Adeline Harris Sears’ Autographs Quilt (1856–ca.1863)
Wonderful trompe l’oeil tumbling block design quilt incorporating signatures from such luminaries as Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Rembrandt Peale, and Abra…more
19th Century
Kusakabe Kimbei’s Photographs of Late 19th-Century Japan
Photographs depicting everyday scenes in 19th-century Japan by Kusakabe Kimbei….more
Texts in Mathias Enard’s Compass
Collection of the major public domain texts featuring in the novel Compass by French writer Mathias Enard — including Balzac, Victor Hugo, and Joseph-Charles Mard…more
Arcimboldo-esque Composite Portraits of Trades (ca. 1800)
Lovely aquatint print depicting four composite portraits for the professions of florist, writer, musician, and barber — their features made up entirely from the t…more
The Wise Boys: or, The Entertaining Histories of Fred Forethought, Matt Merrythought, Luke Lovebook and Ben Bee (ca. 1842)
Collection of poetic stories championing exemplary boyhood behaviour, the work of the American poet Sarah Josepha Buell Hale….more
Marcus Selmer’s Photographs of 19th-Century Norwegians
Stunning set of portraits of Norwegians in national folk costume taken by the Danish photographer Marcus Selmer….more
The Confidence-Man (1857)
Published on the day it is set, April Fool’s Day 1857, Herman Melville’s last novel concerns a group of passengers travelling by steamboat along the Mississippi and…more
Painted Photograph of an Unknown Man (ca. 1855–70)
An unusual example of a painted photograph, in which the artist has left sections untouched by paint….more
Hypnotism Posters (ca. 1900)
A set of amusing turn-of-the-century hypnotism posters showing hypnotised people up to various strange shenanigans….more
Sketches in Bedlam (1823)
A compendium of glimpses into the personalities and stories of more than 140 mental patients confined to the Bethlem Hospital in the early part of the 19th century….more
The Friendship Book of Anne Wagner (1795-1834)
Pages from a friendship book of Anne Wagner, aunt to the poet Felicia Dorothea Browne, who herself has a number of entries in the album, including wonderful mixed-m…more
Portraits of Imprisoned Modoc Warriors (1873)
Photographs of captured Modoc warriors taken by Louis Herman Heller (1839-1929) during and after the The Modoc War….more