Room 26 Cabinet of Curiosities

New acquisitions, unique documents, and visual and textual curiosities from the collections.

  • A Walk on a Windy Day

    June 13, 2013

    An album of original sketches by Edward Lear illustrating a cautionary tale. Dated December 26, 1860. From the Frederick R. Koch collection

  • Matchless Books

    June 5, 2013

    Salesman’s catalog for custom matchbooks from the Chicago Match Company. circa 1930s-1940s...

  • Anonymous Novel

    May 16, 2013

    An an anonymously written tragic tale, featuring characters Miriam Mayfair, Stephen Groveland, their son Arthur, and other citizens from the fictional town...

  • A Brief History of Printmaking

    May 13, 2013

    “A Brief History of Printmaking,” the chalkboard diagram seen here, is an artifact of the Beinecke Library’s recent master class, The Physical Structure...

  • Mason's Sperm Oil

    May 6, 2013

    “Superior to any other oil I have had the occasion to use, either for machinery or for burning…” Trade catalog for a 19th century Boston sperm oil...

  • Beinecke Top Tens: A Beinecke Bucket List

    April 29, 2013

    Ten fascinating books, manuscripts, collections…to see before you graduate. Epistle from St. Paul , 3rd century Call Number: P.CtYBR inv. 415 Pictured (...

  • La Rose College and Beauty Shoppe

    April 25, 2013

    Anderson, George Henry, b. 1883; Photograph of W. E. B. Dubois and graduates of La Rose College and Beauty Shoppe in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 13,...

  • Beinecke Top Tens: EARTH DAY

    April 22, 2013

    Ten fascinating books, manuscripts, collections…that will make you want to leave the library! Peanuts cartoons about Silent Spring , Rachel Carson Papers...