Dave Eggers launched Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern from his Brooklyn apartment in 1998. When the the McSweeney's archive was acquired by the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas a mere 15 years later the McSweeney's community had become one of the seminal hubs of literary culture in the 21st century. In addition to the highest quality writing each publication conveys a deep appreciation for design and craft making their publications instantly recognizable and consistently appealing. The archive documents the "evolution of a startup quarterly literary journal into a highly influential small publishing house and creator of several serials, including Timothy McSweeney's...
The Digital Side of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Reading at a Table. Pablo Picasso, 1934 When word gets out the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the most significant repositories of art in the world, releases 400,000 images into the digital wild it's hard not to go have a look to see what bookish goodness awaits. Our first trip brings us a hardy selection of work from Durer to Picasso. Stay tuned for more gems from the collection and our hats are off to the powers that be for releasing such a treasure trove of material. Enjoy! [caption id="attachment_4876" align="aligncenter" width="534"] "Alberti Dvreri pictoris et architecti praestantissimi De vrbibvs..."...
Walker Evans visits the New York Public Library
In 1949 noted photographer Walker Evans visited the New York Library and began shooting. When he was done 68 images where in the bag. Now thanks to the recent release of a treasure trove of hundreds of thousands of digital images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art we get a front seat. The library acquired Walker Evans archive in 1994. See the entire shoot here: Walker Evans | [68 Views of New Y rk Public Library...The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In the Stacks: World War I propaganda posters at the Harry Ransom Center
War bonds. Feed the guns! Thomas, Bert, 1915 It was supposed to be the “the war to end war” but unfortunately it wasn't. And in addition to the horror of the battlefield (ten million men killed) WWI also featured a battle of propaganda. Thanks to its newly digitized collection of over 100 propaganda posters from WWI the Ransom Center gives us a front row seat to the battle to win the hearts and minds of the American people and its allies as well as the enemy attempts to do the same. Keep these off the U.S.A. Buy more liberty bonds. John Norton, ca. 1917 The...
In The Stacks: Rockwell Kent at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art
Portrait by Carl Van Vechten For this installment of In The Stacks we sample a part of the extensive archive of Rockwell Kent's papers that reside at the Smithsonian. Kent traveled widely and wrote, painted and drew about his experiences. From Alaska to Greenland to Moscow, Kent and his family immersed themselves in the cultures they visited with each trip providing Kent a plethora of artistic fodder. In 1918 it was a trip to Alaska with his son that brought us the memoir Wilderness which the The New Statesman called "easily the most remarkable book to come out of America since Leaves of Grass was published."...