As noted by Smithsonian namesake James Smithson in his personal copy of Travels through the states of North America: and the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, during the years more »
Category: Special Collections
This plate from John James Audubon’s The birds of America: from drawings made in the United States and their territories, 1840-1844 depicts the Hudsonian Godwit, or Limosa haemastica. As you might suspect, they tend to breed near the Hudson Bay, as well as farther north in Canada and even as far as Alaska, and then migrating to South America.
William Dampier was an explorer and amateur scientist and a bit of a pirate. According to Wikipedia, his expededitions’ findings may have influenced men as diverse as Charles Darwin, James Cook Daniel Defoe, and Horatio Nelson.
Popular wisdom says that girls feet stop growing around the age of 14 or so and boys a year or so later. But we all know that the shoes we wore in high school probably wouldn’t fit us today, as other factors such as weight gain, preganancy and a later growth spurt can affect the size and growth of feet. When’s the last time you actually had someone measure your feet before trying on a new pair of shoes? Maybe today’s the day.
The life of a soldier can be lonely, alternating tedium with terror, and the affection of a pet can offer much solace and amusement, creating a bond that can continue long after deployment is over (for instance, there have been recent stories in the news about some U.S. Marines who have adopted pet cats in Afghanistan, detailing their efforts to bring these beloved animals back home with them). The notion of a pet cat accustomed to riding along perched on a soldier’s knapsack hardly seems so fanciful.
Without cups there could be no sipping of tea. But will just any cup do? What about these souvenir teacups featuring Livingstone, of Stanley and Livingstone fame, from The Art of African Exploration?
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.