![Decorative illustration in an Irish manuscript of Ossianic verse (1836). [Page 77.]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyzb9rcBOp1qzhkp0o1_500.jpg)
Decorative illustration in an Irish manuscript of Ossianic verse (1836). [Page 77.]
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February62012
January62012
From: Missale Romanum : Ex Decreto Sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini Restitutum S. Pii V. jussu editum, Clementis Viii et urbani papae octavi auctoritate recognitum (1773), page 48.
November222011
We hope you have a delicious and happy Thanksgiving if you’re in the U.S. and a happy week wherever you are! :)
Image of a “Modern Home” from: The complete home: an encyclopedia of domestic life and affairs; the household in its foundation, order, economy … ; a volume of practical experiences popularly illustrated by Mrs. Julia McNair Wright (1883).
November152011
“The Camelopard” by Jack B. Yeats, from A Broadside, for May 1909.
Cuala Press Broadside Collection, Villanova University Digital Library.
Personally, I’d love to take my “camelopard” for a stroll through town! (Camelopard is the archaic English name for giraffe, derived from its Latin name camelopardis — so-called because of the giraffe’s resemblance to leopards (spots) and camels (face).)
Our latest submission to “Pets in Collections”. This is probably my favorite item in our collection — I love any excuse to show it off! :D
September192011
Ahoy, mateys, have a look at this here pirate booty from our Digital Library! These pictures be drawn by a landlubber by the name of Jack Yeats.
1. “A View of Pirate Island” from Jack B. Yeats: His Pictorial and Dramatic Art (1911) by Ernest Marriott.
2. “A Youthful Pirate” from A Broadside (August 1908).
3. “The Pirate Sentry” from A Broadside (December 1911).
4. “Theodore the Pirate” from A Broadside (May 1910).
August122011
“Any traveller in the North of Ireland who does not see the Giant’s Causeway is certain to be regarded as not quite right in his mind. As our friends were all in the possession of their sober senses, they arranged to visit this wonder of the world…”
[The Boy Travellers in Great Britain and Ireland (1891), p. 80]
“One of the old names of the Causeway was Binguthan[?], the Giant’s Cape. Fin mac Cumhal, the hero of Irish fable, was supposed to have been the architect of this stupendous edifice, as the Basaltar[?] regions of Iceland are attributed by the natives to their Giants—“the sons of Frost” of the Edda.”
[handwritten note on inside front cover of A Guide to the Giants Causeway (1823)]
Images: The Northern Tourist, or, Stranger’s Guide to the North and North-west of Ireland (1830); The Scientific Tourist Through Ireland (1818); The Boy Travellers in Great Britain and Ireland (1891); Giant’s Causeway, photocrom print (circa 1890) from the Library of Congress collections.
July292011
From: Strange stories of the animal world: a book of curious contributions to natural history (1866) by John Timbs, frontispiece.
On the trail of the elusive “wholioby”!
The “wholioby” listed in the illustration’s caption is quite elusive! I assume it is a misspelling of “wallaby” but can find no other trace of the spelling “wholioby” anywhere. Google returns zero hits and the OED has no similar spellings in the entry for “wallaby.” It’s not even listed in the index of this particular book (nothing under wallaby either). If anyone has further info, please leave a note here or on Flickr!
July122011
A cool winter scene on this scorching day in Philadelphia.
Image from: Alte und Neue Welt (1868).
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