This post is part of a new series, “Behind the Scenes at Houghton” giving a glimpse into the inner workings of the library’s mission to support teaching and research. Thanks to Adrien Hilton, Head, Manuscript Section, for contributing this post. I started as the Head of the Manuscript Section at Houghton Library in February 2016….
Solar Eclipses and Citizen Science
As you’ve probably heard, a solar eclipse will be visible in the U.S. today from coast to coast. The PBS television program NOVA will air a special episode tonight including live footage of the eclipse, and talking about the history and scientific significance of solar eclipses. Back in April, a film crew visited Houghton in…
A Real Old Devil
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the exhibition Open House 75: Houghton Staff Select on display in the Edison and Newman Room from May 8 – August 19, 2017. Refashioning, revising, re-reading, restoring: the adaptation of musical works was a perennial source of fascination for Harvard University music professor John Milton Ward….
Interpreting History Through Art: The Kelmscott Chaucer, William Morris
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the exhibition Open House 75: Houghton Staff Select on display in the Edison and Newman Room from May 8 – August 19, 2017. The iconic Kelmscott Chaucer—this copy being one of only three printed on vellum and bound in full pigskin—is the crowning achievement of William…
A Curious Manuscript
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the exhibition Open House 75: Houghton Staff Select on display in the Edison and Newman Room from May 8 – August 19, 2017. Melesinda Munbee’s Miscellany found its way into my hands one day in 2002 when I was browsing our stacks, looking for manuscripts to…
All power to the people! Black Panther Party
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the exhibition Open House 75: Houghton Staff Select, on display in the Edison and Newman Room from May 8 – August 19, 2017. In September of 1966, Hunters Point, a predominately black neighborhood in San Francisco, erupted after the murder of sixteen-year-old Matthew Johnson by…
Hemingway’s Writing Makes a Different Sort of Mark
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the exhibition Open House 75: Houghton Staff Select, on display in the Edison and Newman Room from May 8 – August 19, 2017. I’ve consistently been fascinated by traces left behind by producers, owners, and readers of books in the Houghton Library collections. Most famously…
The Goddesses Among Us
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the exhibition Open House 75: Houghton Staff Select, on display in the Edison and Newman Room from May 8 – August 19, 2017. At the time of his death, Professor John M. Ward (the donor of our Ward Collection) was writing a book on…
Collections Now Available for Research: July
Houghton Library is pleased to announce that the following collections now have descriptive finding aids and are available for research in the library’s reading room. Alan Ansen Papers, circa 1938-2006 (MS Am 3104) – processed by Adrien Hilton Duke Atteberry Joke Collection, 1920-1960 (MS Thr 1627) – processed by Melanie Wisner Emerson Family Photographs and…
From Fan Mail to Farsi: How Fan Support Made A Book Relevant
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the exhibition Open House 75: Houghton Staff Select on display in the Edison and Newman Room from May 8 – August 19, 2017. Fan mail is not usually considered worthy of exhibition. In the Gore Vidal Papers, the letters of celebrities live amongst those of literary…