December 21, 2011
December 15, 2011
The 25 Most Beautiful College Libraries in the World
The 25 Most Beautiful College Libraries in the World
http://flavorwire.com/240819/
The are all beautiful and I hope to visit some of them someday.
#22 and #23 will be familiar.
Which one would you like to visit. Share your comments if you've been to any of them.
December 6, 2011
We're Still in Love with Books
We're Still in Love with Books-
Very nice essay in Chronicle of Education.-mentions Marianne Moore room at the end of the article. I'm sure many of you share his love and thoughts about books.
http://chronicle.com/article/Were-Still-in-Love-With-Books/129971/?sid=ja&utm_source=ja&utm_medium=en
Very nice essay in Chronicle of Education.-mentions Marianne Moore room at the end of the article. I'm sure many of you share his love and thoughts about books.
http://chronicle.com/article/Were-Still-in-Love-With-Books/129971/?sid=ja&utm_source=ja&utm_medium=en
December 1, 2011
Return of the Scottish Paper Sculptor
Be very cool if she visited the Rosenbach. But I wonder how she would do it under the watchful eye of Elizabeth.
Return of the Scottish Paper Sculptor
The Scottish library and museum paper sculptor has returned!The anonymous paper sculptor, who has left exquisite paper creations in several libraries and museums in Scotland (Shelf Awareness, September 20, 2011), recently left three more items in the Scottish Poetry Library, NPR reported. The items are a cap that looks like a wren, gloves and a note saying that these were the last of 10 sculptures that the sculptor is leaving, and that she plans to remain anonymous. The sculptures, she said, are thank-you gestures "in support of special places."
November 22, 2011
November 9, 2011
November 4, 2011
The movie “Anonymous” has breathed new life into an old controversy. Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/cartoonists/2011/11/shakespeare.
In anticipation of our "Movie Night' next Wednesday, here are a few chuckles for you....
BZ
"Song of Lunch" on PBS
"Masterpiece" will present "Song of Lunch," starring Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson, on Sunday, November 13th, at 9 pm.
It is based on a poem (yes, a poem), by Christopher Reid, about old lovers meeting again after many years. Reid said he was inspired in part by the section in Ulysses in which Joyce described a pub. He wanted to try something similar with lunch in a restaurant. (So there's the Rosenbach link in case you were not convinced to watch the show by the names of its stars.)
It just premiered on British TV and got wonderful reviews.
Paris, the Luminous Years - Toward the Making of the Modern
Jesse Ruhl tipped me off to this amazing documentary: Paris, the Luminous Years - Toward the Making of the Modern. It's well worth the 1 hour 53 minutes, in fact I was wishing, as Oliver does, for a little more please!
November 2, 2011
Civil War Program Alert
"Lincoln and the Widow Bixby" Premieres this Friday
Monday, October 31, 2011 at 2:09PM Judy Giesberg tells the story of the most famous condolence letter ever written in “Lincoln and the Widow Bixby,” the next episode of Humanities on the Road premiering this Friday on PCN-TV.
Giesberg, who is Associate Professor of History at Villanova University, introduces audiences at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia to the story of Lydia Bixby, a mother living in Boston who allegedly lost five sons on Civil War battlefields. Moved by the family’s sacrifice for the country, President Lincoln wrote Bixby a condolence letter after hearing of her loss.
Check out PCN-TV website for times and more info at
http://www.humanitiesontheroad.org/home/lincoln-and-the-widow-bixby-premieres-this-friday.html
October 28, 2011
Literature Inspired Jack-o-lanterns
Happy Halloween
http://flavorwire.com/222478/amazing-literature-inspired-jack-o-lanterns/2
Do you have a favorite? What's missing
http://flavorwire.com/222478/amazing-literature-inspired-jack-o-lanterns/2
Do you have a favorite? What's missing
October 27, 2011
Let's Connect and Share
I think most folks know my feelings about this Blog. I like it and would love to see it be a place where we can check in and share our thoughts and knowledge about being a museum docent-share resources and ideas for research and make requests.
I just read a great book (found it at my local library) and it would be a great gift for someone who loves 18th century British history, gardening, horticulture and art. The Paper Garden- An Artist begins her Life's Work at 72 by Molly Peacock. It is a biography of Mary Granville Pendarves Delany (1700-1788) a woman who at age 72 created a new art form= mixed media collage. A beautiful book and one that I would consider a fine art printed book. Not for the Kindle . It's on my Christmas list. More info on Powells Books
http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781608195237-0
Request: In reading this book I found that I don't know English titles - which ones are honorary, political, or family or marriage related. Does anyone know a good source book or web site or cheat sheet where I could look up and get definitions of Dukes, Duchesses, Lords, Viscounts etc.
I just read a great book (found it at my local library) and it would be a great gift for someone who loves 18th century British history, gardening, horticulture and art. The Paper Garden- An Artist begins her Life's Work at 72 by Molly Peacock. It is a biography of Mary Granville Pendarves Delany (1700-1788) a woman who at age 72 created a new art form= mixed media collage. A beautiful book and one that I would consider a fine art printed book. Not for the Kindle . It's on my Christmas list. More info on Powells Books
http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781608195237-0
Request: In reading this book I found that I don't know English titles - which ones are honorary, political, or family or marriage related. Does anyone know a good source book or web site or cheat sheet where I could look up and get definitions of Dukes, Duchesses, Lords, Viscounts etc.
October 12, 2011
WHYY Fundraiser 10K/3K
I'm planning on running in the WHYY 12K fundraiser run on Saturday, Nov. 12. The race starts at 9:00 a.m., which is, admittedly, quite early in the morning for docents. But assuming it's not pouring rain, it should be fun. If anyone is interested in participating with me, here is the link to the information page:
And if you are not up for the 12K run or the 3K walk, you can always volunteer. I think they'll need people to hand off cups of water to the runners and stuff like that.
October 6, 2011
September 29, 2011
June 24, 2011
June 21, 2011
Bloomsday in California
A former docent, Megan Curran has transplanted to the west coast but her spirit it seems remains at the Rosenbach!
http://megan-curran.com/2011/06/16/in-which-i-explain-all-this-bloomsday-business-ive-been-rattling-on-about/
http://megan-curran.com/2011/06/16/in-which-i-explain-all-this-bloomsday-business-ive-been-rattling-on-about/
May 16, 2011
Our Docent Trip
I think one secret of a successful overnight trip is variety, and although three of our stops were museums, they were as different from each other as three museums could be.
We began with a visit to Sunnyside, Washington Irving's house in Tarrytown. It is a place of great charm, a kind of architectural emanation of the man, both romantic and welcoming. A cottage rather than the more usual mansion house-museum, its rooms seem cozy rather than small. Irving called it his "snuggery" and I, for one, was ready to move right in. Our tour was led by a guide in 19th-century costume, making us feel fortunate that the Rosenbach does not make that a requrement for us.
The next day we started off with the West Point Museum. In an imposing building on the edge of the campus, it was in the traditional mold. Visitors can go through the galleries on their own, but we were lucky enough to have the Director give us a personal tour. He was, of course, extremely knowledgeable -- but he was also sensitive to our group's interests. He knew that we preferred to learn about the history of the Military Academy as portrayed in the paintings on display rather than listen to a discussion about, say, the history of military helmets. We got to linger over some smashing examples of the Hudson Valley School as well as a full complement of portraits by early American masters.
That afternoon we went to nearby Storm King Art Center, where monumental modern sculptures are displayed outdoors in a natural setting of 500 acres. We had a beautiful day to explore the area by foot or to take the 40-minute tram tour.
Good destinations are essential for a good trip, but the pleasant, unexpected experiences help to make it memorable. On our first day, after Sunnyside, we went to the Antipodean Book Shop in Garrison, NY, which as its owner Dave Lilbrune says is an "old book" rather than a "rare book" store. It was an opportunity to pull 18th and 19th-century books off the shelf and page through them undisturbed and to talk about the book business with an expert. Beyond the bookstore on the banks of the Hudson, we got a chance to stroll with Dave and his boxer Winston and get a view of West Point across the river.
And also thanks to Dave's recommendation, we had a superb dinner at the Garrison Market, which opened especially for us on a Wednesday night. The only party in the place, we all sat around one table as dish after dish of locally-grown food (except for the salmon) was brought out and devoured. With plenty of good conversation and homemade apple pie for dessert, who could ask for more?
May 10, 2011
Photos from our recent Docent Field Trip
Washington Irving's Sunnyside
Our group - Garrison, NY
Who could forget Dave and Winston?
The view at breakfast!
West Point MuseumA few more.....
Leaving West Point - the view from the high road..
The Storm King Cafe tucked into the woods. The following are shots from Storm King Art Center.....
May 6, 2011
May Docent Schedule
Continuing Education session on Grace Notes exhibition with curator, Patrick Rodgers
May 12th at 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm
May 12th at 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm
April 25, 2011
British Library Purchases Poet’s 40,000 E-Mails
Posting this article from Chronicle of Education. Also read the article in the Sunday New York Times Metropolitan Section regarding Paul Brodeur's unhappy relationship with the New York Public Library and the stewardship of his papers. Let me know what you think.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/nyregion/paul-brodeur-battles-new-york-library-over-archives.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=elite%20library&st=cse.
Chris
Archive Watch: British Library Purchases Poet’s 40,000 E-Mails
April 22, 2011, 3:29 pm
By Jennifer Howard
E-mails don’t have the inky charisma of handwritten manuscripts, but they’re more and more a part of literary archives. For instance, when the British Library announced this week that it has acquired the poet Wendy Cope‘s archive, it made much of the hybrid nature of the material, which includes thousands of e-mails.
“Retrieved from ‘the cloud’, the collection of approximately 40,000 e-mails dating from 2004 to the present is the most substantial in a literary archive acquired by the British Library to date, affording among other things a fascinating and extensive insight into writerly networks,” the library said. The acquisition cost £32,000 (nearly $53,000), according to the announcement.
“It’s new territory for us,” Rachel Foss, lead curator of modern-literary manuscripts at the British Library, told The Independent newspaper. “This is the second major e-mail acquisition we’ve made, after Harold Pinter’s archive in 2007, but contains more material than that. We are increasingly acquiring digital material; this is going to be the norm as we move forward, and we are going to get to the stage where e-mails replace physical letters.”
In another sign of how institutions approach contemporary hybrid archives, the library also pointed to what it called “enhanced curatorial activities” surrounding the acquisition. Library personnel took digital photographs of the poet’s study to create a panoramic digital view of it. They recorded an interview with Ms. Cope “in which she reflects on her archive and the writing life it represents.” All that “will allow researchers to reconstruct a retrospective context for the physical and electronic records acquired, as well as recording for posterity the space which informed the creative process,” the library said.
A wry and popular poet known, among other things, for her parodies of figures such as Philip Sidney and T.S. Eliot, Ms. Cope is the author of four collections, including Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis. (The very brief title poem includes a famous line: “Some kind of record seemed vital. “) Her most recent book, Family Values, was published this year.
The library saluted Ms. Cope’s work as representing “a female creative response to the male poetic establishment, inscribing a significant counterpoint to the postwar poetic canon.” That doesn’t quite do justice to poems like her limerick-parody of Eliot’s The Waste Land:
In April one seldom feels cheerful;
Dry stones, sun and dust make me fearful …
See an assortment of Ms. Cope’s love poems here; read her case for abolishing the job of poet laureate here.
According to The Independent, Ms. Cope downplayed the literary interest of her e-mails. She told the paper that many of them “are not interesting at all.”
While some news reports and the library itself highlighted the digital component of the Cope archive, there’s a good deal of old-fashioned literary material for researchers to contemplate as well, including school reports and 67 poetry notebooks. Dating from 1973 to the present, they form “the core of the archive,” the library said, with “drafts of poems, jottings of ideas, notes on form and rhyme scheme juxtaposed with transitory glimpses of everyday life, for example in the meticulous ‘to do’ lists.”
Have a favorite Cope poem? Let us know in the comments.
This entry was posted in Archive Watch, Libraries, Research. Bookmark the permalink.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/nyregion/paul-brodeur-battles-new-york-library-over-archives.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=elite%20library&st=cse.
Chris
Archive Watch: British Library Purchases Poet’s 40,000 E-Mails
April 22, 2011, 3:29 pm
By Jennifer Howard
E-mails don’t have the inky charisma of handwritten manuscripts, but they’re more and more a part of literary archives. For instance, when the British Library announced this week that it has acquired the poet Wendy Cope‘s archive, it made much of the hybrid nature of the material, which includes thousands of e-mails.
“Retrieved from ‘the cloud’, the collection of approximately 40,000 e-mails dating from 2004 to the present is the most substantial in a literary archive acquired by the British Library to date, affording among other things a fascinating and extensive insight into writerly networks,” the library said. The acquisition cost £32,000 (nearly $53,000), according to the announcement.
“It’s new territory for us,” Rachel Foss, lead curator of modern-literary manuscripts at the British Library, told The Independent newspaper. “This is the second major e-mail acquisition we’ve made, after Harold Pinter’s archive in 2007, but contains more material than that. We are increasingly acquiring digital material; this is going to be the norm as we move forward, and we are going to get to the stage where e-mails replace physical letters.”
In another sign of how institutions approach contemporary hybrid archives, the library also pointed to what it called “enhanced curatorial activities” surrounding the acquisition. Library personnel took digital photographs of the poet’s study to create a panoramic digital view of it. They recorded an interview with Ms. Cope “in which she reflects on her archive and the writing life it represents.” All that “will allow researchers to reconstruct a retrospective context for the physical and electronic records acquired, as well as recording for posterity the space which informed the creative process,” the library said.
A wry and popular poet known, among other things, for her parodies of figures such as Philip Sidney and T.S. Eliot, Ms. Cope is the author of four collections, including Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis. (The very brief title poem includes a famous line: “Some kind of record seemed vital. “) Her most recent book, Family Values, was published this year.
The library saluted Ms. Cope’s work as representing “a female creative response to the male poetic establishment, inscribing a significant counterpoint to the postwar poetic canon.” That doesn’t quite do justice to poems like her limerick-parody of Eliot’s The Waste Land:
In April one seldom feels cheerful;
Dry stones, sun and dust make me fearful …
See an assortment of Ms. Cope’s love poems here; read her case for abolishing the job of poet laureate here.
According to The Independent, Ms. Cope downplayed the literary interest of her e-mails. She told the paper that many of them “are not interesting at all.”
While some news reports and the library itself highlighted the digital component of the Cope archive, there’s a good deal of old-fashioned literary material for researchers to contemplate as well, including school reports and 67 poetry notebooks. Dating from 1973 to the present, they form “the core of the archive,” the library said, with “drafts of poems, jottings of ideas, notes on form and rhyme scheme juxtaposed with transitory glimpses of everyday life, for example in the meticulous ‘to do’ lists.”
Have a favorite Cope poem? Let us know in the comments.
This entry was posted in Archive Watch, Libraries, Research. Bookmark the permalink.
April 12, 2011
A brief report on Docent Evaluation 2010-2011
· We currently have Thirty two active docents, and four docents are on an extended leave of absence.
· They volunteer on average 56 hours in a week. This does not include continuing education sessions—or extra hours spent on independent projects like the room book audit
All of the active Rosenbach docents have successfully completed their evaluations. This included a short written exam, attending at least three continuing education sessions, and finally having their tour followed.
Areas in particular we were paying attention to during the tour evaluations:
Accurate information, enthusiasm and clarity, security and conservation, mentioning other museum efforts such as programs, and the library
This is what we found:
· Our strengths:
Terrific engagement--eye contact and body language, strong story tellers, great love and enthusiasm for the brother’s biography, explaining the economics of the brothers business and financial success, inviting the public to visit the reading room by appointment, our signature programs and HOTs, defining rarity in the library, interactive questioning
· Areas for improvement:
Slowing down, things are beautiful/important, assuming a certain level of knowledge about collections, key cards and lights (about 35% still struggle with these), mentioning exhibitions
· How the education department and Docent Council plan to address these areas:
More continuing education session on touring techniques (Emilie has already led one of these sessions), schedule walk through for all new exhibitions, Docent council efforts: Room books, Library shelf guide
Since the re-configuring of our museum hours we have more overlap in docent shifts and there has been a bit of grumbling about too much down time. I am considering changing the shift schedule to match our busy hours.
· We are currently at capacity with docents and will not run training in the fall.
This report was presented at the staff meeting on April 11, 2011
March 31, 2011
Performing Shakespeare
Two days left to see our fellow docent Jesse Ruhl perform in Philadelphia Community College's presentation of The Taming of the Shrew. The times are as follows:
Thursday ,31st - 11 am and 7 pm
Friday, 1st - 1:30 and 7 pm
The show is in the auditorium (BG 10), which is the Bonnell Building. The auditorium is along the 16th Street side of the building.
Visit the Rosenbach to see a real folio of the Bard's work!
Great work Jesse!
March 29, 2011
Gallery Openings:
April 3rd Raving Beauty
April 6th Grace Notes: A Sendakian Rhapsody
Docent Study Group Meeting:
April 12th James Joyce
Public Programs:
April 7th Conversation with the Curator, Aristic networks in the Parisian '20s.
April 9th Raving Beauty: A song cycle inspired by the life of Mercedes de Acosta
March 15, 2011
March 7, 2011
Rebecca, Washington, Susan & Brian
I just finished reading Mr. Jones' book, which is available in our gift shop, and recommend it highly especially in light of our upcoming outing to Sunnyside, Irving's home. Now, if Susan would only write hers! :) Don't forget to check out her blog on Rebecca.
February 13, 2011
A Rosenbach First?
Yesterday Barbara Zimmerman and I were on duty, and Barbara took the 4 o'clock "Romance at the Rosenbach" tour. The group was made up of two couples who had come separately and a woman and two friends she was introducing to the Rosenbach -- seven in all.
When Barbara returned them to the lobby after their romance tour, the group as a whole decided they now wanted a regular house tour. Even omitting everything Barbara had already said, I spent an hour in the house with them. By the end Theresa was standing around with the keys so she could lock up.
I have never encountered such stamina in a disparate group of museum goers. Has anyone else had an experience at all like this?
P.S. After I finished, Barbara and I were going to Seafood Unlimited, and the two couples tagged along and had their dinner there.
February 9, 2011
Romance Group- How did they Meet?
Had a great question today from a visitor - Maybe someone from the Romance Group can answer- I was showing the display case in the orientation room of the photos of A.S.W. Rosenbach and C . Price- and the gentleman asked " How and when did they first meet. Does anyone know?. Was she a business associate, client or just a good friend from Cape May - Strathmere area? It really took me by surprise - but it is such a basic question when you talk about couples. Isn't that the story and question you ask your friends- How did you meet?
If we don't know? Let's make up some stories and post here. Use your romantic imagination and knowledge of Rosy and his interests and come up with a great story. Romance group- a question- approximately how far back 1920's. Looking forward to reading your posts.
Chris Gradel
If we don't know? Let's make up some stories and post here. Use your romantic imagination and knowledge of Rosy and his interests and come up with a great story. Romance group- a question- approximately how far back 1920's. Looking forward to reading your posts.
Chris Gradel
February 5, 2011
Dear Anonymous
For those of you who might write comments without signing in with a Google account, may I suggest that you put your name at the end of your comment? The author will be listed as "Anonymous", and without a signature we'll have no way of knowing who the writer is. Glad to have new readers aboard!
January 16, 2011
A.S.W. Rosenbach, Philadelphia Gentleman
I have used some (what I think is) interesting information on tours at the Rosenbach for years, but until now I have never had a forum where I could share it with other docents. I just talked about it on my last tour with a couple who wanted to know about Dr. Rosenbach's social status.
E. Digby Baltzell, the Philadelphia sociologist, published a book in 1958, called Philadelphia Gentlemen: the making of a national upper class. In a chapter about the city between the wars, he describes three social hierarchies: the Episcopalian, the Quaker and the Jewish. These people all knew about each other, but there was almost no social crossover between the groups. Except, that is, for a very few people, and one of them was A.S.W. Rosenbach. He was not only a member of Philadelphia's Jewish elite but of the Philadelphia elite, who might be asked to gatherings of any of the local socialites.
Baltzell does not mention Philip Rosenbach. I have to assume that Abie's membership in the Philadelphia elite did not extend to other family members.
January 10, 2011
Reading Dickens
This morning on Facebook, the British Library posted a clip of Simon Callow reading the “Death of Nancy” scene from Charles Dickens’ masterpiece, Oliver Twist. So brilliantly does Callow (who frequently plays Dickens in one-man shows) perform this scene, that one could easily imagine what it must have been like witnessing Dickens himself perform the very same reading in the last years of his life.
At the time Dickens first contemplated including the “Death of Nancy” scene in his public readings, he was a bit concerned that the subject might be inappropriate for the mixed company ever present at his popular performances. Eager to hear other opinions, he arranged for a preview engagement that took place on November 14, 1868 at St. James Hall, Piccadilly before a special handpicked audience of approximately fifty critics, artists, and literary men of London.
One of those present was (William) Charles Kent (1823-1902), editor, journalist, and friend of Dickens. Before the performance began, Dickens whispered to Kent, "I want you to watch this particularly, for I am very doubtful about it myself!" Kent, who later wrote of the experience, recalled, “In its climax, it was as splendid a piece of tragic acting as had for many years been witnessed.”
There is a delightful connection to this story in the collection at the Rosenbach in the form of a lock of Dickens’ hair that was sent to Charles Kent by Georgina Hogarth, Dickens’ sister-in-law, shortly after the author’s death in June of 1870. One can only imagine what a priceless memento of his literary friend it must have been.
This same lock of hair will be on display in the partner desk for the upcoming Romance at the Rosenbach Tour to be presented in February.
January 9, 2011
Another skating image from the collection
Here's a wonderful image by one of Dickens illustrators, George Cruikshank (1792-1878) I found in the Rosenbach collection....
These skaters, however, are obviously not ICE skating as they are in a parlor with an organist and a harpist! Doesn't it look like fun? A wonderful idea for Docent Social Night????
Skating in Philadelphia
Although I couldn't locate any references to skating in Shakespeare, I do happen to have some information about it in nineteenth-century Philadelphia, culled from my research on Rebecca Gratz.
The years from about 1830 to 1860 had some frigid winters with the Schuykill and the Delaware River completely frozen across and ready for skaters. Above is an image of a lithograph of skaters on the Delaware in one of the coldest winters, 1856, and as you can see, lots of people turned out for the fun. It must have been very cold and the ice very hard for so many to skate safely on the river at one time.
There's no record of Rebecca skating and by 1856 she was far too old for the sport. The closest she got to ice that year was the slick in front of her front door, and although the little boys of the neighborhood enjoyed it, she had the ice covered.
January 6, 2011
Ice Skating - Literature
I was thinking of Hans Brinker and his silver skates in reading your fun Blogs but I was also reminded of this great book I found last year called the Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys. I'm copying a review that was posted on Amazon because its short and gives a good description.
I was totally amazed about how many times the Thames actually completely froze over (40 times) and they had winter fairs and skating parties. It's a lovely book
Besides being compellingly written, this book is also physically attractive. The stories are illustrated with contemporary depictions of London and the freezes. The book's pages are shiny and thick and fun to turn. The book itself is small, fat, and pleasant to hold.
The Frozen Thames would make an ideal gift for a thoughtful reader, even if that readers isn't a Thames aficionado
I was totally amazed about how many times the Thames actually completely froze over (40 times) and they had winter fairs and skating parties. It's a lovely book
This review is from: The Frozen Thames (Hardcover)
The Frozen Thames is one of those books so well-written that it transcends its theme; readers with no particular interest in the Thames or its temperature will enjoy Helen Humphreys's beautifully restrained prose. Each short story--or "vignette," as the book jacket calls them--takes place during a year when the Thames River froze. Although the vignettes are fictional, Humphreys has done extensive research about the historical figures, political circumstances and popular sentiment during each freeze year. The book is filled with descriptions of spectacular Frost Fairs on the river, accounts of everyday life and tragedy during each of the frigid years, and compelling references to the various British monarchs who ruled during the Thames freezes. The vignettes begin in 1142 and end in 1895 with the author's poignant explanation of why the Thames no longer freezes. Fans of Virginia Woolf will enjoy the author's closing reference to Orlando.Besides being compellingly written, this book is also physically attractive. The stories are illustrated with contemporary depictions of London and the freezes. The book's pages are shiny and thick and fun to turn. The book itself is small, fat, and pleasant to hold.
The Frozen Thames would make an ideal gift for a thoughtful reader, even if that readers isn't a Thames aficionado
Ice Skating in Literature
In answer to Shawn's last posting (and not surprisingly to anyone who knows me) the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of ice skating in literature is Mr. Pickwick's immediately recognizable physique on the ice! It occurs in Chapter 30 of the The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (affectionately known as The Pickwick Papers). You have to love Dickens' title for chapter 30:
HOW THE PICKWICKIANS MADE AND CULTIVATED THE
ACQUAINTANCE OF A COUPLE OF NICE YOUNG MEN
BELONGING TO ONE OF THE LIBERAL PROFESSIONS; HOW
THEY DISPORTED THEMSELVES ON THE ICE; AND HOW
THEIR VISIT CAME TO A CONCLUSION
It is Dickens' first novel and tells of the ramblings of Mr. Pickwick and his friends, Nathaniel Winkle, Augustus Snodgrass and Tracy Tupman and is considered one of Dickens' funniest.
The original illustrator for this novel was Robert Seymour and this is his rendering of the ice skating event ....
We do have part of the MS for the Pickwick Papers at the Rosenbach which you have seen if you attended the 2009 Romance at the Rosenbach tour.
But there is yet another image of this event in Dr. R's collection, this one by Arthur Burdett Frost (1851 - 1928). It's a familiar scene and one seen on many holiday cards.
Here is the info from the Rosenbach web - site...
"Black and white reproduction image on India paper from ”A Portfolio of Twelve Original Illustrations Reproduced from Drawings by A. B. Frost to Illustrate ’The Pickwick papers’ ” published London: A.J. Slatter, 1908.
Title given in List of Plates as ”’Stop an Instant, Sam,’...Chap XXX”. Image depicts two men on a frozen lake. A man in ice skates hangs on the arm of a second man without skates. A group of men and women appear in the background. ”A.B. Frost” is printed at the lower right, within the image."
And YES, Shawn, I would love to go ice skating with you some of these days!
January 5, 2011
New Year Resolutions
Among the resolutions I've announced for this year - along with reading more Shakespeare and spending less time online - is to ice skate twice a week. This is already proving to be a bold and courageous decision. I will not go into the embarrassing (and painful) details of my experience today at the Class of 1923 Rink but will assert that I plan to be there at noon again on Friday - if anyone dares to join me.
More interesting, though, is the curiosity this raises about ice skating in literature. What skating scenes do you remember? The first image to come to my mind was of the great frozen Thames in Orlando, the elaborate skating parties there, and Orlando's passionate skate with Sasha. Not surprisingly, an internet search turned up this list of literary skating, courtesy of The Guardian.
When I searched online images at the Rosenbach, several prints came up, all of which use skating to poke fun at their subjects. I wonder if there is any mention of skating in Shakespeare?
More interesting, though, is the curiosity this raises about ice skating in literature. What skating scenes do you remember? The first image to come to my mind was of the great frozen Thames in Orlando, the elaborate skating parties there, and Orlando's passionate skate with Sasha. Not surprisingly, an internet search turned up this list of literary skating, courtesy of The Guardian.
When I searched online images at the Rosenbach, several prints came up, all of which use skating to poke fun at their subjects. I wonder if there is any mention of skating in Shakespeare?
January 3, 2011
Shakespeare Favorites
Last Oct. 25th, I emailed some friends to remind them that it was St. Crispian's Day on which it was traditional in my house (and should be in theirs) to watch the St. Crispian's Day speech in Shakespeare's Henry V, as delivered by Kenneth Branagh.
This created a flurry of responses from which I have created a list of favorite Shakespeare productions and documentaries. I have been so busy in the last two months that I am tardy in getting them onto the blog. Please tell us your own favorites if you do not find them here:
Plays on Film
Henry V (Kenneth Branagh version)
Henry V (Olivier version)
Much Ado About Nothing (Branagh)
Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet
Documentaries
Looking for Richard: Al Pacino on Shakespeare and, in particular, Richard III. Scenes from the play acted by Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Estelle Parsons and an amazingly effective Alec Baldwin.
Shakespeare Behind Bars: A Shakespeare program, in its 20th year in a maximum security prison, takes on The Tempest. All I can say is that this documentary is astonishing.
Acting Shakespeare: From the BBC in the 1980's, this series uses young actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company. The Director in charge is a bit Monty-Pythonesque, but the actors -- Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, David Suchet, Judi Dench et al -- are terrific.
In Search of Shakespeare: Michael Woods' series focuses on Shakespeare life.
Fiction
Shakespeare in Love.
Slings and Arrows: A Canadian series about a Shakespeare Festival; the plot and relationships among the characters often reflect those of the plays they are putting on.
All these are available on Netflix, and many of them are also available through the Free Library.
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