Exactly 236 years ago today, President of the Continental Congress John Hancock sent one of the just-printed copies of the Declaration of Independence to General Artemas Ward, commander of the Continental Army troops in Boston. Hancock’s letter came to Houghton as part of John Hubbard Collection of signers of the Declaration of Independence, previously mentioned Read More
Uncategorized
Just wild about Henri
Seems like everywhere I look these days, I’m seeing Henri IV. The French king, that is. The sightings first began with a volume of dance tunes, printed in 1785 and after, including 16 vols. of the series Recueil de pot poury françois et contredanses … qui se dansent chez la Reine. Among the admittedly many Read More
Thumbs up, America!
Music has always played a major role in U.S. political campaigns – Sarah Palin had Heart’s Barracuda and Bill Clinton had Fleetwood Mac’s Don’t stop. However, long before television commercials, songs espousing a candidate’s platform were vital to spreading the candidate’s message and increasing their popularity. In 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes beat Samuel J. Read More
New on OASIS in July
Finding aids for 11 newly cataloged collections have been added to the OASIS database this month, including sheet music relating to Charles Dickens and political candidates, sound recordings and movies from our Johnny Green collection, and papers about Octavio Paz.
You’ve Got Mail: The Hofers from Yale
Philip Hofer (1898-1984), founding Curator of the Department of Printing & Graphic Arts in Houghton Library, was in Oxford in June 1962 to deliver his six Lyell lectures on “The Artist and the Book in France.” He and Mrs. Hofer used this occasion to visit a number of friends and colleagues in England. On Sunday Read More