Humanities and Social Sciences

Chances are, if you spend any time online you've come across Flickr. Flickr is a wonderful site for storing, sharing and building community around photographs. It's similar to online photo services like Kodak Gallery or Shutterfly except with a greater social focus and tools and features reminiscent of Facebook.

About a year ago Flickr launched the Flickr Commons, a project dedicated to sharing and describing the public photo collections of the world's leading cultural heritage institutions. Starting this past January with The Library of Congress, and continuing with places such as The Smithsonian Institution, The Brooklyn Museum, The National Maritime Museum, The National Library of New Zealand, the Nationaal Archief of the Netherlands and numerous others, the Commons has grown steadily over the past year into a truly remarkable public photography resource.

We are delighted to be the latest institution to join in this endeavor, with an initial contribution of 1,300 images culled from various areas of our diverse photographic collections.

We think of this as a sort of appetizer course, a sampler of collections accessible in greater breadth and depth on the NYPL Digital Gallery, and on-site in our network of libraries. Lush images of modern dance pioneers; haunting early cyanotypes of algae (the first photographic works to be produced by a woman); majestic geographical surveys taken along the Union Pacific Railroad, iconic Depression-era images taken under the Farm Security Administration's famed photography program; Berenice Abbott's epic documentation of 1930s New York for the Federal Art Project; stunning 19th century vistas of the Egypt and Syria; scenes and portraits of Ellis Island Immigrants, the Statue of Liberty under construction... These and more are now available to view, tag and discuss in the Flickr Commons, and are offered as an invitation to explore further on our own site or in our actual libraries. After this initial road test, we expect to post many more images into the Commons pool.  read more »

The latest issue of ReadyMade features a great DIY gift idea from Kimberly Scola: embroidered letters. The project brought to my mind a book on embroidered letters that I had seen earlier this fall. It’s called the Embroiderer’s Book of Design and it was published in London in 1860. Each page offers an alphabet in a differing style—some look as it they will require quite a bit of skill on the embroiderer’s part, but they are all lovely. I've posted four of my favorite pages here (above and below, below, and below):

So, if you are considering stitching up personalized embroidered gifts, consider the vintage lettering styles from the pages of this book. Happy holiday crafting!

To learn more about lettering, and monograms in particular, check out my post at Design*Sponge today on how to design your very own monogram. I’m the guest blogger there this week, where I’ve been sharing inspiring library resources.

Watch as the Design by the Book artists come to the Library in search of inspiration and information!

(Yes, it's made of soap. From Lester Gaba's On Soap Sculpture.)

I first came upon the subject heading soap sculpture in CATNYP a couple of weeks ago, and I just had to investigate. And what I found more than confirmed my love of the serendipitous nature of research.

I learned-—in looking through a few books on the subject as well as articles in Proquest's Historical New York Newspapers database-—that soap sculpture as a fashionable hobby was launched by Proctor & Gamble as a means of promoting brand loyalty for Ivory soap. The man behind this campaign was Edward L. Bernays, who has been called the Father of Spin. Proctor & Gamble sponsored a series of competitive soap sculpture exhibitions in the twenties, and winners took home cash prizes. Within the first three years of the campaign's launch, prizes totaling $1,675 were given to winners among no fewer than four thousand entries (as reported in the New York Times, June 6, 1928).

On Soap Sculpture by Lester Gaba (1935) provides both a short introduction to the soap sculpture craze as well as a guide for the amateur artist interested in this medium. This "Cinderella of Sculpture" (yet another book on the subject by Gaba) was without doubt ephemeral, and this makes the specimens pictured in Gaba's book even more impressive for their ambitious and sometimes unbelievably complex details.

(Also from Lester Gaba's On Soap Sculpture.) →

If you want to try your hand at soap sculpture, Ivory Soap is still ready to help with tips for "pure fun" with its soap. And you can come in and read about it at the Library too.

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Dec. 6th is the feast day of St. Nicholas, who was a bishop of Myra in fifth-century Anatolia. (You can read more about this legendary saint in the Encyclopedia of the Medieval World.) Today is also traditionally the day in which children (and adults, if you please) awaken to discover small gifts and treats placed in their shoes (or stockings, if you prefer) during the night by St. Nicholas. I like this menu, from an 1885 annual dinner of the St. Nicholas Society, because it features a knitting Dutchwoman making stockings for the holiday. It's from NYPL's Menu Collection, and is one of many wintry scenes and cards that can be found in the Digital Gallery. Cheers!

(An illustration from Spitzenbilder, Papierschnitte, Porträtsilhouetten, one of the books I'll bring to class.)

One of the best parts of my job is connecting readers with the stuff that they want or need. I’m excited to have an opportunity to do just that with makers and crafty types this Friday (12/5), from 3:15 to 4:15pm, when I’ll teach a free one-hour class on how library materials can inform and inspire you in your own DIY endeavors. I’ll bring along a bunch of materials from the collection to share—including the book above, as well as vintage design books and fabric and wallpaper samples that I found when working with our Design by the Book artists. The South Court classroom opens at 3:00, and class starts at 3:15. There’s no registration and the class is free; just come on in and grab a seat!

Debuting at this years Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will be a 48-foot tall balloon titled Figure with Heart by the late artist Keith Haring.

The balloon is based on Haring's ink on paper drawing, Untitled (Figure with Heart), 1987 and will be part of the Macy's Parade's Blue Sky Gallery series, which aims to "inject contemporary art into a pop culture phenomenon". (Pop Art In The Sky)

The Blue Sky Gallery series began in 2005 with Humpty Dumpty by Tom Otterness, preceded by “Rabbit” by Jeff Koons in 2007.

To learn more about the artist Keith Haring visit the Library and look through our books in CATNYP, as well as go to the Keith Haring Foundation website at www.haring.com

Also take a walk down to Houston Street and Bowery to look at a recreation of a mural done by Haring in the summer of 1982. All in celebration of what would have been his 50th Birthday. So, Cheers to Keith and a Happy Thanksgiving to all…

Voltaire the author and father of the French Enlightenment—we know about him, of course. But this influential philosopher also loved handmade work.
Voltaire has a place in my heart, and I have devoted time as a librarian to cataloguing eighteenth-century books in The Martin J. Gross Collection of works by Voltaire and his contemporaries for the Library’s Rare Book Division. And so, on this most special of days, I want to share with you the following excerpt, from Voltaire’s Philosophical Dictionary, which illustrates his appreciation for the handmade:

“Physical experiments, ably conducted, arts and handicraft—these are the true philosophy. My sage…is he who, with his shuttle, covers my walls with pictures of linen or of silk, brilliant with the finest colors; or he who puts into my pocket a chronometer of silver or of gold.”

You’ll find this in the entry for Xenophanes (page 271, v. 7, in a 1901 edition of Voltaire’s collected works).

Happy Birthday, Voltaire!

(Image from NYPL Digital Gallery)

I'm so pleased to be able to tell you, at last, all about a project that has been consuming me this fall at NYPL. This amazing project that I've been lucky enough to work on is a series of small documentaries following five talented local artists as they gather inspiration for their work at the New York Public Library. It's co-produced by Grace Bonney of leading design site Design*Sponge and my Library colleagues in the Digital Experience Group. The first episode is now out, and you can watch here:

I'll continue to post news about the series here, so stay tuned. You can also visit the Design by the Book homepage for more information, including links to each artist's site.

My colleague Susan Waide put me onto the illustrations you see here and in my next post. They’re all advertising illustrations by M.C. Woodbury, executed between 1920 and 1922, for the McCallum Hosiery Company in Northhampton, Massachusetts. I love them for their period feel, and for what they say about fashion advertising in the U.S. at that time.

We’ve grown so used to lingerie ads that are filled with sexual angst, or at least that’s what I remember from fashion magazines since I was young, and still see today. What strikes me about these two ads is the sweetness portrayed in the imagery. A modish, obviously style-conscious young woman is featured, while one of her stockings is in peril from a precocious bird or kitten. A boudoir setting is implied, but the overall effect is one of whimsy. Such illustrations say a lot about the marketing outlook of advertising and manufacturing companies.

In this case, there’s a charm and an innocence that will eventually get lost in the process of product selling. The advertising staff for McCallum are counting on the feminine delight in a luxury such as a silk stocking. Their slogan appears as a caption, “You just know she wears them.” And so the process begins of linking desire with need.  read more »

What better way to kick off your election night then an evening in the DeWitt Wallace Periodical Room – relax, listen to great new writers introduced by their editors, join us for a glass of wine afterward, all still with plenty of time to catch the election results. The line up begins with Editor Thaddeus Rutkowski (Many Mountains Moving) introducing fiction writer Jon Swan, followed by Levi Rubeck (Washington Square) introducing poet Elisa Gabbert and wrapping up with Michael Vazquez (Bidoun) introducing non fiction writer Anand Balakrishnan. Periodically Speaking showcases NYPL’s great collection of contemporary literary magazines. Lots of librarians have worked on building the collection over the years and for awhile now I've been doing it - lucky me! So - come back (either in person or at www.nypl.org) and check out the vast holdings of literary magazines, poetry titles, small & alternative press materials of all kinds!
Tonight the reading begins at 6:00 pm at The Humanities and Social Sciences Library – 5th Ave and 42nd St.

← A Rich Display of Chrysanthemums (Image from NYPL Digital Gallery)

The chrysanthemum, which "occupies the sovereign position in autumn," has particular pride of place in Japanese culture. The blossoms can be spotted on the Japanese royal crest, in elaborate floral arrangements, at mealtimes as an edible accompaniment, and as an element in Japanese design. And for the next few weeks, chrysanthemums take center stage at the New York Botanical Garden. Until November 16th, visitors to the New York Botanical Garden can take in Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Chrysanthemum.

In addition to the impressive flowers themselves--be sure to see the four Imperial styles of chrysanthemum arrangements, including the type pictured above in which each plant produces just a single, brillant blossom--don't neglect to take in an accompanying small exhibition of chrysanthemums in art. Of all of the lovely objects included in this display, I was especially drawn to a number of delicately executed stencils in paper and silk used to decorate textiles.

After admiring these stencils, I returned to the Library and found books of Japanese stencil patterns from the late 19th century (in Stencils of Old Japan and The Book of Delightful and Strange Designs). These patterns remain inspiring and inviting to the eye today, and I'm pondering what I might use these patterns for in the future. To learn more about Japanese stencil work, I'd also recommend Japanese Design through Textile Patterns (which devotes an entire chapter to the chrysanthemum) and Carved Paper: The Art of the Japanese Stencil.

In addition to the sheep-peeping I did in Michigan earlier this month, I also took in some beautiful tilework made by Detroit's own Pewabic Pottery. As I learned when touring the stunning Guardian Building in downtown Detroit (with its richly glazed Pewabic Pottery ceiling tiles), Pewabic Pottery was founded on Arts and Crafts principles over one hundred years ago, and buildings throughout Detroit (and across the country as well) boast examples of its tiles and mosaics.

← The Detroit Skyline (Image from NYPL Digital Gallery)

Pewabic Pottery remains a prominent creative force in the teaching, exhibition, installation, and craftsmanship of pottery today. Pewabic Pottery's site has plenty of images of its work (click on the Design Studio tab). You can also peruse The Arts and Crafts Movement in Michigan: 1886-1906 and The Pewabic Pottery at the Library if you want to read, learn, and see more. And the National Park Service includes Pewabic Pottery in its recommended Detroit itinerary. As for me, I'm going to head to the 34th Street/Herald Square subway station, which has an installation of tiles from Pewabic Pottery!

Last weekend I took a trip to Michigan for a few days. A highlight of the trip was a visit to a farm museum in Dearborn--Greenfield Village. The place itself is more than farm, however; it's an odd and bustling tribute to Henry Ford's vision of American ingenuity and inventiveness, with some traditional technologies like farming, milling, wool carding, and pottery mixed in. (The Library has plenty of books about Greenfield Village and its history available if you are interested in this open-air museum's collection.)

I will be the first to admit that I am a farm museum junkie. I love greeting the cows and sheep, and learning about agricultural history and heirloom plants. These places also allow you to get a bit closer than one usually does in daily life to the sources of what we eat and what we wear. Here's one of the many friendly and woolly sheep at Greenfield (that's a 19th c. cider mill in the background).

And speaking of wool, a Greenfield guide stationed in a 17th c. American farmhouse demonstrated wool dying techniques of that time. And another staff member kindly explained how not one but two different types of spinning wheels worked. I was especially grateful to her for this demonstration, because I've been reading about spinning wheels in Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's excellent The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth and I have been struggling to picture how just how they worked. Now I understand, thanks to this kind guide.

In a final wool-related note, I spent my last Michigan morning at the wonderful City Knits. I came home with some soft sage green Shepherd's Wool from Michigan-based Stonehedge Farm and Fiber Mill.

New York State Political Elections, ca. 1850

Those who know me well may think I'm stuck on confections in general, but with the presidential election less than two weeks away, I cannot think of a more appropriate juncture to discuss the inauguration of election cake into American culture. And what would such an examination be without sharing a few traditional recipes found in NYPL's collection!

The birthplace of election cake can be traced back to the gubernatorial elections held in Hartford, Connecticut as early as 1660 when English colonies, Connecticut and Rhode Island, were granted the right to elect their own governors—long before the Revolutionary War began in 1775. Some primary evidence of the cake's existence is found at the Connecticut Historical Society, which holds the Colonial Records of Connecticut. These papers show that in May 1771, a man named Ezekial Williams submitted a bill to the Connecticut General Assembly to be reimbursed for the cost of making election cake for the colonial capital’s public festivities (also known as “Election Day Drinkings”). Historians have come to believe that election cake was adapted from yeast breads of that period popular in England.  read more »

Literary magazine aficionados, myself included, will meet up in the DeWitt Wallace Periodical Room at HSSL as Periodically Speaking returns on Tuesday, October 14th. It’s a thrill to begin our 4th season hosting the series, which aims to connect editors, writers, readers, librarians, and lovers of literature & lit mags with each other, and the Library’s one-of-a-kind collection. Each evening highlights three periodicals, with editors of each introducing an emerging writer. The cool thing to me about Periodically Speaking is that not only do you get to hear some wonderful new literary voices and editor’s talk about their journals (which I love!) but that it happens in an incredibly beautiful public space – the Periodicals Room. Don’t miss it and stay afterward for the reception!

First up is Slice Magazine - in this new Brooklyn based journal, editors Maria Gagliano and Celia Johnson create dialogue between emerging and established writers. A new issue just out (# 3) titled “In translation”, includes interviews with Salman Rusdie and Kathryn Harrison and a story by Patricia Engel, an exciting (and emerging) young writer and a Periodically Speaking alum! Celia and Maria will introduce fiction writer William Giraldi. Inkwell Journal focuses on publishing emerging writers and sponsors yearly competitions in fiction & poetry. It comes out twice a year from Manhattanville College. Editor Autumn Kindelspire will introduce poet Eugenie Juliet Theall. And last (but most certainly not least) is Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas. This is the leading journal publishing Latin American writing in translation, was founded in 1968 and has published a who’s who of Latin American writers – Mario Vargas Llosa, Alejo Carpentier and Gabriel Garcia Marquez among them. Editor Daniel Shapiro will introduce the nonfiction writer Araceli Tinajero.

Do you know how a gramophone acts? (Image from NYPL Digital Gallery)

Last Thursday, instead of making myself squirm through the vice-presidential debate as it unfolded live, I went to a concert. The musician Andrew Bird played the Tarrytown Music Hall, and his haunting, looping violin (combined with glockenspiel, guitar, voice, and whistling) filled the room with mesmerizing and sweeping sounds. The performance was unforgettable; I've never seen such an impressive and complex one-man show.

But even before the musician took the stage, I was rapt, because standing in readiness on the stage were four luminous sculptural forms that appeared to be a marriage between gramophones and human-sized flowers. What could they be? Luckily, Mr. Bird anticipated audience curiosity and introduced them to us. These one-of-a-kind custom creations are speakers created by Ian Schneller, who makes musical instruments by hand at his studio, Specimen Products. Schneller's work is featured in Hand Made, Hand Played: The Art & Craft of Contemporary Guitars by Robert Shaw, whose previous books include America's Traditional Crafts.

Schneller's speakers filled the hall with sound, while their glowing and undulating surfaces also contributed to the atmosphere of the Hall. You can view these stunning speakers in action here. And here, you can see the extra-large horn speaker as it is created, step by step.

The Milstein Division will be offering Digital Gotham this afternoon at 3:15 in the South Court classrooms which are located in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library. Digital Gotham is a free class that explores online resources on New York City history. This hands-on class will introduce myriad resources—from digitized newspapers, magazines, and books to photographs, menus, and maps—many of which are available from your own desktop.

Digital Gotham is open to the public and requires no preregistration. However, seats are available on a first-come-first serve basis, so we encourage you to come five to ten minutes before the class begins. We look forward to seeing you there!
 
 

The French word ‘couture’ represents needlework or sewing. The couture designer uses a toile, made in muslin or fine linen, from which the made-to-measure proportions were devised. France has a union called the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture with rules and regulations for how couture houses are to be staffed and when they exhibit their lines.

I recall reading in The Fashion Conspiracy that the absolute “prize” element of a couture garment was that it would be made from scratch for a client, require fittings so that her measurements were exactly determined, and would usually have an entire under-body created to support the exterior design in fabric. A couture client often has to endure numerous fittings in the shop, or in her hotel room, should she have flown to Paris for her shopping.

In this respect, the couture wearer is clad in a one-off; no one else will have a garment quite like hers, and she earns its uniqueness by enduring the labor-intensive work that allows her to become the item’s possessor. No wonder, then, that fashion designers of the later twentieth century needed to launch ready-to-wear labels or “brands” in order to make their fortunes. Therefore, haute couture is the idealization, the bespoke aspect of fashion culture. The entire fashion industry is built around delivering the (delusional) dream of a unique garment for its wearers. Only real, existing haute couture provides that dream, however.

And for my favorite way to peek in at Parisian fashion, especially the recent shows, go to www.pretparis.com.

Jacques Doucet, grandson of the founder of the House of Doucet in Paris, was a spirited champion of the new Art Deco style. Doucet was a remarkable art connoisseur and collector of eighteenth century and contemporary French arts. By the time he became active in the firm, around 1874, his encyclopedic knowledge of historic dress expressed itself in fashion references in couture garments. Although in the 1920s he was aging and his couture house merged with another lesser firm, and eventually closed, he never lost touch with foreseeing the needs of the French luxury goods market.

Doucet’s championing of the emerging Art Deco style was manifested in his support for artists working in that mode, like the bookbinder Pierre Legraine. Yet he remains better known as an exponent of the “opulent era.” In 1984, he finally received the weighty biography he deserved. As a teacher and mentor, however, he was unparalleled. Doucet also understood that France needed to rise above the devastation of the first World War. His patronage of the arts meant a great deal to struggling painters attempting to get back on their feet.

Tomorrow, a most intriguing exhibition opens at The Museum of the City of New York. Entitled “Paris/New York Design, Fashion, Culture 1925-1940,” is housed in the museum’s new pavilion gallery for temporary exhibitions. There are sure to be stunning objects on display, so plan like me to head up there very soon. I’ll just put on those armorial gladiator ankle boots and go…

Check out the new NYPL exhibition, Art Deco Design: Rhythm and Verve, on view at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library (5th Ave. and 42nd St.) until January 11, 2009.

Art Deco's Couturier Patrons, Part 1 »