Tag Archives: 19th Century

1900 [Women's fashion in nineteenth century Paris] (1902)

The Evolution of Women’s Fashion in 19th Century Paris

A collection of drypoint relief prints, handcolored with watercolor from the monograph, Les modes féminines du XIXe siècle, interprétées en cent pointes sèches aquarellées au pinceau, 1801-1900 by Henri Boutet. Henri Boutet, while following one by one the changes of fashion, is a fine and exquisite artist. It is recognized in its Ioli dividers, costumes reminiscent of a century and the loyalty of women’s fashions is both original and delicious. – from the Catalogue de livres modernes composant la bibliothèque [...]

The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (Short Film)

From Maguire & Baucus catalogue: Representing the beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots. A realistic reproduction of an historic scene. Filmed August 28, 1895, at the Edison Laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey. The 18-second-long film was produced by Thomas Edison and may have been the first film in history to use trained actors, as [...]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mounseer_Nongtongpaw

Mounseer Nongtongpaw, A Poem

Mounseer Nongtongpaw is based on a popular 1796 song of the same name by the entertainer Charles Dibdin. Dibdin’s original song mocks English and French stereotypes in five eight-line stanzas, particularly “John Bull’s” refusal to learn French. John Bull makes numerous inquiries to which he always receives the same response: “Monsieur, je vous n’entends pas” (“Monsieur, I don’t [...]

An Historic Civil War Photo Book Debuts on the iPad

Curious as to what to get that special someone who has a love of historic photography from the American Civil War for Christmas!? Check out our republication of photographer and entrepreneur Alexander Gardner’s 1866 photographic manuscript, “Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the War” on the iPad. From The man who laid a war at America’s [...]

J.L. Mott Iron Works’ 1888 Patent Folding Urinals

Folding urinals made of iron or porcelain, operating in a manner similar to a folding wash basin, are sometimes used. They are flushed by a cock being opened with the cover of the urinal. The cock is shut when the cover is raised and closed. This apparatus is usually set in a recc ss of [...]

Illustrating the Rise of the Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower…the colossus of iron is worthy of its position as the triumphal porch of the Exhibition of 1889. It is the great Edifice of the close of that 19th century whose discoveries mark it as the greatest of all epochs during which humanity has been working out its evolution. Half the world will come to admire the efforts which France has thought fit to make to show her vitality; and none will deny that the amount of talent displayed on the Champ de Mars [...]

Think You Could Ace the 1869 Harvard Entrance Exam?

Think you have what it took to get in to Harvard in 1869? From the History and Geography portion of the entrance exam, here’s an example of one of the questions standing in between you and a spot at one of America’s most prestigious universities: Supply the two names left blank in the following passage [...]

http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/digitallibrary/alphabet.html

New Political Alphabet, or, a Little Book for Great Boys

This twenty three page book of alphabet rhymes was published in Windham, Connecticut in 1813, by Samuel Webb. For the letter A: “Great A stands for Adam’s administration and B for betraying the rights of the nation.” This rhyme refers to John Adams, the second president of the United States and a conservative Federalist who [...]

Views of Salisbury Cathedral ca. 1865-1885

Salisbury is unique amongst medieval English cathedrals having been built in just 38 years (1220 – 1258) in a single architectural style, early English Gothic. The tower and spire (Britain’s tallest) were added about 50 years later. The building itself is remarkable, a testimony to the faith and practical skills of those who erected it. [...]

Volume 1: Algeria by William Vaughn Tupper, 1892

This is volume 1 out of 46 albums created by William Vaughn Tupper. It contains albumen print photographs and photomechanical prints that were taken or purchased during the Tupper family’s travels through Algeria, then annotated. Dates: April 14, 1892- May 8, 1892. (Photographs courtesy of the Boston Public Library/Tehrkot Media)

Portraits from the 1898 Indian Congress

Frank A. Rinehart, a commercial photographer in Omaha, Nebraska, was commissioned to photograph the 1898 Indian Congress, part of the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition. More than five hundred Native Americans from thirty-five tribes attended the conference, providing the gifted photographer and artist an opportunity to create a stunning visual document of Native American life and culture [...]

The Garden Palace: Macquarie Street entrance of the Garden Palac

The Garden Palace: Sydney International Exhibition 1879-1880

The Sydney International Exhibition opened the doors of its main building the ‘Garden Palace’ on 17 September 1879 and closed them seven months later. Many figures in colonial Sydney talked of the success of the huge project but the 1,045,898 visitors that passed through its gates were perhaps the most eloquent testimony to its triumph. [...]

Mugshots of Newcastle’s Young Criminals ca. 1871

Newcastle City Gaol and House of Correction Collection 1742 – 1878. Particulars of criminals convicted of a crime specified in section 20 of the Prevention of Crimes Act, 1871 and reported to the Secretary of State [Home Secretary] as being imprisoned in Newcastle Gaol, numbers 1079-1303. All the prisoners photographed here spent time in Newcastle [...]

The Skinny … Loring’s Wants to Fat-Ten-U Up

In the late 19th Century, a woman with a bit more meat on her bones was what was in. Contrast that with now, where everyone wants to be thin! This advertisement from 1895 shows a young woman with a package of Loring’s Fat-Ten-U food tablets and as well as Loring’s Corpula, a fat-producting food. From [...]

A Nymph of the Waves (Silent Film)

Superimposition of Cathrina Bartho dancing over footage of crashing waves from the rapids of Niagara Falls. The woman wears a frilly, perhaps feather-trimmed, white dress with a low-cut bodice, a matching feathered hat, white stockings, and white ballet slippers. She holds up her skirt through the entire dance, revealing her ankles and lower legs as [...]

Chinese opium smokers in there [sic] dens, 1889

“Photos of Chinese opium smokers in there [sic] dens in China Town in 1889″ Opium smoking arrived in North America with the large influx of Chinese who came to participate in the California Gold Rush. The jumping-off point for the gold fields wasSan Francisco, and the city’s Chinatown became the site of numerous opium dens soon after the first Chinese [...]