Southwestern University Special Collections

Bird’s eye view from Hotel Galvez.

This is a photograph of the beachfront from Hotel Galvez in Galveston, Texas. This photograph was taken ca. 1911. 

Did you know there’s a play called Hamilton? No, not that one, this one, the 1918 Hamilton co-authored by George Arliss, a well-known English film and theatre actor of the first half of the 20th century. Based on our admittedly hurried perusal of this play, we don’t think the Broadway smash has anything to worry about. A sample line:

HAMILTON: Yes, we have a Treasury, but we haven’t any treasure. How’s the gout?

This #MiniatureMonday feature is an uncatalogued mystery. It’s more intriguing than Mary Poppin’s suitcase, with itty bitty scrolls, books and envelopes emerging from a tiny box.

Even more mysterious is the fact that none of the scrolls, books, or envelopes contain any text. Maybe it’s all written in invisible ink?

-Hannah

Album of Cloud, anonymous artist. Attributed to Mr. Flowery Valley, circa 1966-1977.

This is a book of paintings made by an anonymous student of painting when he was 77 years old.  Each painting has a short piece of a longer poem next to it. I wish that I read Japanese so that I knew what it said! At least we can appreciate the beautiful art that accompanies it. This picture reminded me a little of the good old Pacific northwest.

The Mughals of India were proud descendants of two celebrated Mongol world conquerors, Chingiz [Genghis] Khan and Timur. After Timur’s descendant Babur (d.1530) killed the Sultan of Delhi he established the Mughal dynasty, which survived until 1857.

Mughal court artists often communicated a monarch’s triumphs through depictions of hunting, demonstrating their moral and spiritual supremacy over wild beasts. 

Last week we described how conservators in the BKM conservation lab have been combining analytical techniques to identify and map indigo blue pigments without sampling. As we mentioned in our earlier post, we have also been using Visible-Induced Luminescence imaging to map the presence of Egyptian blue on ancient Egyptian objects.

Ordinarily when we image Egyptian blue, we have a clear map of the pigments, such as on these two funerary stelae we recently photographed (above). Bright white regions correspond to the use of Egyptian blue. In some cases, however, the results are a bit more subtle. On the footcase we spoke about last week, the traces of Egyptian blue pigment are very faint. Although there is only a small amount of the pigment in the paint mixtures and it is highly dispersed, they shine brightly like stars in the sky and are identifiable. You just need to zoom in quite closely to really get an idea of where the pigment particles are located.

Looking at the image above, we can see that there is Egyptian blue concentrated on the figure at the right. When zooming out on the overall image, we also saw it in the outlines of the feet, and in certain stripes and border elements. Indeed, the stripes that appear the same color as the slightly reddish-pink of the right hand figure appear to contain similar amounts of Egyptian blue, while in the other striped border elements Egyptian blue is notably absent. When comparing this to the indigo image from last week, we see some interesting patterns!

The blue bands outlining the feet, and the decorative bands below the prisoners, as well as the star banner across the top contain both indigo and Egyptian blue. The indigo regions in the top and bottom corners (seen in white in the image above), however, do not contain Egyptian blue. In some areas, there are a few scattered particles of Egyptian blue, such as in the hair. This is a bit more difficult to interpret as it may be traces of pigment in the brush or possibly a purposefully applied under layer.

In any case, this is an excellent example of how complex paint and pigment analysis can be—and we’ve only been talking about the blues and blue mixtures, not to mention the remainder of colorants on this fascinating footcase!

Peter Pan’s A.B.C is one of the many existing adaptations of the original story written by J.M Barrie. This adaptation was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1913 which was two years after the original novel, Peter and Wendy, and nine years after the publishing of the original play, Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. Interestingly, this novel is speculated to be unauthorized due to the lack of credit given to J.M Barrie on the cover and throughout the book. The ambiguity of this adaptation continues with the widely undocumented illustrator, Flora White, as well as the unknown identity of the author.  

Unlike the largely black and white illustrations found in Peter and Wendy, Peter Pan’s A.B.C contains 24 fully colored illustrations. These illustrations not only help the young reader comprehend the story, but also aid children in learning the alphabet. White’s illustrations are viewed as indicative of perspectives of culture and the stereotypes surrounding characters such as pirates and native people in early 20th century London (i.e feathered head dresses and furs). While the target audience may be young readers, these detailed and often insightful illustrations are something that the adult reader can appreciate. The original novel structure of Peter and Wendy has been transformed into a brief narrative followed by short rhyming sequences that correspond with each of the alphabet letters and the 24 illustrations.

These rich images, large print text, and playful rhymes draw in a younger audience and also create a sense of enchantment for the adult reader. In fact, the wide appeal of this novel is indicated by the mark of ownership that is found in the front of this physical copy of the book. It appears to have been given to someone as a gift years ago.

-Lydia Belezos, sophomore

References:

Diab, Vanessa, Stephen Hanbury, and Tammy Leung. “Peter Pan’s ABC: An Illustrated Alphabet.” Project Gallery - Children’s Literature Archive - Ryerson University. N.p., Fall 2010. Web. Nov. 2016. http://www.ryerson.ca/childrenslit/group8.html

An engine telegraph–in motion!

This device was the go-between for the officer who controls navigation and the one who handles engine control. As the lever is moved, a loud bell sounds, and the responding officer makes any necessary changes within his department. 

Image: Theodor Geisel in his home work room in La Jolla, Calif., in 1957. (Gene Lester/Getty Images)

Decades before he became a best-selling children’s book author, Dr. Seuss, a.k.a. Theodor Geisel, created a series of sculptures he called his “Unorthodox Taxidermy.” Using real horns, beaks and antlers, he fashioned whimsical creatures which look like they jumped right out of his books.

Sweater weather has finally arrived—ward off the autumnal chill with a colorful cardigan or pullover with pizzazz.

“Woman’s Sweater Jacket,” Fall 1992, designed by Emanuel Ungaro

“Woman’s Sweater,” c. 1985, designed by Kansai Yamamoto

“Man’s University of Pennsylvania Sweater,” 1896, America

“Woman’s Cardigan Sweater,” 1950s, America

“Woman’s Sweater,” c. 1992, designed by Susan Summa

“Man’s Reversible Sweater Jacket,” 1990s, designed by Jean Paul Gaultier

“Dressed in his uniform marking service in the first World War, this veteran enters the Santa Anita assembly center for persons of Japanese ancestry evacuated from the west coast.” This is the original caption to this photo, taken in Arcadia, California, on April 5, 1942.

The attack on Pearl Harbor launched a rash of fear about national security, especially on the West Coast. In February 1942, just two months after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt as commander-in-chief, issued Executive Order 9066, which had the effect of relocating all persons of Japanese ancestry, both citizens and aliens, inland, outside of the Pacific military zone.

Roosevelt’s order affected 117,000 people of Japanese descent, two-thirds of whom were native-born citizens of the United States. Within weeks, all persons of Japanese ancestry–whether citizens or enemy aliens, young or old, rich or poor–were ordered to assembly centers near their homes. Soon they were sent to permanent relocation centers outside the restricted military zones. (Read more here: http://bit.ly/2ghV2PB)

gorgon:

noun | gor·gon | ɡôrɡən

In ancient Greek mythology, a hideous female demon with snake hair. Medusa, the most famous gorgon, was capable of turning anyone who gazed at her into stone. 

Ahoy! It’s another #MiniatureMonday!

This micro-miniature book THE CAPTAIN’S MAP by Pat Sweet contains a map of Robert Louis Stevenson’s TREASURE ISLAND, along with lines from the original text. The book is the size of my finger, so I don’t know how useful it would be if you were trying to navigate the big blue sea, but it’s definitely a unique little treasure in our collections!

- Hannah

Charlotte Smith Miniature Collection N7433.4 .S885 C36 2010

Material: pulled

Hands: washed

Pen: out

Alice’s Adventures Through Time

Alice In Wonderland, Grossett & Dunlap, 1957

Alice in Wonderland (also known as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland) has been popular since its inception in 1865. There have been a variety of adaptations, from various different illustrations to alterations of the text. The story has not just survived, but also thrived in the past 150 years. From spin-offs to movies to colorful pop-up books, the illogical, imaginative adventures of Alice have been enjoyed by all ages throughout all this time. The particular Alice book in question is a 1957 version illustrated by Maraja that stays true to the original text by Lewis Carroll. Libico Maraja was a popular Italian post-war illustrator. He was well-known for his works on classic stories such as Alice in Wonderland and Peter and Wendy.

His drawings are rather realistic for a children’s novel, especially compared to some other Alice illustrations kept in special collections. The pictures, while colorful, are often made up of quieter, duller colors, as opposed to bright ones that might draw in a young reader. The text however, is very plain and large, making it easier for a child to read, and the book itself is larger in size, most likely to be easily handled by a child. I also noted that there was at least one illustration on every page of the book, including even the back cover. From Alice growing big and small, the tea party with the mad hatter, and playing croquet with flamingos, every infamous Alice scene is depicted beautiful and detailed drawings.

-Abby Morrison,

References:

Turnbull Bindings:  Dos-à-dos

Dos-à-dos (French for ‘back-to-back’) is a novelty style of bookbinding where two books are bound back to back using three boards, with the middle board shared as the lower board of each book. It was typically used for small devotional books from the 16th century onwards (Oxford Companion to the Book, 2:678).

This 17th-century dos-à-dos binding is comprised of canvas boards, embroidered with gold and silver threads and coloured silks. The raised, silver-framed central medallion on both covers contains a large red and blue embroidered flower with variegated leaves. The spines are similarly decorated with flowers in silver and the gilt fore-edges gauffered with design of interlocking curves. 

Acquired by the Turnbull from Sokol Books, London, 2007.