Learn from the best! AAS curators discuss their collections
“A book holds a house of gold.” – Chinese proverb AAS has quite a variety of American newspapers in different languages: German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Welsh, Cherokee, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, and Hawaiian. There is one language, however, that provided a unique challenge for printers. All of the newspapers above are letterpress. Each letter is ...
“All this, all of this love we're talking about, it would just be a memory. Maybe not even a memory. Am I wrong? Am I way off base? Because I want you to set me straight if you think I'm wrong. I want to know.” Raymond Carver, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love “Archive” ...
The American Antiquarian Society has an extensive collection of pre-1800 American bookplates, with representative examples engraved by famous patriots like Paul Revere, or commissioned by founding fathers such as George Washington (left). AAS founder, Isaiah Thomas, had two different bookplates made by Revere and AAS, of course, has several examples of each ( below). These ...
Recently, AAS purchased two photographs depicting American newspaper printers, one on eBay and the other at a local auction in central Massachusetts. These images capture working men posed in photographic studios, holding props and tools of the trade. When viewed with two additional photographs already in the collection, these portraits capture the likenesses of people ...
Hannibal Journal, and Native American. May 28, 1842. Vol. 1, no. 21. A dealer recently sent me a box with pieces of newspapers. Some of them were either the front or back page, and many of them were just half of one page. Still, I waded through the large mound of fragments to see what was ...
This week we continue our curators' acquisitions stories with curator of newspapers Vince Golden. His story combines elements of both of the previous posts (I and II), making for quite an interesting turn of events! There are various phrases in the English language that mean act immediately. Strike while the iron is hot. He who hesitates ...
Last week, curator of children's literature Laura Wasowicz posted about finding a unique find in a dusty house. This week, curator of graphic arts Lauren Hewes talks about another tack curators more often have to take: "hard work and diligence." Recently, the Society’s curatorial staff was asked to blog about significant acquisitions and the process by ...
Peoria Daily Transcript (IL) Sept. 27, 1858. June 9, 1859. Those who research the history of printing love mistakes. It is the little “oops” that give us clues into the methods of production. A piece of type might work loose and fall on top of the bed and get printed that way, showing us the shape of ...
In the most recent issue of the Almanac, we had a feature article about the process of bringing new items into the collection. This got us thinking about some of the interesting ways in which these treasures are found. In the coming weeks, each curator will share one of their favorite stories about finding a ...
This past year the American Antiquarian Society has been hard at work proving the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, especially when it comes to cartoons. AAS holds a comprehensive collection of political cartoons produced in the United States between 1764 and 1876. The separately published American cartoon collection holds ...
AAS has a strong collection of American periodicals dating back to the 1740s, which often focused on a particular subject or advocacy. Scattered throughout the stacks are serials focusing on topics such as religion, agriculture, temperance, crafts, abolitionism, vegetarianism, reform, anti-masonry, art, or women. There is one periodical that is unlike any other in the collection, ...
Recently my high-school-aged daughter was working on a final paper for her English class. She was writing about Edgar Allan Poe, comparing the vault setting of “The Cask of Amontillado" with the quiet library used in the poem “The Raven.” She asked me to proofread her paper and to check her bibliography (I was a ...
The Past is Present posting for April 8th about timing told of a volume of a periodical that got away from AAS despite the urging of Marcus McCorison. This was the National Magazine published in Richmond, Virginia and Washington D.C. in 1799-1800 by James Lyon. He was a Vermont printer who fled the state. Mr. ...
The American Antiquarian Society has a large number of periodicals and newspapers of which only a single issue was printed before they folded. There are a variety of reasons for why this might be. Sometimes issue no. 1 is really a prospectus trying to generate interest and subscribers, but failing in this mission. Often it ...
In the next couple of months, Past is Present will be highlighting a number of gifts received in honor of the American Antiquarian Society’s bicentennial. Remember, there is still time to join the group of bicentennial donors. It continues to surprise me when I talk with people who are laboring under the misconception that AAS focuses ...
