And now I’ll tell you a [ ] secret secrets, wrote Mrs. Patrick Campbell, scribbling in dull pencil to George Bernard Shaw on December 9, 1912, some months after her wickedly coquettish reply to the offer that she play Eliza in his Pygmalion. That the part of Eliza Doolittle, Cockney flower girl, was crafted by…
Mark(er)s in Books
A recent acquisition from Leo Cadogan Rare Books of London continues a Houghton Library tradition that was articulated by Roger Stoddard’s Marks in Books Illustrated and Explained and published by the Library in 1985. Stoddard’s exhibition catalogue demonstrates the value of evidentiary traces of use that can survive in books and tell us about their…
Share and Share Alike
One of my greatest pleasures in cataloging is to pick up an unidentified work, wave my magic wand, and end up with a verified attribution and full access to a hitherto inaccessible item. Cataloging of this kind is becoming easier to undertake as technology improves our access to information. Many’s the time I’ve Googled an…
You’ve Got Mail: Little Women II: Wedding Marches
Because Little Women is embedded in the American mind as a classic children’s book, readers often forget that Louisa May Alcott always viewed herself as a professional author who wrote in order to make money, much of which went to help support her parents and sisters, and later, nephews and a niece. Between 1868, when…
Dancing on the edge of forever
Based in an oral tradition, ballet is the most difficult of the performing arts to document. What remains to us from the time before film? Printed or manuscript music, librettos and scenarios, mise en scène, dance notation, images of sets and costumes; manuscript notes from choreographers, composers, or stage directors; newspaper and personal descriptions ……
You’ve Got Mail: “Dot or daub in any clumsy way”
With Modern Painters (1843-60), The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849), and The Stones of Venice (1851-53), John Ruskin (1819-1900) established his credentials as Victorian England’s most influential art critic. His standing in artistic circles was enhanced by his own talent as an artist and draughtsman. For a number of years he offered drawing lessons at…
You’ve Got Mail: Congressman Lincoln Stands against the Mexican War
Abraham Lincoln was elected to his only term in Congress in August 1846, representing Illinois’ Seventh District. The future president’s term began in December 1847, more than a year after his election, and he was ready to make his mark in the House of Representatives, choosing opposition to the Mexican War as one of his…
New exhibition commemorates John Milton Ward
A memorial celebrating the incredible life, teaching, scholarship and collecting of John Milton Ward is being held on Sunday, May 6 at 3pm at Paine Hall in the Harvard Department of Music, where Ward taught for over thirty years. Ward passed away on December 12, 2011. In the 20+ years since his retirement as William…
Brides and Brigands
How to spot a Norwegian bride? Just look for the crown! This 19th century hand colored cabinet photograph depicts a Norwegian bride wearing a traditional folk costume with a bridal crown or brudekrone. You will notice the bridal crown has small metal discs and beads hanging from it which produce a melodic tinkling and according…
New on OASIS in May
Finding aids for 12 newly cataloged collections, and a preliminary box list for one recent acquisition, have been added to the OASIS database this month, including the records of the Poets’ Theatre, papers of a paranormal researcher, and more….