Children’s Book Week

Children’s Book Week began in 1919 and it is “the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country” according to their about page.  Sponsored by Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council the focus is on developing a child’s love of books and reading.

Looking around the web for online children’s books Ravenous uncovered a vast storehouse full of hours of reading, listening, and viewing. Check out the International Children’s Digital Library or the Rosetta Project from Children’s Books Online. We liked Barnes & Noble free online story-time page where authors read their animated stories and many children’s books publishers have YouTube Channels.

Virtual options are grand but don’t forget to walk into any library, including the Providence Athenaeum, to find wonderful children’s collections, especially this week.

 

 

 

The DANDY I’m Sure on Exhibition February 15 – June 15, 2013

In collaboration with the Museum of Art, RISD’s exhibition Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion, April 28- August 18, the Providence Athenaeum offers a complementary exhibition with supporting materials from the Rhode Island Historical Society and the John Hay Library, Brown University.  The Athenaeum’s exhibition draws from the collections rich literary and biographical materials to explore the popularization of the dandy from Beau Brummell to Max Beerbohm in 19^th century English and French culture.  The following is a brief overview of the main themes and dandy personalities represented in the exhibition with accompanying photographs.

Regency Dandies, 1790-1830 

Beau Brummell & George IV

Image:  Ivory silk waistcoat, circa 1830 (Rhode Island Historical Society), watercolor of Beau Brummell’s regiment, the 10^th Hussar Guards, and a caricature of George IV ‘A Royal Dandy,’ (Anne S. K. Military Collection, Brown University).

 In the early 19^th century, the monarchy and aristocracy of the Regency period were widely despised by the middle class, and the ‘dandy’ became an object of ridicule as seen in the numerous caricatures from the period.  The dandy stood for all that was exclusive, frivolous and selfish, and George IV became known as the clothes obsessed monarch to reign over a society of dandies.

Victorian Dandies, 1830-1880

d’Orsay, Bulwer & Disraeli

Image:  Portrait of Count d’Orsay, Fraser’s Magazine (Athenaeum), Men’s leather gloves and beaver top hat (Rhode Island Historical Society)

The dashing Count d’Orsay was the father of Victorian dandyism, and the essential link between Beau Brummell’s restrained elegance of the Regency period and the more flamboyant dandy of the Victorian era.  In the 1830’s, d’Orsay brought in the curve.  His coat was rarely buttoned to show off his waist and his costume was often adorned with diamonds, colored stones and gold chain.   Shimmering pastel colors, soft velvets and silks, perfumes and jewels were part of d’Orsay’s style that Brummell would have abhorred.

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Intellectualizing the Dandy in France, 1830s-1860s

Balzac, Baudelaire & Barbey

Image:  Top hat, circa 1920, (Rhode Island Historical Society), sketch of Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly by Edgar Degas and portrait of Beau Brummell by Aubrey Hammond (Providence Athenaeum)

France was infused with Anglomania during the 1830s, and Brummell was revered by French intellects, Honoré de Balzac, Charles Baudelaire and Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly as a living masterpiece that should be appreciated rather than mocked by society. In Du Dandisme et de George Brummell. (1845),  Barbey minimalizes the place of clothes in Brummell’s dandyism, not because he considers the art of dress irrelevant but because he wants to emphasize what he calls the intellectual quality of Brummell’s wit, irony, impudence and poise.

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Decadents & Flamboyant Belle Époque Dandies

in Life & Literature, 1880s-1920s

Wilde, Huysmans, Proust, & Beerbohm

Image:  À Rebours (John Hay Library, Brown University), additional books and portraits (Providence Athenaeum), walking cane with ivory top, mid-19^th century (Rhode Island Historical Society)

Dandy protagonists appeared in numerous novels from the period 1880-1920, including Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Max Beerbohm’s Zuleika Dobson, Marcel Proust’s À La Recherche du Temps  and J.K. Huysmans’ À Rebours.   Comte Robert de Montesquiou, an aristocratic French eccentric was the chief inspiration for Proust’s Baron de Charlus and Huysmans’ des Esseintes.

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The Dandy I’m Sure will be on display at the Providence Athenaeum through June 15, 2013.  Join us for the last program in this series on Friday, May 10, 2013, Mark Samuels Lasner (University of Delaware), “On Max Beerbohm and Other Musings.” 

And, of course visit the Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion  exhibition at the Museum of Art RISD, April 28- August 18, 2013.  Here’s a full list of dandy events:  risd_museum-artistrebeldandy-programs_events.

 

 

There is also a companion catalog to the exhibition Artist/Rebel/Dandy, published by the Museum of Art RISD with Yale University Press, available through AMAZON.

A special thanks to our exhibition collaborators, Peter Harrington, Curator, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, John Hay Library, Brown University, and Kirsten Hammerstrom, Curator and Dana Signe Munroe, Registrar, John Brown House, Rhode Island Historical Society and for the inspiration of Kate Irvin and Laurie Brewer, Co-Curators of Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion at the Museum of Art RISD.

Kate Wodehouse, Collections Librarian

Can’t Resist the Game of Thrones

We are being inundated this week with George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones in anticipation of the third season premiering on HBO this Sunday. Peter Dinklage did a stint on The Daily Show and there are trailers galore on YouTube but Ravenous finds some of the merchandising interesting such as  the beer reported in the HuffPost:

Photo credit: Ryan Grenoble/Huffington Post

Or the random merchandise collected in this Flavorwire post, including the $30,000. iron throne available from HBO:

Or the traveling exhibit:

Unfortunately Athenaeum borrowers it will be a long time before we have the 3rd season on DVD but winter is coming…

 

Membership Libraries

The Providence Athenaeum is part of a small consortium known as the Membership Libraries Group and this weekend we are hosts for the annual gathering. Directors from these unique libraries will meet in Providence to share best practices, enjoy our city and see how the Providence Athenaeum performs.  The Salon this week is “Be Here Now: A Consideration of Conversation,” Thomas Augst, Professor at New York University, and Daniel Harkett, Professor at RI School of Design, will be in conversation with Athenaeum Director of Programs and Public Engagement, and Salonniere, Christina Bevilacqua. Attendees will be wined and dined and thoroughly impressed we’re sure.

A few years back Richard Wendorf compiled a collection of essays on each of the membership libraries:And this great article: Where Greek Ideals Meet New England Charm from the New York Times discusses our local treasures. But the best way to experience these libraries is to visit them. You will not be disappointed (be sure to check their websites for hours and restrictions of use).

Margaret Herrick Library Digital Collections

Discovering digital collections is a joy for Ravenous and the Academy of  Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Margaret Herrick Library Digital Collections are a great find. The database consists of 18 distinct collections that can be searched separately or en-masse. My favorites are the photograph collections, Paramount Pictures and RKO Radio Pictures specifically.

According to Artdaily the Library recently received a donation of over 1,000 movie posters. What a great collection to scan and make digitally available, lets hope it happens.

And this discovery is just in time for the Oscars and the Providence Children’s Film Festival both of which are scheduled for later this month.

The Robert Burns Collection

To commemorate Robert Burns 217th birthday Ravenous would like to discuss the collections and fun we’ve have with Robert Burns, Scotland’s favorite son. On January 25th, 2008 we had a birthday celebration called A Wee Dram of Scotland that is still talked about today. “As Tammie glow’red, amazed and curious, The mirth and fun grew fast and furious” (from Tam o’Shanter).

The photo above is from the exhibit for that event. It represents the Charles Bradley Collection that contains 450 volumes by and about the life and work of Robert Burns. Collected during the 19th century, and donated by Mrs. Charles Bradley in memory of her husband in 1920, it is a wonderful collection.  I’m going to speculate that Mr. Bradley thought: “She is a winsome wee thing, She is a handsome wee thing, She is a bonny wee thing, This sweet wee wife o’ mine”  (from My Wife’s a Winsome Wee Thing).   I wonder where the closest Burns Supper is being held tonight? Haggis anyone?

Dragonfly Bindery/Studio Exhibit

John Russell Bartlett Society members Pat and George Sargent have operated their Dragonfly Bindery for thirty years, offering a wider range of services than most binderies, including restoration and design work that makes use of their art background and training as alumni of the Rhode Island School of Design. They have been able to challenge their creativity and explore new directions in producing unique bindings, casings, and displays for rare books and other printed artifacts which elevate the presentation up to and beyond the artistic level of the content.

The Providence Athenaeum will be exhibiting books, posters and artifacts in the Philbrick Rare Book Room from January 8th to January 29th.

The Sargents will be presenting a talk:  Looking Back at 30 Books from 30 Years at Dragonfly Bindery / Studio on Saturday January 26 at 1 pm.

Thanks to guest blogger, Kate Wodehouse, Collections Librarian

 

 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

 
I refer, of course, to the 4th annual Boston Book Festival, which will be held this Saturday, October 27th at Copley Square in Boston. The schedule for this year is rather packed, with highlights including keynotes from Richard Ford and Lemony Snicket, a presentation by Alexander McCall Smith, several YA panels (there was only one last year), and panels on Edith Wharton and The Iliad. As in the past, all of the events, as well as the street festival, are free. I’m personally making the trip for the Hobbit panel, if nothing else.

Luzinterruptus

Luzinterruptus is an anonymous light art collective from Madrid that is known for taking over public spaces. Raven-ous is intrigued by the installation they performed in Melbourne Australia titled: Literature vs Traffic:

Books and lights are the medium and watching people interact with them is the entertainment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are many more photos here and for examples of other installations check out this Colossal post and Vimeo for some videos.

 

Thanks Christina

The Athenaeum Does NaNoWriMo

            HAVEN’T YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE  A  BOOK? WELL, NOW’S YOUR CHANCE!

November is National Novel Writing Month, the month a morass of aspiring (and not-so-aspiring) writers take up the challenge to write an entire 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Yes, you read that right. That’s about 200 pages. In 30 days. Trust me, it is SO much more fun than that just sounded.

So in honor of National Novel Writing Month, we have selected several different groups of books. Firstly, to gear you up and get you ready to go, we have some great books from our collection about the art and craft of novel writing. Old standbys like John Gardner’s On Becoming a Novelist, Stephen King’s wildly popular On Writing, and my favorite, mystery author Elizabeth George’s Write Away, where she lays her writing process bare for the reader. We’ve also  included some published novels that began as NaNoWriMo projects! Sara Gruen’s Water For Elephants, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, and Anna and the French Kissby Stephanie Perkins. See? You never know what might happen.

Additionally, I thought I’d include several of our very own members who have books out: Athenaeum staff member Tina Egnoski’s Perishables, a lovely study in short fiction, Ann Hood’s very first novel Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine, Taylor Polites brand new historical novel of the Civil War, The Rebel Wife , and our own Bon Vivant Brett Rutherford’s chilling horror novel, The Lost Children. We’ve also included some favorite, prolific and well known authors – in their first novels. Isabel Allende, Margaret Atwood, mystery authors Ruth Rendell and Peter Lovesey — they all started somewhere. And remember, YOU CAN DO IT TOO! We encourage ANY and ALL patrons to join us in trying to write a novel during the month of November. All you have to do is go to www.nanowrimo.org and sign up! Its quick, its easy and its free!

If you do decide to take up the challenge, come see Amy or Megh on the Circulation Desk. We are Old Hats at Nanowrimo (as its affectionately called), and can help you get acclimated. Hope to see you in the Novel Writing Seas!         

(Click the title to see if it’s available)

Books About Writing:

• Write Away, Elizabeth George
• Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life, Natalie Goldberg
• On Becoming a Novelist, John Gardner
• Master Class: Scenes from a Fiction Workshop, Paul West
• How Fiction Works, James Wood
• Maps and Legends:  Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands, Michael Chabon
• On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King
• Poets & Writers Magazine, “Inspiration Issues” Jan/Feb2011, Jan/Feb2012

Books By Members:

• The Rebel Wife, Taylor M. Polites
• Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine, Ann Hood
• The Lost Children, Brett Rutherford
• The Steampunk Trilogy, Paul DiFilippo
• Perishables, Tina Egnoski
• Ricochet, Stuart Blazer

First Novels:

• Wobble to Death, Peter Lovesey
• The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury
• The Virgin Blue, Tracy Chevalier
• The Edible Woman, Margaret Atwood
• Lives of Girls and Women, Alice Munro
• Trust, Cynthia Ozick
• Player Piano, Kurt Vonnegut
• House of the Spirits, Isabelle Allende

NaNoWriMo Books:

• The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
• Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
• Anna and the French Kiss, Stephanie Perkins

Amy Eller Lewis, Writer and Circulation Assistant Extraordinaire, presents staff picks on our website each season and is responsible for this post.  Thanks Amy.