Tag Archives: Cullman Library

Honolulu Calling: A Tapa Barkcloth Binding for a 1930 Phone Book from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel

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Tapa Cloth front cover for the Hawaiian Telephone Directory

Front cover of the Tapa cloth binder for the Winter 1930 Telephone Directory for the Territory of Hawaii

The Smithsonian Institution Libraries recently acquired a telephone book. Big deal, you say? Ah, but this is a telephone directory for the territory of Hawaii, issued for the winter of 1930. For that reason alone, it’s fun to browse through, to see the old advertisements and daydream about living in the gorgeous Hawaiian Islands, back in the days when the entire list of businesses and households in the territory which owned telephones could be recorded in one slim volume.

But this isn’t just any old phone book. This particular copy belonged to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, which opened in February 1927 on the spectacular Waikiki beachfront. Known as “the Pink Palace of the Pacific,” the Royal Hawaiian Hotel was one of the earliest luxury resorts established in this tropical paradise. The stylish décor featured at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, inspired partly by the native crafts of the South Sea Islanders, exerted a lasting influence upon tourists from the mainland, who came to associate the good life in Hawaii with vivid patterns reminiscent of exotic plants, birds, marine life, sunshine, and ocean waves. Continue reading →

Smithson’s Cookbook: English Curry

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The origin of curry, the saucy, spiced dish celebrated in India and Great Britain, is not exactly known.   But it is now thought that similarly spiced dishes were developed concurrently, but independent of each other, in England and in India thanks to the spice routes that spanned from Asia and into Europe.   Exotic spices like turmeric and pepper made their way into England during the conquests of the Romans in 40 AD and the Moors in 711 AD, and came in handy during Middle Ages when highly seasoned meats could make aging meat more palatable. Continue reading →

The Fix: Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of the Birds of Ohio

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Lithographic print from "Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio"

The Book Conservation Lab received a rush request to repair
a two volume set of “Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio.” The set is to be displayed at a May 9th event with author Joy Kiser discussing her book “America’s Other Audubon,” chronicling the publication of this work. Continue reading →

Darwin’s Legacy

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Zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, under the command of… , 1839-1843, Plate 42. Amblyryuchus Demarlii [Iguana]

Zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, under the command of... , 1839-1843, Plate 42. Amblyryuchus Demarlii [Iguana]

The Libraries opened its new exhibition  Darwin’s Legacy in the National Museum of Natural History on Sept. 10. The exhibition cases feature the first edition of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859), a revolutionary book that changed the course of modern science. November 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of the book’s publication. This exhibition will be on display through Sept. 12, 2010.               

On the Origin of Species is widely heralded as the foundation for evolutionary biology. After graduating from Cambridge University in 1831, Darwin signed up as an unpaid naturalist for a five-year scientific voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle. As he sailed around South America and the Galápagos Islands (1831-36), Darwin made notes and observations, collected animal fossils and plant specimens and studied the geology of islands and coral reefs. His work led him to think deeply about the distribution of animals and plants over place and time.

Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection grew out of his work aboard the Beagle. “The voyage of the Beagle has been by far the most important event in my life and has determined my whole career.” In 1857, he outlined his theory of evolution in a letter to American botanist Asa Gray, his greatest U.S. advocate. On the Origin of Species was published in 1859 and soon found supporters at the Smithsonian Institution. Joseph Henry, a famed scientist and the first Secretary of the Smithsonian, held the book in high regard. Darwin’s theory continues to guide research at the National Museum of Natural History to this day.

The exhibition also showcases Darwin’s silk neckerchief, Joseph Henry’s desk diary, beautifully illustrated volumes from Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle (edited by Charles Darwin and published from 1838-43), a background map of the track of the H.M.S. Beagle, and Galápagos land iguana and mockingbird specimens from the collections of the National Museum of Natural History.—Liz O'Brien

An Entomological Coloring Book for 19th-Century Ladies

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Would a fine 19th-century British lady be likely to shriek and swoon onto a fainting-couch upon seeing these images of monstrous-looking insects?

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Or would she eagerly pick up a paint brush and contemplate which colors she should use for the thorax and stinger?

The English author, physician and scientist John Hill (1714?-1775) was certain that the sight of an amazing creature like the Mottled Saw-Fly, with its bulging eyes and curly antennae, would catch the fancy of artistically-inclined ladies. How do we know? The following two-line advertisement printed on the title-page verso of Hill's book, A Decade of Curious Insects (London: Printed for the author, 1773; QL466.H646 1773 SCNHRB) provides the answer:

"Ladies who may chuse [i.e. choose] to paint these insects themselves may have sets of the cuts on royal paper printed pale for that purpose."

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A prolific author renowned for his literary quarrels with such luminaries as the satirist Henry Fielding and the Shakespearean actor David Garrick, John Hill helped to popularize the study of natural history. These insects are carefully engraved in larger-than-life detail (their actual size is illustrated by the smaller versions at the foot of each plate). Hill proudly noted on the title page that his illustrations were created with the assistance of the recently invented "lucernal microscope," which used an artificial light source such as an oil lamp to enhance the magnification of scientific specimens.

Although none of the plates in the Cullman Library's copy of A Decade of Curious Insects are painted, there are other books in the collection that also attest to the talents and interests of female scientific illustrators. The best known is Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), whose artistry, skill, and love of nature—even in its most creepy-crawly aspects—is demonstrated in her gorgeous images of the insects and plants (see bottom plate) of Surinam in Metamorphosis insectorum surinamensium (1705; fQL466.M57X SCNHRB).

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