As with many of the books that come into our lab, the Baby Bird-Finder (1904-1906), a two-volume illustrated bird guide, was intended to be used. And used these volumes were, more »
Category: Special Collections
Whether shelter-in-place has you working from a studio apartment, in a home filled with kids, or a makeshift set-up at your dining room table, it can be hard to find more »
An activist, a teacher, a poet — Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was an extraordinary figure in American history. She was born free in the city of Baltimore in 1825, orphaned at the age more »
Although our 21 physical branches remain closed during the COVID-19 outbreak, we’re still excited to celebrate National Library Week with our users near and far. While staff and researchers are more »
This Earth Day, the Smithsonian celebrates the Earth Optimism movement, which aims to shift the conservation conversation from one of doom & gloom to hope, optimism and positive action. While there are a number of voices adding more »
Oliver Byrne, in the introduction to his The First Six Books of the Elements of Euclid of 1847, states that “the Elements of Euclid can be acquired in less than more »
The Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery Library has in its collection a book of poetry bound in a beautiful hand-painted vellum cover, with scrolling Celtic calligraphy and designs of more »