Wildflowers of America - 1894

7/9/24 (updated 11/25/25)The series "Wild Flowers of America" published by G.H. Buek and Co. in 1894 is a botanical work featuring detailed and accurate illustrations of wildflowers from every state in the American Union. It was issued as a weekly botanical fine art publication and later compiled into a bound book edition. The series contains 288 color illustrations of flowers with corresponding explanatory text, emphasizing botanical accuracy by depicting each flower as it grows naturally, rather than artistic fantasy, to maximize educational value. The publication had contributions from a corps of special artists and botanists and was endorsed by leading artists and university botanists from America and Europe. It was designed to familiarize Americans with their native wildflowers in detail and color.​The book is an oblong quarto with a burgundy cloth cover, decorative lettering and floral designs, and gilt edges, indicating it was a quality production. Its introduction highlights the intention to provide a realistic representation of wildflowers for botanical learning, resisting the common trend of fanciful imagery in botanical commemoratives at the time.​Source: Perplexity.aiCurated by Gabrielle Ly 

Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes

Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes, published by the W. B. Conkey Company, features a large selection of rhymes, poems, and accompanying illustrations. Some of the nursery rhymes are written as sheet music, while others tell moral tales about anthropomorphic animals. It's a delightful, though sometimes dated, set of amusing works for children.Source: https://www.perplexity.ai/search/tell-me-about-mother-goose-wGnYDJXPR6Cgyd4WLGkd6A#1 History of Mother Goose - perplexity >>> Mother Goose is a legendary figure in children’s literature, best known as the supposed author of tales and nursery rhymes beloved for centuries. The name first appeared in French literature in the late 1600s, when Charles Perrault published Contes de ma Mère l’Oye (“Tales of Mother Goose”) in 1697, introducing classics like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. Translated into English in 1729, the collection established Mother Goose as a storytelling icon across Europe and beyond.wikipedia+2​The concept, however, may be much older. French legends trace her to “Bertha the Spinner” or “Goose-Foot Bertha,” a queen from the 10th or 11th century famed for captivating children with stories. In America, a popular but apocryphal tale identifies her as a Bostonian woman—either Elizabeth or Mary Goose—whose son-in-law allegedly published her rhymes in the early 1700s.pookpress+2​By the 18th century, the English publisher John Newbery helped cement her association with nursery rhymes through his Mother Goose’s Melody (c. 1765). Whether myth or memory, Mother Goose became a symbol of early childhood literature—an enduring, grandmotherly figure whose songs and stories bridged generations and cultures.poetryfoundation+2​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Goosehttps://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/mother-goosehttps://www.pookpress.co.uk/project/mother-goose-rhymes-history/https://www.library.illinois.edu/rbx/2018/01/23/who-was-mother-goose/https://bookriot.com/a-brief-history-of-mother-goose/https://rodbenson.com/2021/07/28/who-is-mother-goose/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoDDeIdfoMMhttps://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Mother-Goose/275950https://americansongwriter.com/who-was-mother-goose-really-and-what-is-the-meaning-behind-her-story/https://iew.com/support/blog/who-was-mother-goosehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histoires_ou_contes_du_temps_pass%C3%A9

Williams Art Community Project - 2025-2026

Welcome to the Williams Art Community Project! Our goal is to energize the Williams arts community by bringing students and alumni together, and through a program of review and mentorship foster a better future for the arts. We hope you’ll join us.See student exhibits (complete as of 1/1/26) here.See recap videos of our Fall alumni-student art chats here and here.Students have created mini-exhibits highlighting their studio or curatorial work, with alumni providing feedback. We have 17 finished Exhibit Stories available here, and final group exhibitions will be hosted in-person in January in Williamstown, online in February, and in-person in Manhattan in April. See latest Google Slide deck.The first exhibit will be January 24, 2026 at 6pm at the ‘62 Center in Williamstown.- Nick Garlid ’25, Tom Paper ’84, Chris Hughes ’28

UN/SEEN - Nick Garlid, Riku Nakano, Coco Rhum, Ellie Iorio, Elsa Martin

The first time Lichtenstein’s Crying Girl was put up for sale, it sold for $10. In 2015 it sold again, this time for $95 million. What makes a work of art worth more than another? Why are some works famous, and some unknown? Our exhibition, UN/SEEN, works to complicate the viewer's understanding of these questions. The exhibition juxtaposes two works of art at a time: one world renowned and one student made. Despite their differences in visibility, the works placed together often deal with some of the same images and the same themes. With time, and with your help, we can move this largely unseen student art solidly into the “seen” category.

Example of Artist-Curator Profiles - The Art Seen

Enjoy exploring the student-curated work of the Fall 25 Cohort! Click on any image to learn more about the artist, or see the curated artwork.

Tangled by The Art Seen - 2025

The Art Seen is proud to present an exhibition of student art, shown from 11/21/24 to 11/23/24 in the Wilde Gallery at Spencer Art Building. tangled is a two-person exhibition featuring the work of Annie Scott and Clem Roach. Their work explores concepts of touch as a form of language, the boundaries of bodily expression and gender, and the lived experience of touch, all through a multitude of different mediums: linocut prints, mixed-media paintings, video, and audio. ​Thank you so much to everyone who made this possible. Special thanks to Annie and Clem for being so excited and flexible with the concept, to MJ Getman for co-curating and bringing up the idea for this exhibition in the first place, and to Megan Mazza for letting us reserve the Wilde Gallery at one of the busiest times of year. We hope you enjoy!

Various Art From Various Places

Artwork that leaves an impression on me as I visit various places. by Tom Paper  

Various SFO Art - curated by Tom Paper

Tom Paper’s exhibit of his  encounters with art at the SFO airport. keyword: curatedvisits

San Francisco Open Studios 2025 - by Artspan

OpenStudios2025 | InstagramArtSpan's 2025 SF Open Studios Guide Art Competition WinnersHear from these seven phenomenal artists whose artworks will represent ArtSpan’s 51st citywide celebration. 🎨 GUIDE COVER WINNER⁠ “The Tower and The Flag” by Raymundo Valdez [@raymundovaldezart]⁠ ⁠ ✨ FINALISTS⁠ “Berry Yummy” by Michael Hyun Gu Kang [@mikehkanga]⁠ “Forward Thinking” by Michael McConnell [@poopingrabbit]⁠ “Drape of Noir” by Cecilia Lusven [@cecilia_lusven]⁠ “Cheese Plus: Polk at Pacific” by Mark D. Powers [@markdpowers]⁠ “Midsummer Morning” by Victoria Veedell [@victoria_Veedell]⁠ “Connector” by Bushra Gill [@bushragill_art]⁠View these and 250+ artworks at SFOS ArtLaunch on Sept 19, 6-9PM at SOMArts, 934 Brannan St, San Francisco. RSVP and learn more here.Exhibition is available to view September 19-October 12. These amazing ArtSpan Artists' work will boldly represent the spirit of SF Open Studios and inspire art lovers across the SF Bay Area.⁠

Various Art from La Junta, Colorado

various artworks from LaJunta, Colorado, and the surrounding area.

Miriam Sweeney Artwork

We love Miriam Sweeney and her art. She loved art as a young woman, but then started a family and so art took a backseat. Re-engaged with art in the past five years or so. Her city map pieces are about her love of place and all the memories she has of places she has been with the people she loves. Her egg shells and bees work is about the fragility of life. Her map and memorabilia pieces are about the lives we lead and all the history packed inside. If I recall correctly, the three lines on some pieces are about her three sons.https://www.mbsweeneyart.com/See @mir_sweeney on Instagram.“Drawing inspiration from city aerial views, my work explores the urban landscape that sit somewhere between order and chaos, structure and collapse, expression and control. Seen from above, its pieces emerge like a puzzle, each with its own personality. I  paint playful, textured curvilinear shapes to capture the city streets, its landmarks, the droning sounds of traffic, the chitter chatter of its cast of characters. I hope to evoke the feeling one gets when flying into a new place for the first time, when we try to take everything in, or reflect on the lasting impressions of authentic connections, special places and their unique stories.”Photoshoot at Baker Street on June 23rd, 2024.Transcript of Recordingkeyword: featuredartistsArtist Statement by Miriam Sweeney - 2025-04-19----------------------Drawing inspiration from city aerial views, my work explores the urban landscape that sits somewhere between order and chaos, structure and collapse, expression and control. Seen from above, its pieces emerged like a puzzle, each with its own personality. I paint playful, textured, curvilinear shapes to capture the city streets, its landmarks, the droning sounds of traffic, the chitter chatter of its cast of characters. I hope to evoke the feeling one gets when flying into a new place for the first time. When we try to take everything in, or reflect on the lasting impressions of authentic connections, special places, and their unique stories. 

French Posters / Jules Cheret - Rich Breiman Collection - Curated by Gabrielle Ly

Jules Cheret Bio...April 2024 - Born in 1836 to a family of artisans, Jules Cheret is known today as the father of modern lithography. His artistic influence began at an early age: his father was a typographer. Due to his family’s poverty, Cheret was apprenticed to a lithographer at the age of 13. He eventually invented color lithography as it exists today, transforming dull prints into veritable rainbows of color.Surprisingly, Cheret’s only formal art training was a single course at the Ecole Nationale de Dessin in Paris. He eventually moved to London, England to study photography and design from 1859 to 1866. His experience and exposure to further lithography techniques inspired him to establish his lithography firm in Paris in 1866. Eugene Rimmel, a perfume manufacturer, funded Cheret’s firm after hiring him to create packaging. Cheret imported the lithography machines from London as they did not exist in France yet.Cheret created his first poster in 1858, commissioned for the operetta Orpheus in the Underworld in London. At first, his posters only used three colors, made from three overlapping prints in the lithographic process. (He also influenced artists such as Henri de Toulous-Lautrec who used the same process of color lithography.)The artist was awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government in 1890 for his contributions to the arts. He designed over a thousand posters for different venues and performances. Cheret passed away at the age of 96 in 1932, having retired to the French Riviera in Nice, France.The term “Cherettes” was coined to describe how Cheret portrayed women in his posters. In contradiction to his time, he depicted women not as puritans or prostitutes but as lively and elegant, free and bold individuals. They appeared as individuals with their own lives and desires, making some call Cheret a pioneer in female liberation.Over time, his style evolved. With “Cherettes” taking the center focus, his compositions became more dynamic and typography-heavy. His posters, influenced by Rococo painters and Japanese woodblock prints, featured simplified backgrounds, flanked by glowing colors and textures. His work elevated lithography to an art form and became popular as it portrayed the gaiety of the time.April 2024 - Born in 1836 to a family of artisans, Jules Cheret is known today as the father of modern lithography. His artistic influence began at an early age: his father was a typographer. Due to his family’s poverty, Cheret was apprenticed to a lithographer at the age of 13. He eventually invented color lithography as it exists today, transforming dull prints into veritable rainbows of color.Surprisingly, Cheret’s only formal art training was a single course at the Ecole Nationale de Dessin in Paris. He eventually moved to London, England to study photography and design from 1859 to 1866. His experience and exposure to further lithography techniques inspired him to establish his lithography firm in Paris in 1866. Eugene Rimmel, a perfume manufacturer, funded Cheret’s firm after hiring him to create packaging. Cheret imported the lithography machines from London as they did not exist in France yet.Cheret created his first poster in 1858, commissioned for the operetta Orpheus in the Underworld in London. At first, his posters only used three colors, made from three overlapping prints in the lithographic process. (He also influenced artists such as Henri de Toulous-Lautrec who used the same process of color lithography.)The artist was awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government in 1890 for his contributions to the arts. He designed over a thousand posters for different venues and performances. Cheret passed away at the age of 96 in 1932, having retired to the French Riviera in Nice, France.The term “Cherettes” was coined to describe how Cheret portrayed women in his posters. In contradiction to his time, he depicted women not as puritans or prostitutes but as lively and elegant, free and bold individuals. They appeared as individuals with their own lives and desires, making some call Cheret a pioneer in female liberation.Over time, his style evolved. With “Cherettes” taking the center focus, his compositions became more dynamic and typography-heavy. His posters, influenced by Rococo painters and Japanese woodblock prints, featured simplified backgrounds, flanked by glowing colors and textures. His work elevated lithography to an art form and became popular as it portrayed the gaiety of the time. VOICE NOTE TRANSCRIPT:Jules Cheret, 1836 to 1932, was the pioneer of color lithography and invented a new way of printing color.He started his artistic journey at 13 as an apprentice to a lithographer. Surprisingly, he barely had any formal art training, having taken only one formal course at the Ecole Nationale de Dessin in Paris. He moved to London to study photography and design from 1859 to 1866, later moving back to Paris to open his own firm. His firm was originally funded by a perfume manufacturer who loved Cheret’s design. Cheret imported his lithography machines from London as they did not exist in France at the time. He was known for his poster designs and prints, often printing his and other artists’ works at his print shop Imprimere Chaix in Paris during the Belle Epoque era. This generation of artists ushered in a more colorful period in printed works. He released a collection of 250 prints called the Les Maitres de l'Affiche.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Ch%C3%A9retkeyword: richbreiman

Interesting Aspects - California Gold Rush - Robert Simmon

A detailed original map of the California Gold Rush created by renowned cartographer Robert Simmon.

Paul Bunyan Swings His Axe

Paul Bunyan Swings His Axe is written and illustrated Dell J. McCormick, intended to preserve and continue the legacy of this American mythical figure. It is a collection of stories and comical illustrations intended to portray the larger than life adventures of Paul Bunyan.Source: https://www.perplexity.ai/search/who-is-paul-bunyan-R5VV.7PhSAy63M0szMFesA#0 ______________This book was a gift from Diana Donlon to Tom Paper in September 2025.  Tom grew up in Minnesota where Paul was a legend and also the namesake of a small town theme park that existed between their home near Garrison and Brainerd Minnesota.History of Paul Bunyan Land near Brainerd, Minnesota (Wikipedia)

Tom Paper's Glimpse Talk for GSB Reunion - October 2025

On October 11, 2025, Tom Paper gave this talk to his business school class at Stanford for their 35-year reunion. This talk was part of a group of 15 talks by classmates about a hobby or something significant in their life outside of work activities.                    Thank you!  google doc | google slide   

Interesting Aspects: Don Quijote's Route Map — Steve Hanon

In 1780, on the 175th Anniversary of the publication of The Quijote, the Real Academia published a lavishly printed edition of Don Quijote (The Ibarra Edition) that included a forward, a biographical sketch of Cervantes, plot analysis, illustrations, and the first map depicting Don Quijote's travels throughout Spain.

Interesting Aspects: Jo Mora in Yosemite - Peter Hiller

August 2025 - Jo Mora’s Yosemite Carte (1931) is a whimsical yet geographically accurate pictorial map that captures the beauty and character of Yosemite Valley. Blending detailed topography with humorous illustrations, Mora’s work offers a unique artistic interpretation of the park and its visitors. Dedicated to Stephen T. Mather, the map remains a celebrated piece of American cartographic art.

San Francisco Historic Maps

On July 31st, 2025, from 5 to 7pm, a reception and presentation about San Francisco Historic Maps was held at YesSF, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce's gallery space at 220 Montgomery Street. About 95 people attended the presentation given by Tom Paper, Founder of Pixeum, and Jim Schein, Founder of Schein & Schein. A group of about 35 of the San Francisco Historic Maps from this presentation were viewable in the YesSF gallery space, from Monday July 27, 2025 through Friday, August 1st, 2025.  Follow-ups from the 7/31/25 eventBooks about SF:Imperial San FranciscoWhen the Water Came Up To Market StreetTowers of GoldSeasons of the WitchGold Mountain Big City Tom Paper is Founder of Pixeum, a website that helps people tell stories with art. Jim Schein is Founder of Schein & Schein, a map and print store originally based in North Beach.Biography of Jim ScheinJim Schein is the passionate founder of Schein & Schein, a renowned map and print store originally based in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood. With his wife, Marti, he opened the shop in 2003, combining a deep love for cartography, history, and travel into a unique retail experience that quickly became a cornerstone for map enthusiasts and collectors12.Schein grew up surrounded by academic influence, with close family pursuing careers in geography and landscape architecture. Diverging from a more traditional academic path, Jim charted his own journey—first as a manager in music logistics, where touring internationally allowed him to frequent antiquarian bookstores and amass a diverse map collection3. Eventually, his dedication to maps led him to establish his own store, nurturing a business with a personal touch and encyclopedic expertise in antique cartography.Schein & Schein thrived for nearly two decades, offering thousands of authentic maps and prints from the 14th to 20th centuries, especially highlighting San Francisco, California, and wine country. Jim’s zeal is not just for selling objects, but sharing stories—he’s been celebrated for preserving the tactile and historical aspects of maps in a digital age. In addition to curating rare items, he authored a book titled "Gold Mountain Big City," further cementing his status as a prominent figure in the world of cartography1.https://www.scheinandschein.com/about-serviceshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIlgRcEChIIhttps://www.inquirer.com/philly/living/20151101_Finding_a_new_career_in_his_zeal_for_maps.htmlhttps://www.scheinandschein.comhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvVpWNwOMhttps://handfulofsalt.wordpress.com/2010/03/18/stores-we-love-schein-schein/ The exhibit of San Francisco Historic Maps is available as a pop-up exhibit for venues with 150 lineal feet of wall space. See below for information about prior exhibits...As a part of The California Map Society's Spring Conference, on June 28, 2025, Tom presented his digital collection of maps of San Francisco and what he finds most meaningful about each map. He hopes to inspire people to explore these maps further on their own at www.pixeum.org. This exhibit was first presented by Jim Schein and Tom Paper on April 18, 2019, at the offices of Webster Pacific in downtown San Francisco. The date, April 18, was the anniversary of the great earthquake and fire of 1906. The exhibit was a pop-up, which meant that it was put up and taken down within a span of six hours. Every image was printed and mounted onto a posterboard and then rested on a portable easel.  

Exploring Maps by Fully Tactile Art SF - 8/31/25

See Tom’s Google Photo album here.

Various Art from Bonham’s at 601 California

Various items from Bonham’s at 601 California St.

Mila at Mission Bowling - June 24, 2025

Show opening was June 24, 2025. Ode to the Mission is a solo exhibition by Mila Kirillova that honors the vibrant spirit, layered histories, and resilient communities of San Francisco’s Mission District. Through richly detailed works, Mila reflects on memory, place, and transformation, offering a visual tribute to the neighborhood’s evolving identity.Mission Bowling Club is a proud partner of ArtSpan’s Art-In-Neighborhoods program. View this collection in person at Mission Bowling Club, 3176 17th Street, San Francisco during open hours.Exhibition Dates: May 28, 2025 to November 9, 2025Artwork Pickup: Monday, November 10, 2025 at 10AMArtist Reception: Tuesday, June 24, 2025 from 6–8PM RSVP here

San Francisco Panorama - Eadward Muybridge - 1877

2/21/25 - I had the pleasure of visiting the David Rumsey Map Center with the Stanford women’s club. We were hosted by Evan Thornberry, the director of the David Rumsey Map Center, and none other than David Rumsey himself. One highlight of the trip was seeing the recently acquired San Francisco panorama created in 1877 by the photographer Eadward Muybridge.

The Paper Bigelow Art Collection

Welcome to the Paper-Bigelow art collection. This is an example of how Pixeum can help a collector to share the stories of their collection. And in this sequence, I’m going to share just a few of the items in our collection. Eleanor and I love art and maps, but, more than that, we love the artists who created these works. We love their stories and their inspiration. And we especially love the story of how we came to purchase each piece and how each piece inspires us.Tom Papertom@pixeum.orgLink to Item Listing PDF 

Visit to LACMA - April 7, 2025

4/7/25 - visited the incredible LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and scratched the surface. Amazing modern art in an amazing building. Most memorable was digital art exhibit and seeing famous artists like Picasso, Brancusi, Lichtenstein…and so many others.

Getty Museum - April 6, 2025

4/6/25 - Eleanor and I had a great visit to the Getty museum. It’s hard to cover more than a small portion of what they have even if you have two or three hours, but it was really fun. Amazing art and an amazing building or set of buildings. It’s like a college campus. No evidence of the recent fires.

Garden of Earthly Delights - Hieronymous Bosch - 1500

4/5/25 - I would love to collaborate with an expert on Bosch to annotate this image with DOTs. Pls email me at tom@pixeum.org if you are interested. And thank you Jerry Saltz for posting on Instagram about this image. Public Domain ReviewHieronymus Bosch, born Jheronimus van Aken[5],  c. 1450 – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on oak wood, mainly contains fantastic illustrations of religious concepts and narratives.[6] Within his lifetime his work was collected in the Netherlands, Austria, and Spain, and widely copied, especially his macabre and nightmarish depictions of hell.Little is known of Bosch's life, though there are some records. He spent most of it in the town of 's-Hertogenbosch, where he was born in his grandfather's house. The roots of his forefathers are in Nijmegen and Aachen (which is visible in his surname: Van Aken). His pessimistic fantastical style cast a wide influence on northern art of the 16th century, with Pieter Bruegel the Elder being his best-known follower. Today, Bosch is seen as a hugely individualistic painter with deep insight into humanity's desires and deepest fears. Attribution has been especially difficult; today only about 25 paintings are confidently given to his hand[7] along with eight drawings. About another half-dozen paintings are confidently attributed to his workshop. His most acclaimed works consist of a few triptych altarpieces, including The Garden of Earthly Delights.from Wikipediahttps://arth.sas.upenn.edu/people/larry-silver https://buff.ly/2VDX2YL keywords: artarch 

In Technicolor, at Upstart Modern gallery, artists Kurt Herrmann, Matthew Langley, Andrew Huffman - 4/2/25 - 5/16/25

4/2/25 - Eleanor and I went to the “In Technicolor” opening at Bettina Stiewe’s Upstart Modern gallery tonight. Great show. Amazing art. Interesting talks by the two artists that were present, Matthew Langley and Andrew Huffman. See video of their talks below."In Technicolor" celebrates the vibrant, immersive world of color through the distinctive works of Kurt Herrmann and Matthew Langley with guest artist Andrew Huffman. This exhibition pays homage to the revolutionary color process that transformed cinema, bringing a similar sense of wonder and visual richness to the gallery space. Just as Technicolor brought audiences into new realms of visual experience, these artists invite viewers to explore the emotional impact, optical phenomena, and expressive potential of color in contemporary painting. (see the exhibition at upstartmodern.com)

The Heart Is Still Here - March 29, 2025

3/29/25 - Eleanor and I went to an art exhibit at 224 Mississippi St. at the Gallery of the photographer Harry Williams. He has an amazing daughter named Paige who’s nine years old and sold art for both Harry and the other artists. She's only 9 years old! Harry also has a son named Kai who was the official photographer for the evening.

Mappa Mundi Exhibit (Courtney Spikes & Chet Van Duzer)

March 16, 2025 - Chet Van Duzer has a new project! Multispectral imaging for the Leardo mappamundi, made in the 1452.Please explore several examples of medieval mappa mundi, organized by date, with descriptions and links included.This exhibit was originally organized for a presentation by Courtney Spikes to Tom Paper's maps class at Williams College in January 2024. It has since been updated to include other mappamundi and work by Chet Van Duzer. 

Shanghai and Surrounding Archipelago - 1916

A map from the collection of Pam and Brewer Stone

Superfine Art Fair SF - March 6-9, 2025

Eleanor and I went to the Superfine Art Fair at Fort Mason today, March 8, 2025. We put together this exhibit to memorialize our visit. There was a great selection of artists, almost all of whom were showing off a distinct style. …

Gasolene Engines - 1912

10/1/23 - I love these intricate images of something as “basic” as a gasoline engine. The illustrator, who was also the author and very interesting person in his own right, treated the images with reverence and care.Alpheus Hyatt Verrill was an American zoologist, explorer, inventor, illustrator, and author2. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on July 23, 1871, and died on November 14, 195412. Verrill authored many books on natural history and science fiction works2. He was the son of Addison Emery Verrill, the first professor of zoology at Yale University2. Verrill served as a technical advisor on gasoline engines for the Aeronautical Society in 19124. Among his other books were "Motor Boats and Boat Motors" (1910)4. "Handbook on care and operation of gasoline engines" was published in the same year and is also referred to as "Gasoline Engines" in a legal case from 1945234. A. Hyatt Verrill was a technical advisor on gasoline engines for the Aeronautical Society in 19121. In the same year, he published a book titled "Handbook on care and operation of gasoline engines"2. The book is also referred to as "Gasoline Engines" in a legal case from 19453. "Gasoline Engines" was one of Verrill's many books, which also included "Motor Boats and Boat Motors"1. A list of books on automobiles and motorcycles from 1912 includes "Gasoline Engines" by Verrill4. The book is not mentioned in a review of a major new marine engine history book from 20165. The University of Maine offered courses on gasoline engines in 19126. Perplexity AI: Who was a. Hyatt Verrill, author of a book on gasoline engines? https://www.perplexity.ai/search/Who-was-a-wKmxBlC6QfO9uGWdwH8rXw?s=mn  

Patrick McGranaghan Maps

2/28/25 - Only one map for now, but certainly will expand as Patrick makes more maps. https://patrickmcgranaghan.wordpress.com/ 

Eight Interesting Aspects: Narragansett Bay and the Invention of Rhode Island - Andrew Middleton

Enter Andrew's first DOT story here. Enter Andrew's second DOT story here.Hidden in this British invasion map is the history of a state's founding identity.As of August 2024, Andrew Middleton has owned the Map Center, the oldest map store on the East Coast, for nine months, on his quest to introduce cartography enthusiasts to a new generation of maps. You can visit Andrew at the Map Center at 545 Pawtucket Ave, Pawtucket, Rhode Island and at https://www.mapcenter.com/. Andrew Middleton - DOT story - Eight Interesting Aspects - Narragansett Bay and the Invention of Rhode Island - 8/8/24Andrew Middleton - DOT story - Eight Interesting Aspects - The Myths of Rhode Island - 8/8/24

Harmony Masks Conflict: The Mediterranean in the Medieval Islamic Imagination - Karen Pinto

Professor Karen Pinto has spent three decades at the forefront of the study of Islamic cartographic history. Her first book, Medieval Islamic Maps: An Exploration, came out in 2016, and she is currently working on a second, focusing on Islamic maps of the Mediterranean. Today, she is an Associate Scholar in the Religious Studies Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder."When I was a graduate student at Columbia in 1991, my professor, the late but incredibly great Olivia Remie Constable (1961-2014), suggested that I write a seminar paper on the medieval Muslim geographers. That sent me to the dark recessed of the Islamic history and geography collection on the 11th floor of the Butler Library. There I, literally, tripped over Konrad Miller’s late 1920’s extensive 6 volume: Mappae Arabicae: Arabische Welt und Länderkarten des 9–13. Jahrunderts. (6 vols. Stuttgart, 1926–1931) black and white reprints of hundreds of medieval Islamic maps hidden in Oriental manuscripts hitherto little known in the western history of cartography world.Miller’s dusty, crumbling black-and-white reprints of medieval Islamic maps of the Mediterranean, formed the basis of my first major work on the subject: “Ṣūrat Baḥr al-Rūm: The Mediterranean in the Medieval Muslim Cartographical Imagination,” my MA Essay at Columbia U that went on to win SSRC’s 1992 Ibn Khaldun Prize. That experience led, in turn, to a life-long obsession and hunt for maps scattered in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish manuscript libraries worldwide that resulted in her first book on Islamic maps of the world in “Medieval Islamic Maps: An Introduction” (Chicago, 2016) and a collection of some three thousand images of maps, many not reprinted. 

Eight Interesting Aspects: The Biggest Little Battle in American History - Ron Gibbs

In this exhibit's DOT story, Dr. Ron Gibbs takes us through a 1777 British map of the "biggest little battle in American history." The battle involved fewer than 4,000 soldiers, but it saved the cause of American independence at one of its lowest ebbs.Ronald S. Gibbs, M.D. is a physician, map collector, medical researcher, and author at Stanford University now serving as the president of the California Map Society. He has written several articles on 18th-century military medicine, as well as two novels about the American Revolution: The Long Shot: The Secret History of 1776 and The Rogue's Plot: The Untold Story of 1777.You can see more of his work at https://ronaldsgibbs.com/about-american-revolution. 

Passion & Conflict: Islamicate Maps of the Maghrib / ‘the West’ (Iberian Peninsula and North Africa)

KMMS Maghrib MapsFor more information on these 8th-15th century KMMS maps of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula check out this detailed article on the subject by Karen Pinto, “Interpretation, Intention, and Impact: Andalusi Arab and Norman Sicilian Examples of Islamo-Christian Cartographic Translation”: https://www.academia.edu/37439184/Interpretation_Intention_and_Impact_Andalusi_Arab_and_Norman_Sicilian_Examples_of_Islamo_Christian_Cartographic_Translation Note that the bulk of the medieval Islamic cartographic tradition is characterized by emblematic images of striking geometric form that symbolize – in Atlas-like fashion – particular parts of the Islamic world to the familiar viewer. They comprise a major carto-geographic manuscript tradition known by the universal title of Kitab al-Masalik wa al-Mamalik (Book of Roads and Kingdoms) that was copied with major and minor variations throughout the Islamic world for eight centuries. It was a stylized amimetic vision restricted to the literati and, specifically, to the readers, collectors, commissioners, writers and copyists of the particular geographic texts within which these maps are encased. The plethora of extant copies dating from the eleventh to the eighteenth centuries produced all over the Islamic world – including Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt, North Africa, Anatolia, and even India – testifies to the long-lasting and widespread popularity of a particular medieval Islamic cartographic vision. Each manuscript typically contains twenty-one iconic maps starting with an image of the world, then the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian Ocean, the Maghrib (North Africa and Andalusia), Egypt, Syria, the Mediterranean, upper and lower Iraq, as well as twelve maps devoted to the Iranian provinces, beginning with Khuzistan and ending in Khurasan, including maps of Sind and Transoxiana.If you want to see more examples check out Pixeum exhibition 412 which contains “Islamic Maps from the Collection of Karen Pinto”: https://pixeum.org/exhibits/412/islamic-maps-from-the-collection-of-karen-pintoIf you have chance do check out my book on “Medieval Islamic Maps”  https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo17703325.html  

Islamic Maps from the Collection of Karen Pinto

Islamo-Christian Cartographic Frontiers: Views from Medieval Islamic Maps of the Mediterranean

Professor Karen Pinto has spent three decades at the forefront of the study of Islamic cartographic history. Her first book, Medieval Islamic Maps: An Exploration, came out in 2016, and she is currently working on a second, focusing on Islamic maps of the Mediterranean. Today, she is an Associate Scholar in the Religious Studies Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder."When I was a graduate student at Columbia in 1991, my professor, the late but incredibly great Olivia Remie Constable (1961-2014), suggested that I write a seminar paper on the medieval Muslim geographers. That sent me to the dark recessed of the Islamic history and geography collection on the 11th floor of the Butler Library. There I, literally, tripped over Konrad Miller’s late 1920’s extensive 6 volume: Mappae Arabicae: Arabische Welt und Länderkarten des 9–13. Jahrunderts. (6 vols. Stuttgart, 1926–1931) black and white reprints of hundreds of medieval Islamic maps hidden in Oriental manuscripts hitherto little known in the western history of cartography world.Miller’s dusty, crumbling black-and-white reprints of medieval Islamic maps of the Mediterranean, formed the basis of my first major work on the subject: “Ṣūrat Baḥr al-Rūm: The Mediterranean in the Medieval Muslim Cartographical Imagination,” my MA Essay at Columbia U that went on to win SSRC’s 1992 Ibn Khaldun Prize. That experience led, in turn, to a life-long obsession and hunt for maps scattered in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish manuscript libraries worldwide that resulted in her first book on Islamic maps of the world in “Medieval Islamic Maps: An Introduction” (Chicago, 2016) and a collection of some three thousand images of maps, many not reprinted. 

Carta Marina for the "Nuits de la lecture"

Le célèbre cartographe Martin Waldseemüller, décédé en 1520, a réalisé une grande carte du monde en 1507, la première à appliquer le nom "Amérique" au Nouveau Monde, et une autre neuf ans plus tard en 1516, sa Carta marina. Au cours de ces neuf années, il a complètement changé ses idées sur ce que devait être une carte du monde : en réalisant sa Carta marina, il a mis de côté presque tout le travail qu'il avait fait pour sa carte de 1507, et a basé sa nouvelle carte sur une projection différente et des sources différentes, la rendant beaucoup plus riche en textes descriptifs et en images. De plus, alors qu'en 1507 il représentait les 360 degrés de la circonférence de la Terre, dans sa Carta marina, il ne montre que les parties qui étaient raisonnablement bien connues. En résumé, la carte était révolutionnaire.https://www.nuitsdelalecture.fr/a-propos Mon livre sur la Carta marina est disponible en accès libre. Voici les détails et le lien :Van Duzer, Chet, Martin Waldseemüller’s Carta marina of 1516: Study and Transcription of the Long Legends (New York: Springer, 2020)https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-22703-6

Audubon Birds - Rich Breiman Collection - Curated by Katharine Griswold

April 2024 - From the collection of Rich Breiman. (shot 2023-07-29)John James "JJ" Audubon was a French-American artist and naturalist, most known for his work in ornithology, published in various editions of “Birds of America.” Born in Haiti, raised in France, Audubon spent his childhood fascinated with birds, and once he headed to the states at 18, his interests only grew. His father had given him an estate in Pennsylvania, where he began a series of drawings of American birds: he would observe the birds’ habitat and behavior, then would shoot and hang it and draw it as close to life as possible. He was never too concerned with making money, remarking in his diary: “birds were birds then as now, and my thoughts were ever and anon thinking toward them as the objects of my greatest delight. I shot, I drew, I looked on nature only; my days were happy beyond human conception, and beyond this I really cared not.” He abandoned or failed at most business ventures; he and his wife spent their young adulthood in poverty, and Audubon even spent some time in debtor prison. He began to spend months at a time in the woods, hunting, drawing, and writing biographies. With a large collection, but just a fraction of what he would come to produce, Audubon sailed to England in search of a friendlier market for his work. His American bird series sold well, and he was able to find a printer for his work in London, as well as a collaborator in William MacGillivray, an ornithologist who assisted him in the descriptions of each bird. Audubon’s work was becoming pretty popular, but the huge folios he was producing were not accessible to everyone. The octavo edition, which is a smaller edition that was meant to be more accessible, was produced in Philadelphia beginning in 1840. Most of the prints in this collection are from the first two editions of the octavo “Birds of America.” In his work, Audubon made use of his extensive research, and of his from-life models. The majority of his images are exactly true to life, with every feather and limb being placed meticulously. To recount his process, he would use wire to pose the birds in positions that would have been the most natural in the wild, while also considering what parts of the bird should be visible to the viewer. There is an obvious compositional effort in the pieces, as well: no bird is alone on the canvas, and while some are more intricate than others, Audubon does his best to place each bird within a fitting habitat. Whether these scenes are real or imagined is indeterminate―it’s probably a bit of both.Audubon’s legacy is fairly complicated for a number of reasons. While he was not the first to do what he did, not even in America, he was the most influential by far. Often praised in his life for his artistic ability, Audubon’s works were beautiful and lifelike. He was respected enough as an ornithologist and natural historian that the Audubon Society, a non-profit that works towards the conservation and habitat preservation of endangered birds, was named after him. But there are also rumors of fraud and theft, for example, that he drew imaginary birds. It's true that there are some birds that he drew that are unidentified, some think that he drew hybrids or was forced to draw in some cases from memory, and some think this was more intentional. There is a controversy regarding his plate of the Bird of Washington, for example, which Audubon claimed to be a new species closely related to the bald eagle, but seems to be just a youngling of that species. This is a fascinating read, and it is linked below. He also in his field notes describes the taste of many of the species he records. In his hunting, it seems, he also killed many more birds than were necessary just for survival and for drawing. Most important to mention was his lifetime of opposition to the abolition movement. He produced writings against emancipation, and he himself bought enslaved people for his estate when he still owned it, and for his expeditions before setting off to England. Despite the importance of his art, and the good that has come from his legacy, it is important to recognize that the man behind them was imperfect, to say the least. For more information:The Myth of John James AudubonJohn James Audubon(Audubon Society)John James Audubon(Britannica)Five Mystery Birds Among Audubon's PaintingsAudubon's Bird of Washington: unravelling the fraud that launched the Birds of AmericaAudubon and his JournalsAll About BirdsBirds of AmericaAudubon Society: Guide to North American BirdsAuthored by Katharine GriswoldKeyword: richbreiman