The Library of Congress > Blogs > Picture This > Archive by category 'Prints'

Valentine’s Day 2013

February 14, 2013 by Jeff Bridgers

To My Valentine, circa 1890. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.24353

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we feature a 120-year-old card. This circa 1890 valentine features a curly-headed angel paddling a flower-laden love boat “Hearts Delight.” The sail bears the inscription: “Pray Sweetheart, send me just a line to say you’ll be my Valentine.” Happy Valentine’s Day!

Learn More:

Put a little romance in your life via the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. Amongst the couples you’ll find there are those original star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet, and the lesser-known Paul and Virginia.
Looking for a visual treat for your Valentine? How about a flower tour of some of America’s most beautiful gardens courtesy of photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston?

Caught Our Eyes: An Engineering Marvel

January 31, 2013 by Barbara Orbach Natanson

This item from the Popular Graphic Arts collection recently caught the eye of Phil Michel, Digital Conversion Coordinator in the Prints & Photographs Division. Phil commented, “Early engineering marvels often catch my eye. Some of the ships, buildings, bridges, tunnels, etc., that were built in the industrial age were just phenomenal in their scale. I …

My Favorite Rembrandt

January 9, 2013 by Jeff Bridgers

The following is a guest post by Katherine Blood, Curator of Fine Prints. Picking a favorite Rembrandt might sound about as reasonable as choosing a favorite star or a single book to take to a desert island. But I do have a favorite–Rembrandt’s 1648 etching St. Jerome beside a Pollard Willow. St. Jerome (ca. 342-420) has …

Happy New Year, 2013!

December 31, 2012 by Jeff Bridgers

One hundred years ago, Leighton Budd created this illustration for the January 1, 1913 edition of Puck, the humor and satire magzine. It pictures two fashionable young women stopping by a snowbank so that one of them can record her New Year’s resolutions: “1913 No Jealousy No Anger No Flirt.” Alas, it is unclear whether …

Puck Cartoons: “Launched at Last!”

December 20, 2012 by Jeff Bridgers

The following is a guest post by Woody Woodis, Cataloging Specialist, Prints & Photographs. Imagine the pleasure of spending your days looking at cartoons created over a century ago. That opportunity landed on my desk in the form of a digitization and cataloging project of over 2,500 color cartoon illustrations published in Puck magazine between …

Looking into Urania’s Mirror: The Geminid Meteor Shower

December 12, 2012 by Kristi Finefield

Every December, the Geminid Meteor Shower fills the evening sky with shooting stars (meteors). The first step to enjoying the shower, which will peak the evening of December 13 and into the morning of the 14th, is to locate the constellation of Gemini in the night sky, as the meteors will appear to radiate from …

From Player Portraits to Baseball Cards

October 17, 2012 by Jeff Bridgers

With the World Series just around the bend, baseball has been on my mind. In 1910, photographer Paul Thompson copyrighted a series of photographic portraits he had taken of baseball players. The portraits are simple straight-on head-and-shoulders shots with the players gazing directly back at the camera. These same portraits would serve as the basis …

Antietam: Can One Picture Tell the Story?

September 14, 2012 by Jeff Bridgers

The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, Prints & Photographs Division. If you had to pick just one picture to represent the Battle of Antietam, which would you choose? A photograph of a young girl wearing mourning ribbons and holding a photograph of her father could symbolize the wide-spread and lasting losses …

The War of 1812: New Reference Aid

June 18, 2012 by Barbara Orbach Natanson

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that, in addition to marking the 150th anniversary of key developments in the U.S. Civil War, we are now looking back at an even earlier conflict as the War of 1812 bicentennial launches. Two hundred years to the day have passed since the United States declared war on …

World War I in Pictures: New Reference Aid

June 7, 2012 by Barbara Orbach Natanson

This year we’re marking anniversaries of key events in two wars: the U.S. Civil War and the War of 1812 (about which, stay tuned!). At the risk of seeming to be focused on conflict, we’re also looking ahead to the anniversary of what H.G. Wells dubbed “The War That Will End War.” As it turned …