I recently discovered an important link between two stories about which I have known for years. Turns out there is a deep connection between one of my favorite aircraft and more »
Month: May 2018
Saturated: The Allure and Science of Color debuted at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New York, NY) in May 2018. The exhibition explores the elusive, complex phenomenon of color more »
Every once in a while, we come across a trade catalog in the Trade Literature Collection that has a label on the front cover. Recorded on that label is date and location information, such as drawer number. We do not use labels such as that to shelve catalogs at the National Museum of American History Library, but I have often wondered if that label played a role in the way that particular catalog was filed in its past life, perhaps before coming to the Trade Literature Collection.
Design is for public consumption. Its process is collaborative and frequently involves many iterations of an idea before the best solution is found. This is why contests in design come about so naturally. Design competitions date all the way back to 448 BCE when the city of Athens decided to construct a war memorial on the Acropolis. This decision followed the Greco-Persian war and the watershed Battle of Marathon in Athens. Not all design competitions follow landmark events though.
The Smithsonian Libraries and Smithsonian Gardens co-host “Swing Into Victory! A World War II Era Garden Party Garden Party” Friday, May 18, at 6:00 p.m. in the Smithsonian’s Enid more »
There was always going to be something beautiful at the corner of 8th and F Streets in northwest Washington D.C. Pierre L’Enfant, in his earliest plans for the city, originally more »
In February, Ludivine Javelaud began a six month internship with Preservation Services in the Libraries’ book conservation lab.
Ludivine was born in Limoges in the Limousin region of France. At an early age, she discovered a love for drawing and Art and she fondly recalls regular family visits to museums, castles, and historical sites. These experiences led her to initially consider training to become a paintings conservator and she pursued and completed degrees in Art History at the Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV). During her courses in Art History, she found employment in various libraries and archives to help support her studies and discovered that paper based works, such as drawings, engravings, and books, were her favorite media. She decided to embark on an additional course of study and is now in her fourth year at the Institut National du Patrimoine in Paris where she is working toward earning a degree in Conservation of Heritage with a specialization in Books.