THE SHELF

American interest in the Hawaiian islands began as early as the 1820s, when Christian missionaries from New England tried to spread their faith to the native inhabitants. By the 1850s, the booming sugar trade encouraged U.S. investment and territorial acquisition of sugar plantations on the islands. In 1890, the recently enacted U.S. tariffs greatly curtailed the sugar growers’ profit […]

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Engelbert Kaempfer (1651 – 1716) was a noted scientist, physician to the Dutch East India Company, and an enthusiastic traveler known for his tour of Russia, Persia, India, South-East Asia, and Japan between 1683 and 1693. He wrote two books about his travels, Amoenitatum Exoticarum, which was valued for his medical and botanical observations throughout Asia. His second, and more […]

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The Spanish-American War was the first U.S. war to implement still photography and motion picture film as essential media for recording the conflict. While the American Civil War was heavily photographed, the Spanish-American War saw an expansion of photographic formats to support a multitude of agendas, from primary documentation to systematic propaganda. Newspapers introduced provocative photojournalism as a way drum up […]

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For centuries, giving flowers or bouquets has always been a common way to convey sentiments, such as love, celebration, sorrow, etc. This practice seems to be universal and can be found in traditional cultures throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The application of this practice is often called floriography, where a particular meaning has been assigned to […]

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Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) is well known for his cartoons of zany convoluted contraptions offering unnecessary complex solutions for carrying out simple tasks. His work becoming so well known in early 20th century that his own name became an entry in dictionaries by 1931. The first of his invention series was printed in 1914 and involved an “Automatic Weight Reducing […]

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William Allen (1793–1864) was a British naval officer, explorer, musician, artist, and anti-slavery activist, who published works on his various expeditions to Africa and the Middle East, as well as presenting his own strategy for ending the slave trade. Under the auspices of the Society for the Extinction of the Slave Trade and for the […]

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W.L. (Waterman Lilly) Ormsby (1809-1883) was a notable engraver, particularly recognized for his dedication to the reformation of currency production. While he had some formal training, most of his skills were honed through hours of hands-on work and experimentation in his workshop. He invented several ruling machines and transfer presses for improving the process of steel engraving. In addition, he is usually […]

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The first and second bombs fell on the Tower, reducing it half to ruins ; they were of the largest kind, and terribly effective instruments. Meanwhile the quick-firing guns played havoc at all points of the compass. But the worst was to come. As we rode over the heart of the City—that sanctum of capital, […]

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Napoleon Sarony (1821 – 1896) was a famous New York photographer and lithographer whose output was both prodigious and imaginative. Today, he is mostly remembered as a portrait photographer and particularly for his original portraits of literary and cultural figures from the late-19th-century, including such icons as Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, and Sarah Bernhardt. In addition to his artistic […]

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Sporting periodicals began sprouting up in the latter half of the 19th century in direct response to an increased participation in both amateur and professional level sports. The growth in sports in America during the 19th century was spurred on by many factors, such as increased leisure time, improvements in the standard of living, as well as the overall […]

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