-jeanes/

First annual report of the Home for Destitute Colored Children. Philadelphia: Crissy & Markely, 1856.

This negative shot by Marriott C. Morris, shows his youngest child and only daughter, Janet Morris petting an undeniably adorable pup.

Morris, Marriott Canby, 1863-1948, photographer. [Janet Morris in carriage petting dog, 131 W. Walnut Lane] February 1908. 1 photograph: film negative; 3 x 4.5 in.    

On this enamel Birch painted samples of all the colors he used, probably keyed to recipes for each.  Note the many browns and yellows.  He said he was the first to paint a layer of yellow under the top layer of white to give his enamels an old-master look.  He also received an “honorary pallet” from the Royal Society of Arts in 1784 for a new formula for a brown tint.

William Birch, Palette. Enamel. Library Company of Philadelphia.

William Birch, Ingenious Artist: His Life, His Philadelphia Views, and His Legacy is on display through October 19, 2018. To learn more visit : http://librarycompany.org/birch2018/ 

Was there a Victorian wedding industry? Pennsylvania publishers Crider & Bro, thought so. Read about their bevy of a selection of marriage certificates in Associate Curator Erika Piola’s “Wedding Industry, Victorian-Style,” here.    

Summer intern, Lydia Shaw, dives into the works of Mary Abigail Dodge with special attention to her children’s stories of the young girl, Trip, illustrated here in a story about friendship and blackberries.

Read more about Miss Shaw, Miss Dodge, and the character Trip on our blog: http://librarycompany.org/2018/06/11/intern-spotlight-lydia-shaw/.

Hamilton, Gail (Mary Abigail Dodge). “A Half-Holiday.” Our Young Folks. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1865.