Explore one of our newest collections in our digital library containing books, catalogs and ephemera from 19th and 20th century World’s Fairs and Expositions. The majority of the items in this collection were digitized by an outside vendor as part of a special project. Pieces in this collection date from the mid 1800’s to the early 1900’s, highlighting experiences from different fairs that took place all over the world, from America to Europe and more. Many of these pieces contain wonderful images and illustrations of the actual fairs, giving us a look into our world’s history. Here you can find and learn more detailed information about fairs like the The Great Exhibition, which was showcased in the Crystal Palace in London, England, and the Exposition Universelle in Paris, France. Below are a few pieces from the collection to give you an idea about what you can find in our new addition to our digital library. Most items are from the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Library.
Month: July 2018
Obsession is a tricky word. Any bibliophile can sense it coming, when they read a new dealer description or see that perfect binding. We’re using the word in our upcoming more »
They’re all over social media – frames, filters, and special camera effects on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and other platforms to help you add pizzazz to your selfies and other photos. But is anything really new these days? We found something that may be the grandfather (or at least great uncle) of social media filters – hand-painted backgrounds for photography studios dating from the early 1900s.
According to the author’s text in The Home Decorator and Color Guide (1939), the images in this booklet, “are not meant to be examples of what in any absolute sense more »
Please join the Smithsonian Libraries for a talk with Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden as part of our Information Matters Series (with the Smithsonian Institution Archives and the Smithsonian’s more »