#rakow library

[abpg]

Selections from the Libbey Glass Company catalog of blanks for sale to other cutting houses.

Catalog scan courtesy of the Rakow Research Library.

[curatorsday]

Thursday, October 15, 2020

I spent the day working on text for the Thatcher Glass Company exhibit. Last year, our archives partnered up with the Rakow Research Library at the Corning Museum of Glass to get our collection of Thatcher materials digitized. Now everything is available online at https://nyheritage.org/collections/thatcher-glass-manufacturing-company-collection. I love that we were able to do this project together, and that the collection of drawings and newsletters and documents is super easy to access for my own research and use in the exhibit.

[ex-tabulis]

Sharing archives on Instagram: #findingaidfriday

When it comes to Instagram, I’m a sucker for day-of-the-week hashtags (Exhibit A). So when I decided my library needed a campaign to promote newly-processed archives, I landed on #findingaidfriday. Each post would present a bite-sized story about a collection, then refer those who wanted to learn more to our site (and the relevant finding aid).

The pilot #findingaidfriday post, featuring a design…

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[ex-tabulis]

Outreach at the 2016 Glass Art Society conference

Library outreach at the 2016 Glass Art Society conference

Conference attendees watch a demo by Raven Skyriver. (Photo via Karol Wight) Earlier this month, the Glass Art Society held their annual conference in town. The museum was one of the major spots for lectures, glassmaking demonstrations, and events, and we (the library) wanted to position ourselves as a key location for conference attendees. We decided to raise awareness of our space, services,…

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[ex-tabulis]

#ColorOurCollections Week 2016

Last week the New York Academy of Medicine’s Center for the History of Medicine and Public Health invited libraries, archives, and museums to participate in #ColorOurCollections week, or, as they described it, “a week-long special collections coloring fest.” We have a collection of cut glass pattern patents that make for perfect coloring pages. They remind me of the complicated designs popping up…

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[extabulis]

I was excited to see Pepper’s Ghost used on the Sherlock Christmas special - it’s a pretty neat invention. It was first used on stage in 1862 during a production of Charles Dickens’ The Haunted Man, and soon became a popular tool for theatrical companies. My colleague wrote a blog post about Pepper’s Ghost and other inventions that use glass to create spooky illusions - it’s worth a read!

Ghosts and Magic…and Glass?: Pepper’s Ghost and glass optics

[hyperallergic]

To organize the many pieces that form just one stained glass window, artists often create full-scale drawings of the final work that serve as maps for the intricate process. Known as cartoons, these detailed templates are works of art in their own right, but they unfortunately usually receive far less exposure than their translucent counterparts. However, a team at the Corning Museum of Glass’s Rakow Research Library is currently working to conserve and digitize an immense collection of cartoons from Whitefriars Glass, one of England’s oldest glass manufacturers that operated for over 250 years. With greater access to this historic material, people across the world may search for and view the preparatory tracings of stained glass found in their local churches and cathedrals. But first, the research lab must treat each individual work, a tremendous undertaking currently spearheaded by its two interns that has yielded some fascinating finds.

Preserving the Templates for Historic Stained Glass Found Around the World