The Acquisitions Table: No License

No license. A question to be settled in the State of New York. New York: Journal of the American Temperance Union, 1846. On linen. This textile broadside was issued as an extra to the Journal of the American Temperance Union during the 1846 elections in New York State.  That year, every one of the 800+ towns ...

The Acquisitions Table: The Other Side

The Other Side (Bloomington, IL).  Apr. 14, 1868.  Vol. 1, no. 4. This is a campaign newspaper printed in broadside format.  It was a Republican paper edited by C.F. Merriman, a long-time newspaper editor of this town.  Though stating it was to be published daily, output was irregular, and it claimed a circulation of 2,000.  The ...

The Acquisitions Table: The History of Pamela or Virtue Rewarded

Richardson, Samuel.  The History of Pamela or Virtue Rewarded.  New York: N.C. Nafis, 1835. This tale of a young woman’s rise from servant to a charitable and understanding wife of a wealthy man was a bestseller in the long eighteenth century. The frontispiece is a metal engraving of Pamela embracing her husband’s daughter from a previous ...

When Ansel Adams came to town

Without a doubt, many amazing people arrive daily on the doorstep of Antiquarian Hall. They bring research early in its infancy, artistic projects, personal histories, obligations of library pilgrimage – all in need of the AAS touch. In 1813, Isaiah Thomas made clear the intent for the doors and collection be open to all who ...

The Acquisitions Table: The Quarrel

E.W. Clay, attr., The Quarrel, lithograph, NY: John Childs, 1839. This previously unrecorded cartoon, published in New York, is one in a set of prints investigating the social implications of interaction between white citizens and African Americans.  The cartoon, which was probably designed by the artist Edward W. Clay for John Childs, depicts two African American ...