By Gregory Wynn In his recently published memoir, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Robert Caro recounts that an early career admonishment from an editor to “turn every page” while investigating a story was one of the best pieces of advice he had ever been given (Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing, 2019, p. 11). This call to thoroughness and…
A Mysterious Manuscript in a Banned Language
By Christine E. Jacobson, Assistant Curator, Modern Books and Manuscripts, Houghton Library Houghton recently acquired a nineteenth-century bilingual manuscript of Ukrainian and Russian folk songs and verse. At first glance, the work seems unremarkable. At 370 pages, it contains over 120 poems and songs, including well-known works by Alexander Pushkin and Taras Shevchenko as well…
The Castañé Collection Series: “Two: Officer’s Photo Album”
By Michael Austin, Manuscript Cataloger, Houghton Library In my first post on Houghton Library’s holdings from the Castañé collection of documents and objects relating to European conflicts of the 20th century, I focused on two particularly poignant items: a ration card issued to a young Polish girl early in the Second World War and an…
Collections Now Available for Research: December, 2018 and January, 2019
Houghton Library is pleased to announce the following collections are now described online and accessible in the reading room. Carl Chiarenza papers (MS Am 3177) – processed by Adrien Hilton Nabokov family papers (MS Russ 140) – processed by Magee Lawhorn and Irina Klyagin Harvard Theatre Collection dance scene photographs (TCS 36) – processed by…
The Castañé Collection Series: “One: ‘Miscellaneous Items’”
By Michael Austin, Manuscript Cataloger, Houghton Library The Castañé collection, donated to Houghton Library in 2015 by Spanish businessman and collector José María Castañé, comprises over 10,000 items documenting the major conflicts of the 20th century involving European powers. Papers, photographs, and realia from the Second World War are most strongly represented, followed by material…
Collections Now Available for Research: November
Houghton Library is pleased to announce the following collections are now described online and accessible in the reading room. Moll Flanders Memorial Collection of Trade Cards of Enterprising London Businesswomen, circa 1980-2018 (MS Eng 1801) – processed by Melanie Wisner Collection of Marbled Papers, circa 1945-2005 (52L-1152) – processed by Melanie Wisner Hermann Hagedorn Papers,…
What’s in a Photograph? A Photograph by Any Other Name is Still a Photograph
By Lillianne Keaney, Horblit Project Cataloger, Houghton Library The term “photograph” is actually quite broad. It encompasses black and white photographs (gelatin silver prints), chromogenic color prints, albumen prints, carbon prints, collodion prints, salted paper prints, digital photographs, palladium prints, daguerreotypes, and many others that are produced using different photographic processes (check out Graphics Atlas…
Collections Now Available for Research: September & October, 2018
Houghton Library is pleased to announce the following collections are now described online and accessible in the reading room. Ruthanna Boris Papers, 1929-2003 (MS Thr 1850) – processed by Adrien Hilton Collection of French Booksellers’ Catalogs and Prospectuses circa 1769-1799 (MS Fr 693) – processed by Magee Lawhorn Harvard Theatre Collection Photographic Postcards of Groups and…
r.ed in residence
By Dale Stinchcomb, Assistant Curator of the Harvard Theatre Collection Frankenweek is in full swing and Houghton is participating in a Harvard-wide celebration of all things Franken-Shelley. A film series, an exhibition, and a marathon reading are just a few of the activities planned to mark the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein. Mary Shelley’s influence…
Opening the Drawers of the Harvard Theatre Collection
This post, by Project Archivist Betts Coup, continues the series “Behind the Scenes at Houghton,” giving a glimpse into the inner workings of the library’s mission to support teaching and research. When processing a collection, the ultimate goal is to make the materials discoverable by researchers and easily accessible by library staff. When I started…