This fall, Houghton will present an exhibition “Life is in the Transitions”: William James, 1842-1910 in commemoration of the centenary of James’s death. The exhibition opening coincides with a conference organized by the William James Society, co-sponsored by the Houghton Library, and the Chocorua Community Association, “In the Footsteps of William James: a Symposium on…
Hofer Prize winners announced
Harvard graduate student Philipp Penka was awarded first place in this year’s competition for the Philip Hofer Prize for Collecting Books or Art, for his collection of works published by Russian displaced persons following World War II. The Hofer Prize, named for a former Houghton curator and donor, is awarded each year to the Harvard…
Who’s got the Button? Houghton!
The highlight of the recent auction at Sotheby’s of items from the James S. Copley Library was a letter signed by Button Gwinnett. Gwinnett’s is a name that is familiar mostly only to autograph collectors: he was one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. Because he died in a duel less than…
Telescopes are prudent / In an emergency
For the next two weeks, the Woodberry Poetry Room will be home to an art installation that celebrates the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Created by Adams House art tutor Zachary Sifuentes, “Fugitive Sparrows” literally offers a number of new ways of looking at Dickinson’s poems, including small placards placed in the yard below, viewable through…
Rare photograph discovered at Houghton
Conservators at Weissman Preservation Center have discovered that a photograph from the William James collection was made with the rare Kallitype process, a predecessor to gelatin silver prints. Read the full story at Harvard College Library News….
Turning Lead into Gold
Author Stephen O. Saxe will give this year’s Philip and Frances Hofer Lecture on April 20, 2010, at 5:30 pm, in Houghton’s Edison and Newman Room. The talk is entitled “Turning Lead into Gold: Nineteenth-Century American Type Foundries and Their Specimen Books” and is free and open to the public. From a shaky beginning in…