romance

This beautiful book of pressed flowers was compiled by newlyweds Ralph L. and Hetty G. Dixon, who collected the majority of the specimens along the banks of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Towpath in Georgetown in the 1920s. Although the Dixons were amateurs, they took great care in the mounting and identification of their blooms, and it is thanks to this that most of the specimens remain intact. But the love story contained within these pages isn’t the only golden thing about the book; the locally collected flowers include golden corydalis and golden ragwort.

Paris on Horseback was written and illustrated by French author and cartoonist known as Crafty, whose real name was Victor Eugène Geruzez (1840-1906), specializing in books on horses and hunting. The contents of the book are divided into sections: "Cavalry of Paris," "At the Bois de Boulogne," "At the Races," and "The Art of Falling from the Horse." These satirical and witty observations highlight the transactions and tricks that surrounded acquiring a horse from a Parisian horse dealer. It takes a comical view of French society, the racing world, the horse show, and dressage.

Observations over some Fragments of Ancient Glass Vases Ornamented with Figures Found in Rome Cemeteries is the work of Filippo Buonarroti (Florence, 1661- 1733), an early scholar of Etruscan art and antiquities, studying the collection in the family palazzo-museum, Casa Buonarroti. He made a study of the bottoms of Roman gold glass vessels that were used as grave markers on the walls around the burial niches of catacombs in Rome. Buonarotti included many illustrations of these decorated pieces and fragments of glass, many of them showing portraits of the gravesite owners.

Steaming across the oceans in high style came into fashion in the early 20th century. Glamorous ocean liner travel was as much a part of the experience as the traveler's destination until air travel dominated transportation. Ocean liners grew increasingly larger, faster, and more luxurious, and are one of the ultimate symbols of the Jazz Age and Art Deco periods. The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Library has many trade catalogs, pattern books, sheet music covers, and other materials documenting these time periods.

Charles Méryon (1821 –1868) was a French artist and poet who worked almost entirely in etching, as he suffered from colour blindness. Although now little-known in the English-speaking world, he is generally recognized as the most significant etcher of 19th century France. He wrote in verses which were designed to be published alongside his images, expressing the thoughts and feelings the subjects aroused in his mind, and considered himself a poet.

They say every book tells a story, and this one does not disappoint. Loves Garland, or Posies for Rings…contains a selection of posies, or love poems, that could be inscribed onto gold rings and given to a friend or lover as a testament of one’s affection. This edition of Loves Garland, published in 1883, is a reprint of a 1674 edition, which in turn is a reprint of the original 1624 edition.

This beautifully illustrated pattern book, part of a five volume study of mid-19th century French architecture by artist and chromolithographer Victor Petit, includes fifty color lithographs of designs for gardens. The colorful, full-page illustrations provide designs for the placement of paths, flowerbeds, waterways, and garden structures for properties ranging from one sixth of an acre to more than seven and a half acres.

In 19th century America, as the middle class grew, more people had time to garden for pleasure. That is when books on flower gardening became popular. Chrysanthemum Culture for America (1891) by James Morton was one of the earliest American publications on the history and care of chrysanthemums. At the time, the famous horticulturist Liberty Hyde Bailey considered it the best book “written by an American” on the flower.

How fast could you write a 300 page book? Sensationalist journalist Jay Henry Mowbray turned out this edition of Sinking of The "Titanic" (complete with illustrations and ready for sale) by May 11, 1912, less than one month after the ship struck that infamous iceberg. Speed puts this book into a curious genre—the “instant book.” The instant book narrates a contemporaneous event through a collage of sources, like government hearings or embellished descriptions, coalesced by journalists, then sold door-to-door as soon as possible. But why the need for speed?

This book is a tragic love story. One of Frederick Douglass’ friends from Germany, feminist Ottilie Assing (1819-1884), traveled to the United States, interviewed him, and translated his autobiography into German. Assing was a journalist by profession. They were about the same age. She fell in love with him, but he said he was wary of the racial divide in the United States. After the death of her sister, Assing returned to Europe to settle the family estate. During this trip, she learned through the newspaper that Frederick Douglass had married another woman seven months prior.

This elegantly illustrated book has eight direct color photographs and 64 half tone plates depicting roses and rose gardens. The author, Harry Higgott Thomas (1876-1956), started out with a career in banking but switched his focus and went to study at Kew Gardens and became one of the best known names in garden writing. The< color photographs are by Henry Essenhigh Corke who combined his botany knowledge with the family photography business to become a pioneering photographer of plants.