Advertising was at the heart of Johann Strauss Senior’s Viennese dance empire. Always on the lookout for gimmicks to whet the public appetite for new dances, his grasp of popular culture was brilliant: dance titles made reference to current political, cultural, and scientific events, visiting dignitaries and performers, themes and arias from the most popular…
New on OASIS in July
Two finding aids for newly cataloged collections have been added to the OASIS database this month: the sermons of a Connecticut clergyman at the turn of the 19th century and a collection of portrait prints of theatrical, literary, and historical personalities. Processed by Ashley M. Nary: Portrait Prints of Notable 16th – 19th-Century Personalities, 1720-1914…
Finding Philosophaster
It was anatomy that gained Robert Burton fame, but heredity that made him endure. The clergyman (1577-1640) rose to prominence with the 1621 publication of The Anatomy of Melancholy. His treatment of the subject, broad in scope but humorously wrought, ensured Burton’s admiration by fellow authors. Anatomy’s influence did not ensure, however, that Burton’s other…
Steber and Knoxville: Summer of 1915
In April 1948 concertgoers at Symphony Hall in Boston listened as Eleanor Steber sang for them of summer evenings: It has become that time of evening when people sit on their porches, rocking gently and talking gently and watching the street… The words are James Agee’s, excerpted from a portrait of his boyhood in Knoxville…
Cork, resin, and rope
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection. In the course of these posts on the Santo Domingo Collection, numerous fine, extravagant, and perhaps even ostentatious bindings and enclosures have been showcased. This week, we bring you the first of two books that extend past the codex…
Jullien, Jullien, Jullien!
When I used to think of “classical” music performances in the 19th century, I imagined sedate concerts in hushed concert halls as we enjoy today. Then I got a crash course in reality by working in music libraries….
A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Words
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the newly acquired Santo Domingo collection. Andrés Rábago, also known as OPS or El Roto, is a Spanish cartoonist who focused on social satire and critiques of current events. In his book of cartoons, Mitos, Ritos y Delitos en el Pais de Silencio, Rábago…
Proof plates printed on satin … and on vellum, India, large, and ordinary paper
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…
A heavenly cure?
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the newly acquired Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection. As you look at the cover of this pamphlet you might wonder what divine content might hide within its covers, well that would be… The Pink Pills! The Pink Pills for Pale People were introduced in…
The works of Timothy Leary
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection. Cataloging work is now underway on the complete bibliography of author, psychologist, countercultural guru, and erstwhile Harvard lecturer Timothy Leary. The Leary volumes in the Santo Domingo Collection were previously the collection of Michael Horowitz, Leary’s associate and bibliographer….