When a book that had the impact of Edward Jenner’s An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae comes into the conservation lab we get fairly excited. This 1798 first edition, part of the Dibner Library, outlines the technique of infecting patients with the mild cowpox virus to create immunity from the highly contagious and often deadly smallpox virus. As a result of his findings Jenner is considered the father of immunology and is credited with saving more lives than any man in history.
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives / Unbound
Dig out those photos from your visits to the Libraries and become a part of our family album — America’s Family Album!
Smithsonian Libraries visitors 18 years and older are invited to dig out their photographs from their time at the Libraries and upload them to America’s Family Album through September 2nd, 2013!
Travel light. That is good advice for most travelers but maybe even more so for those who might have to carry their belongings a long distance, such as campers. But with the Burch Combination Bed Sheet, Tent and Sleeping Bag, it’s all-in-one.
On July 2nd, the Smithsonian held its Annual Staff Picnic. Featured in one of the discussion tents was a group of our very own Smithsonian Libraries staff giving suggestions for summer reading, either books related to their work, from their collections or their own personal interests. Here are their picks!
This post was written by Anna Brooke, librarian at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Library.
“I hate the word ‘artist.’” said Vito Acconci in an interview with Milena Kalinovska posted on the Hirshhorn Museum web page. Vito was in Washington D.C. for a Meet the Artist public program the evening of January 17, 2013 at the Hirshhorn Museum. During the day, Vito prepared his presentation in the Hirshhorn Museum Library, using a carrel and examining our artist file on him. He is one of our most distinguished visitors. In addition to his writing and art activities, he was named Designer of the Year in 2012 by Design Miami.
The Cultural Heritage Library (CHL) covers a wide range of topics. Government publications, Smithsonian exhibition catalogs, travel guides, and geographic histories–the CHL aims to digitize everything from our history, art, and culture collections that we can. As such, the entire collection was currently published prior to 1923, so some of it can sound dated or naive to modern ears.
This post was written by Audrey Hopkins. Audrey is a Summer 2013 intern at the National Museum of American History Library. She is currently a library graduate student at Simmons College in Boston.
This fourth of July, we give you all the fixings for a barbershop quartet!
Among the collections here in the National Museum of American History Library are a number of books on American music. For 25 cents in 1897, one could purchase this hard-bound copy of Uncle Sam’s School Songs for Schools, Colleges, Institutes, and the Home Circle published by the still extant Hope Publishing Company in Chicago.