Looking for ink-spiration? Join us as we showcase a variety of floral and nature-inspired designs from the Archives and Special Collections. Whether you are an artist or client, the bugs, foliage, and fauna from materials such as An Essay towards a Natural History of Serpents and Episodes of Insect Life will be sure to spark your imagination. This program will take place in the Graphic Novels room on the first floor of Main Library. For adults.
Date: August 30
Time: 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
The Rare Books and Special Collections Department holds over 16,000 items including valuable and historically significant materials, such as first editions, limited editions, fine bindings, early printed books, local history resources, maps, photographs, and more.
Collections are particularly strong in American history and literature, architecture, travel and exploration, religion and philosophy, and early printing.
This tiny tome is often considered the first modern children's book, resembling an alphabet book of today, and consisting of simple rhymes and woodcut illustrations. When it was first sold in 1744 by John Newberry, it could be purchased with a ball (for boys) or a pin cushion (for girls) for an additional cost.
One page is particularly treasured because it contains the first written reference to 'base-ball' that we know of, as well as a woodcut of children playing an early version of the game. Very few early copies of A Little Pretty Pocket-Book survive. This copy is a 1944 facsimile of the 1787 American printing.
This book was featured in our Spring 2025 exhibit: "A World of Imagination: Illustrations and the History of Children's Services at the Library." In case you missed it, or if you'd like to view more little wonders from our collection, please contact our Rare Books and Special Collections Department to make an appointment.
John Newberry, 1744
1944 facsimile of 1787 American printing
In case you missed it at the Celebration of Seeds 2025, enjoy this beautiful print from Bairei's Flower Study (or 草花百種, which translates to One Hundred Kinds of Flowers). Kōno Bairei was a Kyoto-based artist who helped found the Kyoto Prefectural School of Painting. He is most known for his illustrated books, like this one, and kachō-e (‘bird and flower prints’). This accordion-folded album features traditional Japanese stab binding (keep an eye on our website for our next Japanese bookbinding workshop!) in silk thread. Like many artists of the Meiji Period, Kōno Bairei integrated influences from Western art into his work while staying faithful to Japanese woodblock printing methods. His commercial and critical success, in Japan and abroad, led him to be appointed to the Art Committee of the Imperial Household.
To view this book and more beautiful books of botanical illustration, please request an appointment with the Rare Books and Special Collections Department at CLP-Main.
Bairei's Flower Study (草花百種)
Kōno Bairei (幸野楳嶺), c. 1901
Call Number: r741 B16F
“dont steal this Book my honest friend for fear,” wrote Nathaniel Winston in his 1825 copy of Introduction to the English Reader. By some standards, this is a relatively tame book curse, as others have gone as far as threatening to gouge out a thief's eyes or wish them struck by a demon’s sword. Book Curses date back to the 7th century BC and were often inscribed by owners to protect against theft.
To get a closer look at this book curse, make an appointment with Rare Books and Special Collections at CLP Main.
Introduction to the English Reader
Lindley Murray, 1825
Call Number: r428.6 M96-2
This little beauty is a pocket-sized collection of book-loving quotes compiled by London bookseller Joseph Shaylor. Published in 1898, it was meant to “stimulate the mind of either book-worm or book-butterfly." Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Horace are among the authors and bibliophiles quoted inside.
To view this item, please request an appointment with the Rare Books and Special Collections Department at CLP - Main.
The Pleasures of Literature and the Solace of Books
Joseph Shaylor, 1898
Call Number: r 028.9 S538p
"A Pictorial Paper For The Fireside" was the slogan of People’s Monthly, a magazine published out of Pittsburgh in the mid to late 1800s. The magazine regularly featured articles like "Gossip For and About Women," "How to Make Wax Flowers," and "Wit and Humor." It also showcased luxurious cover illustrations and detailed artwork throughout. Learn more about CLP Main's Archives and Special Collections holdings at the Archives & Special Collections Treasures Event on June 1st, 2024 from 2:00-4:00pm.
Unable to make it to the Archives & Special Collections Treasures event, no worries! To view this item please request an appointment with the Rare Book & Special Collections Department at CLP Main.
vol. 1 no. 1 (June 1871)-vol. 5 no. 2 (Feb. 1875)
Call Number: qr 051 P41 vol. 1 no. 1 (June 1871)-vol. 5 no. 2 (Feb. 1875)
Seed Swap 2024 is almost here, and CLP Main's Rare Book and Special Collections Department is bringing the bugs!
Henry C. McCook’s 1884 work, Tenants of an Old Farm: Leaves from the Note-Book of a Naturalist will be on display at the event among other RB&SC items.
McCook’s collection of scientific musings on the "tenants" of the natural world, is tender and filled with detailed prints of potential garden companions. Come take a look at who McCook calls his friends!
Unable to make it to the Seed Swap 2024 event, no worries! To view this item please request an appointment with the Rare Book & Special Collections Department at CLP Main.
Henry C.McCook, 1884
Call Number: r 595.7 M13
The early American work on electricity, An Epitome of Electricity and Galvanism authored by Two Gentlemen of Philadelphia, was anonymously published in 1809 by Jane Aitken. Its pages contain thoughtful accounts of discoveries, experiments, and investigations. The featured image is an engraved frontispiece depicting an "electrical machine."
The book's notable success led its two authors, Jacob Green (1790-1841) and Erskine Hazard (1790-1865), to reveal their identities. Remarkably, both were in their teenage years at the time of publication.
Both gentlemen went on to attain notable accomplishments. Jacob Green became a professor at Princeton and later was appointed as the chair of chemistry at the newly established Jefferson Medical College. In contrast, Erskine Hazard went on to become a prominent industrialist. He played a crucial role in the development of infrastructure projects in Pennsylvania and the Northeastern United States, significantly contributing to the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
To view this item please request an appointment with the Rare Book & Special Collections Department at CLP Main.
An Epitome of Electricity and Galvanism, by Two Gentlemen of Philadelphia
Jacob Green and Erskine Hazard, 1809
Call Number: r537 E69
"Do Mammals Lay Eggs?
The question of whether mammals lay eggs was answered with the help of naturalist George Bennett (1804–1893). Bennett's interest in the platypus led him to be the first to capture live specimens, including three females with eggs in their uteri. These platypuses were sent to anatomist Richard Owen, who, after thorough examination, confirmed that some mammals indeed lay eggs.
For more insights into George Bennett's contributions to the natural sciences, his book Gatherings of a Naturalist in Australasia, published in 1860, is an excellent resource and is part of CLP Main’s Rare Book & Special Collections Department. The book documents Bennett's findings during his travels and includes detailed illustrations, such as those of two platypuses (image above). Additionally, the book features artwork drawn on stone by Joseph Wolf (1820-1899), a German artist celebrated for his significant contributions to wildlife art.
To view Gatherings of a Naturalist in Australasia by George Bennett, please request an appointment with the Rare Book & Special Collections Department at CLP Main.
Gatherings of a Naturalist in Australasia
George Bennett, 1860
Call Number: r570.993 B43
Published in 1873, John Wise's book Through the Air: A Narrative of Forty Years' Experience As An Aeronaut contains first hand accounts of hot air balloonists, including Miss Bradley. Known at the time as "one of the most heroic women of America," Miss Bradley's first ever balloon ascension from Easton, PA ended in a balloon explosion in Still Valley, New Jersey. The explosion couldn't keep Miss Bradley down, she immediately purchased another balloon and took once more to the sky.
To view this item please request an appointment with the Rare Book & Special Collections Department at CLP Main.
Through the Air: A Narrative of Forty Years' Experience As An Aeronaut
John Wise, 1873
Call Number: r 533.6 W81t
St. Nicholas magazine was a popular monthly periodical founded in 1873 and cherished by children for decades. Its pages were filled with lovely illustrations, poems, and stories by authors and artists of the day, all tailored to young readers. It also featured the work of children who would grow up to be celebrated writers themselves.
In the years of the Victorian era leading up to the first issue of St. Nicholas, the market for children’s literature had rapidly expanded, as had the demand for pleasurable and inexpensive reading like periodicals. Technological innovations made printing faster and cheaper, and growing rates of literacy and leisure time among the population meant more people, old and young, were eager for reading materials. Scribner and Company recognized this demand and asked Mary Mapes Dodge, author of the popular children’s book Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates, to lead St. Nicholas as its editor. The first issue was published in November of 1873.
Dodge had strong opinions about what a children’s magazine should look like, which shaped the direction of St. Nicholas. Those opinions were published in the periodical Scribner’s Monthly in 1873, where she declared that “the child’s magazine needs to be stronger, truer, bolder, more uncompromising than the [adult’s]. Its cheer must be the cheer of the bird-song, not of condescending editorial babble… Let there be no sermonizing either, no wearisome spinning out of facts, no rattling of the dry bones of history. A child’s magazine is its pleasure-ground.”
In 1930, designers like Edith Head and Elizabeth Arden created the Fashion Group in New York City to support women in the American fashion business by providing a network of professionals and resources. By 1937, the Pittsburgh Branch of the Fashion Group International formed as the 9th regional group. When World War II brought rationing to the United States, the Fashion Group of Pittsburgh (FGP) took on a public education role. Their 1942 publication “Conservation Begins with you” could be purchased at Gimbles, but soon spread to other department stores in the area. The pamphlet was filled with information aligned with the “make do and mend” wartime attitude. Fashion was a field which could remain women-focused, thusly the careers grew. Between 1947 and 1958, members consisted of professionals across women’s fashion from managers at Gimbles and fashionists at Kauffman’s to Post-Gazette Columnists and KDKA radio commentators.
Each morning in April, the Rare Books and Special Collections Department at CLP – Main will bring poetry to life over the PA system. This started on April 1st with “Lettuce. A Garden Esculent. Cold Hearted,” by the American poet F.S. Osgood. Renowned as one of her era’s leading female poets, Osgood was a key figure in the Language of Flowers genre, a literary trend of the 19th century that brought botany into the spotlight. This movement included flower dictionaries detailing their meanings, and floral-themed poetry and prose, providing a sentimental view of natural history.
What, exactly, does it mean for someone to find their voice? What avenues exist for discovering and for sharing a voice? Surely, a voice is defined as much by those who receive it as it is by those who express it? And as diphthongs and gutturals are exchanged, relationships develop, ideas are shared, and communities grow! Whether through writing, music, sports broadcasting, travel, or philanthropy, CLP-Main’s current Special Collections exhibit, Finding Your Voice: The Many Mediums of Expression explores these ideas through sharing some of the wonderful voices from our collection that have made Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.
