This post 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. Thanks to Magdaline Lawhorn, Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Resident & Project Archivist, for contributing this post. In Born-Digital Blog Post #6 we began to discuss the…
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…
Looking Beyond the Text in Frances Wolfreston’s Books
By Sarah Lindenbaum In the introduction of Marks in Books, Roger Stoddard’s catalogue of his 1984 exhibit on marginalia and other book traces, he writes, “As anthropologists have discovered, traces of wear can tell us how artifacts were used by human beings. Books no less than tools, apparel, and habits can show signs of wear,…
Translated for Action: Gabriel Harvey’s Grammar-Drama
This post was written by Andrew S. Keener, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Santa Clara University. A recipient of the Katharine F. Pantzer Jr. Fellowship in Descriptive Bibliography, Keener was a 2016–2017 Houghton Library Visiting Fellow. The sixteenth-century scholar Gabriel Harvey has fascinated researchers of early modern reading and handwriting for decades, but an investigation…
Summer Spotlight: John Wilkes Booth and the Theatre of Our Discontent
Not all the objects in Houghton Library’s collections have such illustrious, proud histories as a Shakespeare First Folio or Gutenberg Bible. Objects of less reputable association can provide just as striking of an encounter as these treasured relics, however. During the behind-the-scenes tour of Houghton on my first day of work at the library, I…
Collections Now Available for Research: August 2018
Houghton Library is pleased to announce the following collections are now described online and accessible in the reading room. Collection of Anderson Entertainment Bureau Printed Ephemera, circa 1900-1910 (MS Thr 1844) – processed by Melanie Wisner Boyle Family Papers, 1657-1903 (MS Eng 218) – processed by Michael Austin British Prompt Book Collection and Theatrical Manuscript…
Collections Now Available for Research: July 2018
Houghton Library is pleased to announce the following collections are now described online and accessible in the reading room. Dyke Benjamin Collection of John Ruskin and His Circle, 1815-1916 (MS Eng 1812) – processed by Magee Lawhorn José María Castañé Collection of 20th Century War-related Manuscripts, Photographs, and Objects, circa 1898-1990 (MS Span 185) –…