The central scene in this engraving (left) faithfully reproduces an engraved vignette that depicted a method of drawing a silhouette. The vignette was printed in the second volume of Johann Caspar Lavater’s treatise on physiognomy, Physiognomische Fragmente, zur Beförderung der Menschenkenntniss und Menschenliebe published in Leipzig between 1775 and 1778.
Since the days of the Silk Road, silk fiber has been woven into satin, a luxurious fabric that characteristically has a lustrous and a dull side. Satin has a long history, notably in Great Britain, as a printing support: maps, theatre programs, broadsides, bookplates, and menus are just a few of the objects that have […]
Here are the complete works and collections we’ve digitized in the last three months. Highlights include one of our most spectacular medieval manuscripts, the Emerson-White Hours, a 17th century manuscript on magic tricks, a sonata by Handel, and a 19th century book of paper dolls. Account of Miss Pastrana, the Nondescript; and the Double-bodied Boy, […]
On March 25, 2014, winners of the Philip Hofer Prize for Collecting Books or Art were announced in a ceremony at Houghton Library. The Hofer Prize is awarded each year to a student or students whose collections of books or works of art best reflect the traditions of breadth, coherence, and imagination exemplified in the […]
The series of prints, entitled “Salus generis humani”, that are bound in this volume were made in the 1590s by the engraver Aegidius Sadeler II (1570-1629). They were engraved after the work of the Mannerist painter Johan von Achen (1552-1615) and after drawings of emblematic borders by the draughtsman Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1601). Hoefnagel’s name prominently […]
If you watched the opening ceremony of the Winter Games, then you recall being given a sweeping lesson in Russian culture brought to you by letters from the Cyrillic alphabet. The pageant’s producer, Konstantin Ernst, made no secret of his inspiration: at the start of the program opened next to a dreaming girl named Lubov […]
Here are the complete works and collections we’ve digitized in the last three months. Highlights include Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Louis Stevenson manuscripts, photographs of the home of Sarah Orne Jewett, and an illustrated Dutch incunabulum on the destruction of Troy.
Here are the complete works and collections we’ve digitized in the last three months. Highlights include programs from the Ballets Russes, a 16th century manuscript map of the Mediterranean, and the typescript of a play by Henry James.
Houghton Library has published Eleanor M. Garvey: Friends, Family, and Colleagues Remember Her, a booklet reprinting the texts of recollections read at a memorial service for Ms. Garvey earlier this year. Ms. Garvey, retired Philip Hofer Curator of Printing and Graphic Arts at Houghton Library, passed away on February 11, 2013. Anyone who would like […]
With this post we’ve now caught up on Houghton’s digitization for the 2012-2013 fiscal year; look for future updates coming soon, and remember that you can click on the Digitization tag for all our blog posts on the subject. Highlights in this post include an expose of the 19th century impostor known as Princess Caraboo, […]
