#library getaway

From the  Z. Taylor Vinson collection of transportation ephemera (Accession 20100108.ZTV), in Hagley’s Published Collections. You can view more pages from this catalog at our Digital Archives. 

How fortuitous that the #librariesofinstagram challenge for August is #boatsinthelibrary! We just photographed some items from our Melville collection last month--and it was, after all, his birthday yesterday. This dainty vessel is stamped on the cover of OMOO, which we also featured for the #librarygetaway challenge. #giltypleasures [Herman Melville. Omoo : a narrative of adventures in the south seas. London, John Murray, 1847. Collection of the Rosenbach, AL1.M531o 847a v. 1&2.] (at Rosenbach Museum & Library)

This Saturday, July 22, would be the 141th birthday of Rosenbach founder and rare book dealer A. S. W. Rosenbach--pictured here in quintuplicate! This unusual postcard, though never mailed, was an Atlantic City boardwalk souvenir (hence the #LibraryGetaway connection). Called "multigraphs," these novelty images were created by photographing a sitter in front of two angled mirrors so they appear to be seated with their own clones. If we had one made, we wouldn't mail it either. #cloneclub [Novelty multigraph photographic postcard depicting five images of A.S.W Rosenbach seated around a table. Myers-Cope Co., Atlantic City, NJ. c. 1910. Collection of the Rosenbach, 1994.0002.] (at Rosenbach Museum & Library)

We're still in a vacation state of mind after the holiday, so we love the July #ig_libraries challenge: #LibraryGetaway. This week's super relaxing vacation spot: Brighton Beach, 1835! Ladies, send your husbands off to the men's beach and climb aboard your bathing machine. Once you've been wheeled out into the ocean, you can change into your bathing costume, dip your unwilling children into the water (it's good for them!), and battle waves in relative modesty. Sounds very peaceful. [George Cruikshank, AUGUST–Bathing at Brighton. For The Comic Almanack for 1836. London: Charles Tilt, 1835. Collection of the Rosenbach, 1954.1880.3252.] (at Rosenbach Museum & Library)

What says #LibraryGetaway more than a passport? This one belonged to Charles Dodgson, as noted in the lower left corner. He used it on his only trip outside of Britain: accompanying the Dean of a St. Paul's College, Oxford, on a month-long sojourn in Russia with stops in France and Germany. Philadelphians who wish to see the world through Lewis Carroll's eyes should join us for this Friday's Hands-On Tour! rosenbach.org/calendar/hands-on-tours [Charles Dodgson’s passport. 1867. Collection of the Rosenbach, EL3 .D645 MS3.] (at Rosenbach Museum & Library)