Humanities and Social Sciences

Debuting at this years Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will be a 48-foot tall balloon titled Figure with Heart by the late artist Keith Haring.

The balloon is based on Haring's ink on paper drawing, Untitled (Figure with Heart), 1987 and will be part of the Macy's Parade's Blue Sky Gallery series, which aims to "inject contemporary art into a pop culture phenomenon". (Pop Art In The Sky)

The Blue Sky Gallery series began in 2005 with Humpty Dumpty by Tom Otterness, preceded by “Rabbit” by Jeff Koons in 2007.

To learn more about the artist Keith Haring visit the Library and look through our books in CATNYP, as well as go to the Keith Haring Foundation website at www.haring.com

Also take a walk down to Houston Street and Bowery to look at a recreation of a mural done by Haring in the summer of 1982. All in celebration of what would have been his 50th Birthday. So, Cheers to Keith and a Happy Thanksgiving to all…

Voltaire the author and father of the French Enlightenment—we know about him, of course. But this influential philosopher also loved handmade work.
Voltaire has a place in my heart, and I have devoted time as a librarian to cataloguing eighteenth-century books in The Martin J. Gross Collection of works by Voltaire and his contemporaries for the Library’s Rare Book Division. And so, on this most special of days, I want to share with you the following excerpt, from Voltaire’s Philosophical Dictionary, which illustrates his appreciation for the handmade:

“Physical experiments, ably conducted, arts and handicraft—these are the true philosophy. My sage…is he who, with his shuttle, covers my walls with pictures of linen or of silk, brilliant with the finest colors; or he who puts into my pocket a chronometer of silver or of gold.”

You’ll find this in the entry for Xenophanes (page 271, v. 7, in a 1901 edition of Voltaire’s collected works).

Happy Birthday, Voltaire!

(Image from NYPL Digital Gallery)

I'm so pleased to be able to tell you, at last, all about a project that has been consuming me this fall at NYPL. This amazing project that I've been lucky enough to work on is a series of small documentaries following five talented local artists as they gather inspiration for their work at the New York Public Library. It's co-produced by Grace Bonney of leading design site Design*Sponge and my Library colleagues in the Digital Experience Group. The first episode is now out, and you can watch here:

I'll continue to post news about the series here, so stay tuned. You can also visit the Design by the Book homepage for more information, including links to each artist's site.

My colleague Susan Waide put me onto the illustrations you see here and in my next post. They’re all advertising illustrations by M.C. Woodbury, executed between 1920 and 1922, for the McCallum Hosiery Company in Northhampton, Massachusetts. I love them for their period feel, and for what they say about fashion advertising in the U.S. at that time.

We’ve grown so used to lingerie ads that are filled with sexual angst, or at least that’s what I remember from fashion magazines since I was young, and still see today. What strikes me about these two ads is the sweetness portrayed in the imagery. A modish, obviously style-conscious young woman is featured, while one of her stockings is in peril from a precocious bird or kitten. A boudoir setting is implied, but the overall effect is one of whimsy. Such illustrations say a lot about the marketing outlook of advertising and manufacturing companies.

In this case, there’s a charm and an innocence that will eventually get lost in the process of product selling. The advertising staff for McCallum are counting on the feminine delight in a luxury such as a silk stocking. Their slogan appears as a caption, “You just know she wears them.” And so the process begins of linking desire with need.  read more »

What better way to kick off your election night then an evening in the DeWitt Wallace Periodical Room – relax, listen to great new writers introduced by their editors, join us for a glass of wine afterward, all still with plenty of time to catch the election results. The line up begins with Editor Thaddeus Rutkowski (Many Mountains Moving) introducing fiction writer Jon Swan, followed by Levi Rubeck (Washington Square) introducing poet Elisa Gabbert and wrapping up with Michael Vazquez (Bidoun) introducing non fiction writer Anand Balakrishnan. Periodically Speaking showcases NYPL’s great collection of contemporary literary magazines. Lots of librarians have worked on building the collection over the years and for awhile now I've been doing it - lucky me! So - come back (either in person or at www.nypl.org) and check out the vast holdings of literary magazines, poetry titles, small & alternative press materials of all kinds!
Tonight the reading begins at 6:00 pm at The Humanities and Social Sciences Library – 5th Ave and 42nd St.

← A Rich Display of Chrysanthemums (Image from NYPL Digital Gallery)

The chrysanthemum, which "occupies the sovereign position in autumn," has particular pride of place in Japanese culture. The blossoms can be spotted on the Japanese royal crest, in elaborate floral arrangements, at mealtimes as an edible accompaniment, and as an element in Japanese design. And for the next few weeks, chrysanthemums take center stage at the New York Botanical Garden. Until November 16th, visitors to the New York Botanical Garden can take in Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Chrysanthemum.

In addition to the impressive flowers themselves--be sure to see the four Imperial styles of chrysanthemum arrangements, including the type pictured above in which each plant produces just a single, brillant blossom--don't neglect to take in an accompanying small exhibition of chrysanthemums in art. Of all of the lovely objects included in this display, I was especially drawn to a number of delicately executed stencils in paper and silk used to decorate textiles.

After admiring these stencils, I returned to the Library and found books of Japanese stencil patterns from the late 19th century (in Stencils of Old Japan and The Book of Delightful and Strange Designs). These patterns remain inspiring and inviting to the eye today, and I'm pondering what I might use these patterns for in the future. To learn more about Japanese stencil work, I'd also recommend Japanese Design through Textile Patterns (which devotes an entire chapter to the chrysanthemum) and Carved Paper: The Art of the Japanese Stencil.

In addition to the sheep-peeping I did in Michigan earlier this month, I also took in some beautiful tilework made by Detroit's own Pewabic Pottery. As I learned when touring the stunning Guardian Building in downtown Detroit (with its richly glazed Pewabic Pottery ceiling tiles), Pewabic Pottery was founded on Arts and Crafts principles over one hundred years ago, and buildings throughout Detroit (and across the country as well) boast examples of its tiles and mosaics.

← The Detroit Skyline (Image from NYPL Digital Gallery)

Pewabic Pottery remains a prominent creative force in the teaching, exhibition, installation, and craftsmanship of pottery today. Pewabic Pottery's site has plenty of images of its work (click on the Design Studio tab). You can also peruse The Arts and Crafts Movement in Michigan: 1886-1906 and The Pewabic Pottery at the Library if you want to read, learn, and see more. And the National Park Service includes Pewabic Pottery in its recommended Detroit itinerary. As for me, I'm going to head to the 34th Street/Herald Square subway station, which has an installation of tiles from Pewabic Pottery!

Last weekend I took a trip to Michigan for a few days. A highlight of the trip was a visit to a farm museum in Dearborn--Greenfield Village. The place itself is more than farm, however; it's an odd and bustling tribute to Henry Ford's vision of American ingenuity and inventiveness, with some traditional technologies like farming, milling, wool carding, and pottery mixed in. (The Library has plenty of books about Greenfield Village and its history available if you are interested in this open-air museum's collection.)

I will be the first to admit that I am a farm museum junkie. I love greeting the cows and sheep, and learning about agricultural history and heirloom plants. These places also allow you to get a bit closer than one usually does in daily life to the sources of what we eat and what we wear. Here's one of the many friendly and woolly sheep at Greenfield (that's a 19th c. cider mill in the background).

And speaking of wool, a Greenfield guide stationed in a 17th c. American farmhouse demonstrated wool dying techniques of that time. And another staff member kindly explained how not one but two different types of spinning wheels worked. I was especially grateful to her for this demonstration, because I've been reading about spinning wheels in Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's excellent The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth and I have been struggling to picture how just how they worked. Now I understand, thanks to this kind guide.

In a final wool-related note, I spent my last Michigan morning at the wonderful City Knits. I came home with some soft sage green Shepherd's Wool from Michigan-based Stonehedge Farm and Fiber Mill.

New York State Political Elections, ca. 1850

Those who know me well may think I'm stuck on confections in general, but with the presidential election less than two weeks away, I cannot think of a more appropriate juncture to discuss the inauguration of election cake into American culture. And what would such an examination be without sharing a few traditional recipes found in NYPL's collection!

The birthplace of election cake can be traced back to the gubernatorial elections held in Hartford, Connecticut as early as 1660 when English colonies, Connecticut and Rhode Island, were granted the right to elect their own governors—long before the Revolutionary War began in 1775. Some primary evidence of the cake's existence is found at the Connecticut Historical Society, which holds the Colonial Records of Connecticut. These papers show that in May 1771, a man named Ezekial Williams submitted a bill to the Connecticut General Assembly to be reimbursed for the cost of making election cake for the colonial capital’s public festivities (also known as “Election Day Drinkings”). Historians have come to believe that election cake was adapted from yeast breads of that period popular in England.  read more »

Literary magazine aficionados, myself included, will meet up in the DeWitt Wallace Periodical Room at HSSL as Periodically Speaking returns on Tuesday, October 14th. It’s a thrill to begin our 4th season hosting the series, which aims to connect editors, writers, readers, librarians, and lovers of literature & lit mags with each other, and the Library’s one-of-a-kind collection. Each evening highlights three periodicals, with editors of each introducing an emerging writer. The cool thing to me about Periodically Speaking is that not only do you get to hear some wonderful new literary voices and editor’s talk about their journals (which I love!) but that it happens in an incredibly beautiful public space – the Periodicals Room. Don’t miss it and stay afterward for the reception!

First up is Slice Magazine - in this new Brooklyn based journal, editors Maria Gagliano and Celia Johnson create dialogue between emerging and established writers. A new issue just out (# 3) titled “In translation”, includes interviews with Salman Rusdie and Kathryn Harrison and a story by Patricia Engel, an exciting (and emerging) young writer and a Periodically Speaking alum! Celia and Maria will introduce fiction writer William Giraldi. Inkwell Journal focuses on publishing emerging writers and sponsors yearly competitions in fiction & poetry. It comes out twice a year from Manhattanville College. Editor Autumn Kindelspire will introduce poet Eugenie Juliet Theall. And last (but most certainly not least) is Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas. This is the leading journal publishing Latin American writing in translation, was founded in 1968 and has published a who’s who of Latin American writers – Mario Vargas Llosa, Alejo Carpentier and Gabriel Garcia Marquez among them. Editor Daniel Shapiro will introduce the nonfiction writer Araceli Tinajero.

Do you know how a gramophone acts? (Image from NYPL Digital Gallery)

Last Thursday, instead of making myself squirm through the vice-presidential debate as it unfolded live, I went to a concert. The musician Andrew Bird played the Tarrytown Music Hall, and his haunting, looping violin (combined with glockenspiel, guitar, voice, and whistling) filled the room with mesmerizing and sweeping sounds. The performance was unforgettable; I've never seen such an impressive and complex one-man show.

But even before the musician took the stage, I was rapt, because standing in readiness on the stage were four luminous sculptural forms that appeared to be a marriage between gramophones and human-sized flowers. What could they be? Luckily, Mr. Bird anticipated audience curiosity and introduced them to us. These one-of-a-kind custom creations are speakers created by Ian Schneller, who makes musical instruments by hand at his studio, Specimen Products. Schneller's work is featured in Hand Made, Hand Played: The Art & Craft of Contemporary Guitars by Robert Shaw, whose previous books include America's Traditional Crafts.

Schneller's speakers filled the hall with sound, while their glowing and undulating surfaces also contributed to the atmosphere of the Hall. You can view these stunning speakers in action here. And here, you can see the extra-large horn speaker as it is created, step by step.

The Milstein Division will be offering Digital Gotham this afternoon at 3:15 in the South Court classrooms which are located in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library. Digital Gotham is a free class that explores online resources on New York City history. This hands-on class will introduce myriad resources—from digitized newspapers, magazines, and books to photographs, menus, and maps—many of which are available from your own desktop.

Digital Gotham is open to the public and requires no preregistration. However, seats are available on a first-come-first serve basis, so we encourage you to come five to ten minutes before the class begins. We look forward to seeing you there!
 
 

The French word ‘couture’ represents needlework or sewing. The couture designer uses a toile, made in muslin or fine linen, from which the made-to-measure proportions were devised. France has a union called the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture with rules and regulations for how couture houses are to be staffed and when they exhibit their lines.

I recall reading in The Fashion Conspiracy that the absolute “prize” element of a couture garment was that it would be made from scratch for a client, require fittings so that her measurements were exactly determined, and would usually have an entire under-body created to support the exterior design in fabric. A couture client often has to endure numerous fittings in the shop, or in her hotel room, should she have flown to Paris for her shopping.

In this respect, the couture wearer is clad in a one-off; no one else will have a garment quite like hers, and she earns its uniqueness by enduring the labor-intensive work that allows her to become the item’s possessor. No wonder, then, that fashion designers of the later twentieth century needed to launch ready-to-wear labels or “brands” in order to make their fortunes. Therefore, haute couture is the idealization, the bespoke aspect of fashion culture. The entire fashion industry is built around delivering the (delusional) dream of a unique garment for its wearers. Only real, existing haute couture provides that dream, however.

And for my favorite way to peek in at Parisian fashion, especially the recent shows, go to www.pretparis.com.

Jacques Doucet, grandson of the founder of the House of Doucet in Paris, was a spirited champion of the new Art Deco style. Doucet was a remarkable art connoisseur and collector of eighteenth century and contemporary French arts. By the time he became active in the firm, around 1874, his encyclopedic knowledge of historic dress expressed itself in fashion references in couture garments. Although in the 1920s he was aging and his couture house merged with another lesser firm, and eventually closed, he never lost touch with foreseeing the needs of the French luxury goods market.

Doucet’s championing of the emerging Art Deco style was manifested in his support for artists working in that mode, like the bookbinder Pierre Legraine. Yet he remains better known as an exponent of the “opulent era.” In 1984, he finally received the weighty biography he deserved. As a teacher and mentor, however, he was unparalleled. Doucet also understood that France needed to rise above the devastation of the first World War. His patronage of the arts meant a great deal to struggling painters attempting to get back on their feet.

Tomorrow, a most intriguing exhibition opens at The Museum of the City of New York. Entitled “Paris/New York Design, Fashion, Culture 1925-1940,” is housed in the museum’s new pavilion gallery for temporary exhibitions. There are sure to be stunning objects on display, so plan like me to head up there very soon. I’ll just put on those armorial gladiator ankle boots and go…

Check out the new NYPL exhibition, Art Deco Design: Rhythm and Verve, on view at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library (5th Ave. and 42nd St.) until January 11, 2009.

Art Deco's Couturier Patrons, Part 1 »

According to an article in The Guardian this week, the University of Manchester Library will begin a project to digitize The Forme of Cury, a rare 14th century cookbook compiled by King Richard II's royal chefs.

The Forme of Cury is considered the oldest known cookery book written in English (cury is the Middle English word for cookery), and the digitization project, which will include other treasures such as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, should be completed by 2009.

While the New York Public Library does not have the original 1390 book (it's on my wish list!), we do have a 1790 version of the book in the Rare Books Division. That London imprint is also available digitally through Eighteenth Century Collections online, one of our electronic resources. Lorna Sass' To the king's taste: Richard II's book of feasts and recipes adapted for modern cooking, a 1977 monograph that takes some of Forme's recipes and adapts them for modern usage, is also in our collection.

For more background on this historic book, one can read the short, but informative, essay featured on the British Library website.

The British Library's site also features some of Forme's recipes, such as the one printed below. And although Joan Nathan doesn't mention this dish in any of her cookbooks, the blend of honey and wine would make an interesting (and very different!) Rosh Hashana dish.

Tostee XX.IIII. XIII.

Take wyne and hony and found it togyder and skym it clene. and seeþ it long, do þerto powdour of gyngur. peper and salt, tost brede and lay the sew þerto. kerue pecys of gyngur and flour it þerwith and messe it forth.

Take wine and honey and mix it together and skim it clean. And seethe (boil) it for a long time, and add to it powdered ginger, pepper and salt. Toast bread and lay it thereto. Carve pieces of ginger, and flour it therewith, and serve it forth.

Forget Restaurant Week, October is Restaurant Month at the New York Public Library, with three public programs that explore the past and the future of restaurant culture.

We start things off on October 10th with Spain's master molecular gastronomist Ferran Adria discussing A Day at elBulli - a new book that documents a day in the life at Adria's restaurant. From dawn until way past dusk, A Day at... gives readers a way to experience elBulli without having to make a reservation.

Farewell to Quenelles: Changing Restaurant Culture in New York, will be held on October 15th, and will bring together food writers and scholars Paul Freedman, Laura Shapiro, Krishnendu Ray, and Josh Ozersky to discuss New York City's culinary past, present and future. The panel discussion will be moderated by Mitchell Davis, the Vice President of the James Beard Foundation. A small exhibit featuring some menus from the Library's collection will be put together by Yours Truly.

Finally, on Wednesday, October 29th, Alinea chef -- and James Beard Outstanding Chef of 2008 winner -- Grant Achatz will discuss science, technology, and food with Nathan Myhrvold. According to the Library's website, this event is sold out, but you can still buy tickets for the live telecast held right near the auditorium.

The croq I'm talking about is from the Pacific Northwest, NOT the Nile! (Image from NYPL Digital Gallery)

NYPL has been collecting zines for a number of years, and these homegrown periodicals powerfully document both popular culture and literary trends. In the world of the handmade, Croq is a zine worth close reading. As explained on its website, Croq's "focus is the DIY crafty community with a craftivism edge," and editor Heather Mann strives to provide an ambitious but welcoming mix of how-to articles, critical commentary, interviews, guidance, and book/zine reviews. I am very happy to announce that NYPL has a complete run of all of the issues so far (and that we will continue to purchase issues as they come out). So come on in and immerse yourself in the world of Croq and the rest of the zine collection at NYPL!

A kimono from 1910. (Image from NYPL Digital Gallery)

A few months ago I spent some holiday time among the rows of lovely and unusual fabrics at H. Kimura, an unassuming little fabric shop with an overwhelming selection in Kealakekua, Hawaii (my thanks to my sister for taking me there!). This shop was well stocked with Japanese cotton prints like the chrysanthemum cotton print in the detail below, which I made into a Walkaway Dress (Butterick 6015).

I've been fond of Japanese patterns for many years, and I am grateful that there are sources closer to home than H. Kimura where I can easily get at them. One shop in New York is City Quilter, and a spot online with plenty of irresistible Japanese offerings is Reprodepot.

But if you want to read up on the art and the history of Japanese fabrics and textile design, I'd recommend turning to the Library. NYPL's Humanities & Social Sciences Research Library has dozens of illustrated books and exhibition catalogs to browse through. And don't forget about the Digital Gallery, with its many samples of Japanese textiles digitized and ready for browsing online.

Image from the NYPL Digital Gallery, Ca. 1870
While some married couples uphold the tradition of freezing the remaining pieces of their wedding cake (often the very top tier or the slice the bride and groom fed to each other during the reception) to be enjoyed again on the celebration of the first wedding anniversary; it didn’t quite go that way in my home. In fact, I made room for it right in my fridge, and my husband and I continued to carve away at for just about a week until we were thoroughly weary of it. As we mark our third anniversary this week, we’ve been reminiscing about the sinful goodness of our hazelnut crème-filled cake with espresso-flavored icing from that late summer evening. This provoked the brief research I conducted on American wedding cakes of yesteryear...  read more »

The New York Public Library usually offers curatorial and subject-related lectures about its exhibitions. “Art Deco Design: Rhythm and Verve” has a series of three talks on offer. All of these will be held in the Main Library’s South Court Classrooms from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. on the following days:

Art Deco Design: Rhythm and Verve – September 16 and October 23

Art Deco New York – September 23 and October 30 (I’m doing this with colleague Vinny Rutigliano of Art & Architecture; he teaches the popular class on Researching A New York City Building)

Fashions of the Art Deco Era – October 7 and November 6

And this fall’s Researching Costume and Fashion History classes will be held from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the South Court Classrooms on September 26 and October 31 (Halloween!).

I believe sincerely in the principle of educational entertainment, so come attend one or more of these events. We’ll have a good time!

And what about New York Fashion Week so far? Well, I’m glad that the designers were listening to us media critics. There is a welcome range of diversity in the women models this year. I did notice, however, that the trend toward bone thin male models is still in full throttle. Of course, the men’s wear on show has slim lines and appears more tight-fitting, same as last year. Colors look good, but nothing has wowed me yet. I’m thinking hemlines look shorter than I expected for a recessionary time, but let’s see what actually hits the stores in the next month or two. Check it out for yourself, and we’ll compare notes next week.