The Harvard Film Archive and Houghton Library are partnering to screen three critically acclaimed adaptations of Shakespeare’s most enduring play, beginning with Laurence Olivier’s 1948 classic on Monday, March 21 at 7pm. Join curators Dale Stinchcomb and Peter Accardo for a free pre-show tour of the exhibition, Shakespeare: His Collected Works at 6pm in Houghton…
Full freedom, not an inferior brand
The centerpiece of Houghton’s current exhibition, Shakespeare: His Collected Works, is a life-size poster from the 1943 Broadway production of Othello starring Paul Robeson. Paul Robeson was the son of an escaped slave who became his generation’s most outspoken defender of civil liberties. A graduate of Rutgers and Columbia Law School, he was a distinguished athlete,…
Tickets on the Royal Dime
Houghton’s latest exhibition, Shakespeare: His Collected Works, marks the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death. Here is a closer look at one object on display. Actress and royal mistress Nell Gwyn began her career in the theatre selling oranges for sixpence. By 1676 she had retired from the stage and born Charles II two sons, yet she…
“You seem as dull as… a Yale man”
In April of 1892, Harvard sophomore George Doane Wells along with fellow members of the D.K.E. or “Dickey” Theatricals, wrote and produced an original comedic opera, Antony and Cleopatra, or, The Sinner, the Siren, and the Snake. The Dickey Theatricals were part of the Institute of 1770, a social club for Harvard sophomores which eventually…
Shakespeare: His Collected Works—January 19–April 23, 2016
Conservators at the Weissman Preservation Center have been busy preparing for Houghton’s upcoming exhibition, Shakespeare: His Collected Works, which marks the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death and opens January 19th. Their work often involves analyzing the material makeup of artifacts at high magnification to determine the best and safest course of treatment. Debora Mayer is Helen H. Glaser…
King Luckieboy Prepares for His Debut
The “King Luckieboy’s Party” graphite on tracing paper drawings came to the Weissman Preservation Center conservation lab in preparation the Walter Crane exhibition (which runs September 21st-December 19th) primarily because the drawings were at risk for damage due to the housing. The treatment, however, unexpectedly uncovered what may be evidence of the original intent of…
Starry Messengers: The Trailer
You have a little bit less than a month left to catch our current exhibition, Starry Messengers: Signs and Science from the Skies, before it closes on May 2nd. If you’d like a sneak peek, this short video features a conversation among Houghton’s John Overholt, the curator of the exhibition, Sara Schechner, Curator of Harvard’s…
Night of a Thousand Stars
Our current exhibition, “Starry Messengers: Signs and Science from the Skies,” will be having its (slightly weather-delayed) opening reception on Tuesday March 10 at 5pm. The exhibition focuses on a series of astronomical events, such as comets, meteors, and supernovas, and shows how these events were viewed by scientists, writers, soothsayers, and others. As the…
New Exhibit: Occupied Cuba, 1898-1902
The years between the end of the Cuban War of Independence in 1898, facilitated by United States involvement as part of the Spanish-American War, and the proclamation of the Cuban Republic in 1902, were a time of much change and transition in Cuba. After the last of the Spanish troops left Cuba in 1898, the…
Two of One Hundred!
Houghton Library has loaned two books to an important exhibition at New York City’s Grolier Club. One Hundred Books Famous in Children’s Literature is the sixth in a notable series of “Grolier Hundred” exhibitions. The Grolier Club previously has organized only five such exhibitions in its 130-year history, focusing on English literature (1902), American literature (1946), science (1958),…