#lcpseminars

Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, there's still time to register for our upcoming seminar, Victorian Sweets: Exoticism & Agrarianism in Local Confectionery!  

Using 19th-century advertisements, photos, packaging, and broadsides from the Library Company of Philadelphia’s rich collections, experts from The Franklin Fountain & Shane Confectionery will explore the written & visual culture of the 19th-century confectionery trades. 

There’s still time to register for our upcoming seminar, Mirror of a City: Images of Philadelphia, 1780-1950, taking place September 26, October 10, and October 24.

Join Library Company curators Sarah Weatherwax and Erika Piola for this three-part seminar, in which attendees will examine the pivotal role of Philadelphia in creating the visual culture of the nation as a center for printmaking, photography, and collecting. Sessions will explore the social, cultural, and technological influences affecting Philadelphia image making; the known, hidden, and forgotten image makers; and the changing aesthetics of the physical city, as well as tastes of those who notably collected all manner of Philadelphia imagery. Seminar attendees will also gain knowledge about the evolution of the Library’s graphic collections, as well as have hands-on experiences with specimens of early photography, including daguerreotypes and stereographs.

We’re excited to share the latest episode of the Library Company’s podcast Talking in the Library: Season 1, Episode 4: Benjamin Franklin and Immigration with Dr. Carla Mulford.

In this episode, the Library Company’s Director of Scholarly Innovation, Dr. Will Fenton, speaks with former Library Company fellow, Dr. Carla J. Mulford, Professor of  English at Penn State University and the Founding President of the Society of Early Americanists.

Dr. Mulford has published widely in the field of early American studies; however, Benjamin Franklin has been her preoccupation for over 25 years. In fact, she has published over 20 articles and book chapters on Franklin, in addition to The Cambridge Companion to Benjamin Franklin (2008) and Benjamin Franklin and the Ends of  Empire (Oxford University Press, 2015). In spring 2019, Dr. Mulford led the Library Company seminar "Benjamin Franklin and  Immigration," which considered how Franklin's ideas about immigrants and immigration evolved as his career moved from being a colonial leader in Philadelphia to a citizen of the world.

Talking in the Library is also available for streaming on SoundCloud, ITunes, and Google Play.

Register today for a very special political cartoon seminar with Will Fenton and  Pulitzer Prize winner Signe Wilkinson, plus other guests. It’ll be a rare opportunity to explore some of the Library Company’s favorite visual treasures, including this ole thing. The fun begins next week!