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Category: Special Collections

White Bronze for the hereafter

Elizabeth Broman
April 4, 2014
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L: Monumental Bronze Catalogue, p.66. R: Dodge Monument, 1871. Congressional Cemetery, Washington, DC. Photo courtesy of Elise M. Ciregna.
L: Monumental Bronze Catalogue, p.66. R: Dodge Monument, 1871. Congressional Cemetery, Washington, DC. Photo courtesy of Elise M. Ciregna.

This Catalogue of the Monumental Bronze Co. is one of the many examples of trade literature that the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Library has in its collection; they are among the most valuable research resources for documenting the tastes and trends of culture, and the products being marketed and sold in a given time period. These are Victorian era zinc sculpture and ornaments for cemetery grave markers and “monuments”.  “White bronze” was an attractive, elegant trade name for zinc. It actually has a bluish gray color and is easy to spot from quite a distance amongst the more traditional and widely used traditional marble, limestone and granite memorials in cemeteries.

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Funding the Future of the Libraries

Liz O'Brien
March 27, 2014
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The Smithsonian Libraries is a vibrant force in promoting new ideas through knowledge sharing. We play a unique role in advancing scientific and cultural understanding, and in preserving America’s heritage. Our extensive collections and highly trained staff are a crucial and unmatched resource for research and education communities within the United States and around the world.

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Potawatomi Vocabulary Manuscript Added to Transcription Center

Doug Dunlop
March 25, 2014
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Title page from A vocabulary of the Po-da-wahd-mih Language by Joseph N. Bourassa, 1843.
Title page from A vocabulary of the Po-da-wahd-mih Language by Joseph N. Bourassa, 1843.

J.N. Bourassa’s A Vocabulary of the Po-da-wahd-mih Language is the latest addition from the Libraries to the Smithsonian Transcription Center. The Vocabulary was transcribed around 1890 from the original, which dates to 1843. The Potawatomi have traditionally inhabited the Upper Mississippi River region as well as Indiana and Kansas, and are making efforts to promote the use of their native language, a sub-group of the Algonquian language family.

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Adopt-a-Book Event

Liz O'Brien
March 12, 2014
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Thank you to those who attended our annual Adopt-a-Book event on January 9 in the Smithsonian Castle. Almost 120 books have been adopted since inception of our Adopt-a-Book program. Last year, 26 books were adopted at our Adopt-a-Book event (48 books were on display), 128 tickets were purchased and more than $10,000 was raised. This year, 45 books were adopted at the event (74 books were on display), 106 tickets were purchased and more than $12,000 was raised.

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Behind the Scenes on the Smithsonian-Gale Project

Erin Rushing
March 3, 2014
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Last year, the Smithsonian began a partnership with Gale, part of Cengage Learning, to digitize content, package it, and make it available through libraries around the world. Gale debuted the first of these products with digital versions of the Smithsonian magazine and Air & Space magazine’s archive. The Smithsonian Libraries is excited to be a part of the second group of products, Smithsonian Collections Online: World’s Fairs & Expositions: Visions Of Tomorrow and Smithsonian Collections Online: Trade Literature & The Merchandising of Industry. Assessment of the items and scanning is already well underway. Get an inside look at what goes on behind the scenes with William Bennett, contract conservator for the project!

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Libraries Acquires Salviani Book

Liz O'Brien
February 3, 2014
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The Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library recently acquired Ippolito Salviani’s Aquatilium animalium historiae (Rome, 1554), a classic, foundational work on fishes. The book is one of three 16th-century works that established ichthyology as a modern science. The Libraries holds the other two – Belon’s De aquatilibus (1553, a Latin translation of his Histoire de la nature des estranges poissons marins, 1551) and Rondelet’s Libri de piscibus marinis (1554) – and has now completed the trio.  The Aquatilium animalium historiae is a tremendous asset for the National Museum of Natural History’s curators in the Division of Fishes, who advised on the purchase.

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Smithsonian Libraries Research Opportunities 2015

Liz O'Brien
January 27, 2014
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Situated at the center of the world’s largest museum complex, the Smithsonian Libraries is a vital part of the research, exhibition, and educational enterprise of the Institution. Each Smithsonian scholar engages in an individual voyage of discovery using the artifacts and specimens of the Smithsonian Institution in conjunction with the Libraries’ written and illustrated record of the past. The Libraries is uniquely positioned to help scholars understand the continuing vitality of this relationship, via exceptional research resources ranging from 13th-century manuscripts to electronic journals.

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