[Thanks to Karen Nipps, Head of the Rare Books Team, for contributing this post.] European graphic artists of the early 20th century clamored to distance themselves from the decorative excesses of Art Nouveau. In Germany, the poster style “plakastil” was particularly popular, with its emphasis on stark combinations of flat colors enhanced with simple, bold Read More

A new acquisition beautifully documents a landmark in the study of meteors. Shortly after 9:00 PM on the evening of August 18th, 1783, a fireball streaked across the night sky, and thanks to the warm and muggy weather, was widely observed. Perhaps the best constituted party of observers was gathered on the terrace at Windsor Read More

An HCL News article highlights a recent gift to Houghton–some two dozen letters written by Hannah Whitcomb, who, in in the mid-19th century lived for more than 25 years as a missionary with the Tuscarora tribe of Native Americans near Niagara Falls.

[Thanks to Ward Project Music Cataloger Andrea Cawelti for contributing this post.] Who is this Adelina Patti mentioned so prominently in Anna Karenina? Why does Edith Wharton compare May to Christine Nilsson at the beginning of The Age of Innocence, and expect her readers to understand without further explanation? And what was it about the Read More

HCL News has the story on Houghton’s recent acquisition of the page proofs to Maurice Blanchot’s work The Infinite Conversation. The papers survived thanks to having been retrieved from the trash by the husband of Blanchot’s housekeeper.