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Literary Politics in 1790s New York City
In October of 1793, a pseudonymous author named Midas wrote “A Dissertation on jack-asses.” Silly as it sounded, the “dissertation” received serious consideration from the author’s co-members in the...
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Navigating the Library's New York City Maps
City & County Map of New-York.., 1849 / ColtonNYPL's Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division is home to almost half a million maps and approximately 20,000 atlases. Our collection of New...
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Digging Up the Nineteenth-Century Roots of Thematic Map Techniques
The mission of my Short-Term Fellowship was to research the development of thematic map technique in the West: the way that proportional circle, flow line, isopleth, choropleth, dasymetric, dot...
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Elizabeth De Hart Bleecker Diary, December 1799
“Mr John Shaw was flogg’d in Wall Street by Col. Mansfield--the occasion of it was this -- a few days after the news of General Washington’s death arriv’d, Mr. Shaw said, in the presence of a number of...
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Recent Acquisitions in the Jewish Division: December 2016
The following titles on our Recent Acquisitions Display are just a few of our new books, which are available at the reference desk in the Dorot Jewish Division. Lingering Bilingualism: Modern...
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Discovering Charles Minard: Information Design, Numerical Magnitudes, and a...
The collections of the Map Division of The New York Public Library contain a rare gem of information graphics and cartographic design: a copy of Charles Minard's self-published folio of 1861, Des...
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Evangelical Gotham: An Interview with Kyle Roberts
Kyle Roberts is Assistant Professor of History and the Director of the Center for Textual Studies and Digital Humanities at Loyola University, Chicago. He is also the author of the recently published...
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Prisons, Property, and the American Revolution
Just as soon as they won the Revolution and secured their independence, Americans began incarcerating more people. In a society founded ostensibly on freedom or liberty, what could be a graver...
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The Titan and the Dictator
Atlas. Manhattan Land Book 1955-56. Plate 77, Part of Sections 4 & 5. NYPL Map Division. Image ID: 5216999FactoidEvery New Yorker, when asked directions, has a different way of getting to the same...
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Bringing the Library to Rikers
As a software developer at The New York Public Library, I work on digital applications ranging from showcasing curated staff recommendations on Staff Picks and exploring new item acquisitions on New...
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Ep. 65 "This Is My Contribution" | Library Stories
When Manhattan resident Jennifer Maston realized that her family's stories were at risk of dying out, she decided to make a family tree. But her initial inquiry into researching ancestors quickly took...
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From Boston's Resistance to an American Revolution
The American Revolution is usually told as a very Boston-centric story. When Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765, resistance was widespread, but Bostonians led the way in creating the Sons of...
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10 Great Books on Lou Reed, The Velvet Underground, and 1960's Counterculture
Lou Reed. Photo: Julian Schnabel.The Library has just announced the acquisition of the Lou Reed Archive, and we're celebrating the life and legacy of this rock icon with a series of displays, programs,...
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Tammany Hall's Nineteenth-Century Retweets
You shouldn’t believe your own press. Tammany Hall probably took that to heart during their infamous days of Boss Tweed and Democratic machine politics. But earlier on in their history, they actively...
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The Spirit of Will Eisner: Celebrating a Graphic Novel Pioneer
Today, March 6th, 2017, marks what would have been Will Eisner's 100th birthday. Will Eisner is commonly recognized as the father of the graphic novel and is considered one of the most innovative and...
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Pi(e) Day in the Map Division
Taking inspiration from the delightful National Cookie Day post by Elizabeth Waters of Mid-Manhattan Library, the Map Division is using Pi(e) Day as cause to celebrate not only our love for pie (the...
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Christopher Gray: an Appreciation
Architectural historian and New York Times columnist Christopher Gray died last week. He was 66. Milstein Division librarians took a moment to reflect on Gray's work, and his impact on the written...
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The Other Mrs. Adams
Samuel Adams is remembered as a fiery revolutionary and staunch patriot while his second cousin John is remembered as a sophisticated political operator. Likewise, at the dawn of the American...
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Women's Lives in 1790s NYC: Stories from the Almshouse Records
What was it like in New York City for women during the 1790s? We’ve explored this question through the diary of an elite woman named Elizabeth De Hart Bleecker. But as Women’s History Month 2017 comes...
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11 Facts About NYPL for #AprilFactsDay
The New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman building opened on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in 1911. One of NYC's iconic landmarks, it welcomes millions of visitors a year to discover its...
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