Once again, we Americans are in love with our recent past. For several decades, we’ve been recycling the fashions of our parents. (Even, yes, the fashions of the 1980s.) And for about that […]
Eureka!
Since our acquisition last fall of the Dr. Elliott and Eileen Hinkes Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science, we’ve heard from students, faculty, and alumni, all of […]
The Crystal Palace/Great Exhibition of 1851
“As the day of the opening of the Great Exhibition approaches, the interest of the public of this and other countries increases in intensity with regard to it. The fairy-like […]
Name That Text
What canonical American author penned the following lines, and what is the story called? The other day, having a leisure hour at my disposal, I stept into a new museum, […]
Get Ready, Set, Go to Book Fest 2011!
Calling all bibliophiles! Calling all bibliomaniacs! Heck, calling anyone looking for a good time in lovely Mount Vernon Square (hey — not that type of good time, buddy)! The supreme meeting for all things […]
Daily Miracles: Science in Everyday Life
If you’re heading off to a biology class anytime soon, thank Jan Amos Komenský. If you’ve ever taken a painkiller, thank François Magendie. And if you’ve ever been entertained by […]
Make ‘Em Laugh!
Did you hear the one about two German teenagers who opened a publishing house in Baltimore? Nope, this is not the set up to some real bad joke involving lederhosen […]
Western Depictions of Crime and Punishment in Late Imperial China
Recently, we have digitized a collection of 51 images on crime and punishment in late Imperial China, gleaned from the 19th century Westerners’ China travelogues housed at the Department of […]
On Escapology, Contortionism, Pantomime and Magic Lanterns: Victorian Popular Culture
“I was born—that fact is undisputed and undisputable. I make no apology for that! but I apologise for appearing before you in the character of an autobiographist. I never wrote a […]
By George, the Past Was Strange!
Hopkins’ very own George Peabody Library is well-known for its stunning architecture and important literary collections, but did you know that it is also a time capsule of sorts, revealing […]