history

The first edition of this book was published five months before the writer, Lafcadio Hearn’s, death in September 1904. Kwaidan was part of a group of publications about the culture of Japan that began to appear in the West in the late 19th century. These publications helped to introduce the riches of Japanese aesthetic and artistic heritage to artists and designers in the United States and Europe and fueled public interest in all things Japanese.

If only my grandfather were this fashionable! This handsome book shows off 19th century ladies and gentlemen dressing for such sartorial activities as morning walking, evening dinner, riding in a carriage, sitting in a drawing room, and “Court dress for her majesty’s birthday.” Each plate is hand-colored with the addition of gold and silver. The Smithsonian Libraries and Archives' copy is bound in the original board and suede, with linen labels, and a beautiful embroidered bookmark bound within to mark your favorite satirical story.

Author Phebe Hanaford was inspired by her famous cousin, women's rights activist Lucretia Mott, to become a suffragist herself.  The inscription of this book reads: "To the women of future centuries of the United States of America, this record of many women of the first and second centuries whose lives were full of usefulness, and therefore worthy of renown and imitation."

You might be wondering why the Smithsonian Libraries would choose a book based on beasts from fantasy, but behind every myth is some truth. The family of “cryptids” includes such familiar creatures as Bigfoot, Yeti, and the Loch Ness Monster, plus several other questionable beasts of land and sea. This book, illustrated with black-and-white photos and drawings, attempts to apply the scientific method to reports of these mythological creatures. The goal is to separate fact from fiction, i.e., what is pure imagination from what is actually possible.

The title translates as "The life of mammals and fossilized humans, deciphered using comparative anatomy of the chewing organs.” This book's author, Mr. Sanielevici, believed that analysis of the processes and organs involved in chewing and digesting would explain the evolution of humans and mammals. In his ideology, ethnicity, racial diversity, and even personality are derived from historic and regional dietary trends: you are what you eat.

This beautifully illustrated monograph describes the excavation and research of an ancient Ixil Maya Indian town in a Guatemalan valley. The archeologists involved in this project describe their field work and findings with scholarly attention to detail, but also with obvious enthusiasm for their discoveries. The Discussion chapter highlights their fascination with ongoing exploration to fill in the historical blanks.

The struggle between good and evil. The battle between the sacred and the profane. These have been recurring themes in all societies and through art, populations were instructed in the principles of Christian religion. Clothing, costumes, music, and dance serve to teach people about the rules to follow as Christians. 

'To me black history is everyone’s history. It's the long, often tragic and always surprising story of Britain’s relationship with Africa and her peoples, both here in Britain but also in Africa and across the Caribbean and North America, and most of it is little known. It’s a major part of the story of us all.' —David Olusoga