THE SHELF

To some people, the thought of hitting the exercise treadmill every day would be a cruel and unusual punishment. Ironically, this response is much closer to the the truth than might be expected. The actual invention of the treadmill, in 1818, by the Englishman William Cubit was meant for use in prisons as a correctional tool. Concerned that prisoners were too idle, he engineered mechanical treadmill systems that would enforce daily activity as well produce useful work. Cubitt’s treadmills, or “tread-wheels”, required the prisoner to continually step upwards upon a rotating wooden cylinder or within a wheel-like form, not unlike a hamster on an exercise wheel. Prisoners would hold onto a horizontal handrail for stability. These treadmills became very popular in Victorian England with larger models developed to accommodate several prisoners side by side for upwards of 10 hours per day (the equivalent of climbing a 12,000 ft mountain). While the initial intent for the treadmill was punishment, and it was often used solely for that purpose, it also became a standard way to grind grain or pump water for the prison facility. Somewhat popular in America, correctional facilities gradually stopped using the treadmill in favor of even more severe “hard labor” options, such as breaking rocks, clearing swamps, or bricklaying. Eventually, even England abandoned the treadmill at the end of the 19th century as too cruel.

“I have to certify to the court, that the Tread-mill has been in full operation
 ever since the last Midsummer Sessions, and on an average from
 seventy-five to eighty prisoners have been daily employed on the Wheels, 
the proportion of females being very small, not amounting to more than ten 
or twelve at any time, and generally not exceeding six or eight. The male 
prisoners, when at work, are three fourths on the Wheels, and one-fourth 
at rest; the females, one half on the Wheel, and the other half at rest;
 and during the six months the Mill has been at work, I have never heard 
of one prisoner, male or female, receiving any injury, either in their limbs 
or general health, and as far as I am capable of forming a judgment, I consider the labour at the Tread-mill not as injurious, but conducive to the health of the prisoners.”

A cross section of the treadmill showing the handles

“If any prisoner or prisoners are observed to be talking while 
on the Tread-wheel, they are deprived of their next turn for 
rest. Two officers are in constant attendance at the time”

A listing of dietaries for the prisoners at English prisons

For the Horsley House of Correction the daily intake was —
“One pound and a half of bread, one pint and a half of gruel, and one pound and a half of potatoes per day”

Description:

Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, England). Description of the tread mill for the employment of prisoners :with observations on its management. London : Printed by T. Bensley, 1823.

Persistent Link:

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:14023484

Repository:

Widener Library

Institution:

Harvard University

Tse Tsan-tai (1872-1938) was known as a revolutionary, newspaperman, social and political reformer, scholar, businessman, journalist, inventor, historian, and Christian theologian. Born in Sydney and baptised James Yee, Tse moved to Hong Kong with his family where he received his formal education. As a young revolutionary, he started the Furen Literary Society, espousing the guiding principals of “Open up the People’s Minds“, and “Love your Country with all your heart“. The society advocated the overthrow of the Qing government and the establishment of a new republic for China. After his society’s attempts failed, Tse turned to the newspaper and other publications to broadcast his message to the world. He published The Situation in the Far East, a political cartoon cautioning against European ambition to partition China. In 1903, Tse co-founded the South China Morning Post with Alfred Cunningham, which still remains an important publication in Hong Kong. In addition to these political activities, Tse was also credited as the first Chinese to invent and fly an airship.

Being a Chinese Christian was difficult and dangerous at the turn of the 20th century. During the Boxer rebellion and into World War I, numerous Christian missionaries were massacred. Nonetheless, Tse considered himself equally a patriot and a Christian, remaining steadfast and undeterred by the risks. Furthermore, he embarked on a controversial theory that the origin of Eden was actually in China. He believed that this deposition might force various factions to reconcile and stop further violence.

In 1914, Tse published The Creation, the Garden of Eden and the Origin of the Chinese, in which he attempted to prove, based on the geographical description in the Bible, that the Garden of Eden was located in China.

And, during my study of the Bible and Ancient 
Chinese History, on Sunday the 25th October, 1914, 
I discovered a clue to the unravelling of the mystery, 
and it suddenly dawned upon me, like a flash of light, 
that the Cradle of the Human Race was not where it 
is now reputed and believed to be, but, in Chinese 
Turkestan in the plateau of Eastern Asia, 
and also that the Chinese race originated there. 
I felt so happy and delighted with my discovery, 
that I immediately followed up the clue, and commenced 
writing this, my book, and forgetting food and sleep, 
finished the draft at 8 a.m., on Wednesday, the 28th October, 1914,
when the thunder pealed and the lightning flashed. 
The revision and re-writing of my book was completed 
after seven days and seven nights ceaseless labour, 
on the Ist November, 1914, after which, I rested for three days. 
I know that without God’s inspiration and help, it would 
have been impossible for me to write this book as I have done. 

Tse’s book tried to eliminate the notion that Christianity in China was a device of Western powers, especially at a time when the West was strong-arming a weak China into making coastal concessions. Tse places the location of Eden in the far west of China, known as Chinese Turkestan.

Tse Tsan Tai also supported the reformation of traditional time-honored practices in China. He worked with Alicia Little, a British novelist, missionary, and reformer, to eradicate the practice of foot binding. This particular copy at Harvard was sent to Alicia Little by Tse to help promote his Eden theory. The accompanied letters are tipped in at the beginning of the book.

Description:

Tse Tsan Tai. The creation :the real situation of Eden, and the origin of the Chinese. Hongkong : Kelly & Walsh, Ltd., printers and publishers, 1914. 

Persistent Link:

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:13614580

Repository:

Widener Library

Institution:

Harvard University

Dr. E.G. (Ernest Goodrich) Stillman, son of successful banker James Stillman, received degrees from Harvard and Columbia before pursuing a career in medical research. A devoted philanthropist and conservationist, Stillman was a generous benefactor of Harvard University. Like many Americans at the end of the 19th century, Stillman was drawn to Japan for its art, literature, culture, and history. During a trip to Japan in 1905, he purchased some 5,000 objects, including prints, photographs, books, and pamphlets. In the 1940s, Stillman made a large gift to the university, including a number of items from his personal collection of materials relating to Japan. Some of the photograph albums he donated contain hand-colored albumen prints taken by notable photographers such as Felice Beato, Baron Raimund von Stillfried, Kusakabe Kimbei, and Tamamura Kozaburo. These photo albums were popular souvenir items for foreign tourists. The albums would often include images of priests, pilgrims, actors, singers, street vendors, along with representative locations ranging from the urban markets to parks and gardens to spiritual shrines.

In this two album set from the Meiji period are scenic views of Tokyo, Koganei, Yokohama, Kamakura, Kobe, Matsushima Bay, and Awaji Island. Beautiful photographs of natural scenery, people, daily life, traditional customs, with iconic images of cherry trees, gardens, temples, shrines, teahouses, ferries, and rickshaws.

In another three album composite souvenir set are photographs taken in and around the inland city of Nikko, with an emphasis on the historic Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples.

Description:

Japanese photographs of the Meiji period [graphic]. 1868-1897? 2 albums. 

Persistent Link:

http://id.lib.harvard.edu/aleph/008800120/catalog

Repository:

Widener Library

Institution:

Harvard University

Description:

Photographs relating to Japan, 1898 [graphic]. ca. 1880-ca. 1895. 3 albums. 

Persistent Link:

http://id.lib.harvard.edu/aleph/008775846/catalog

Repository:

Widener Library

Institution:

Harvard University

A slideshow of this collection is available at: 

Stillman Photograph Albums of Japan – Slideshow

Additional information on E.G. Stillman’s collections and access to the photograph albums is available at:

Harvard College Library-Early Photography of Japan

 “The tinkle of the ice—the delightful 
odor of the lemon peel—the fragrance and 
flavor of this ice-cold appetizer, what an 
apology it has been for cold soup
and overdone entree !”

The term “cocktail” has origins dating back to the 18th century. However, it was with the 1862 publication of Jerry Thomas’s “How to Mix Drinks; or, The Bon Vivant’s Companion” that the term became commonplace to describe drink recipes where bitters was an essential ingredient. Jerry Thomas became known as the father of American mixology, often referred to as the “Professor” for his creative combinations, and his publication helped sparked the cocktail craze. As the popularity of cocktails increased, so did the proliferation of novel recipes. Not to be left behind, the Ivy Leaguers developed and championed their own unique cocktail drinks. Students in 1898, like those before and those afterwards, exhibited the predilection to impress others by consuming copious amounts of the latest drink fetish. By the end of the century, new recipes were making their way into print and more guides were published annually in attempts to keep up with current recipes and recent twists on presentation. It was toward the end of the 19th century that the maraschino cherry and the olive were introduced as popular garnishes to top off a cocktail. Livermore & Knight began publishing cocktail guides, beginning with this small pocket-sized offering in 1898. This book was not published as a comprehensive guide for bartenders or drinking establishments, but oriented toward those planning and hosting domestic fetes.

A cocktail is an appetizer or stomach 
stimulant and differs from other drinks 
in that it is supposed to contain Bitters. 
It is the purpose of this book to give 
the rules for the mixing of simple and well known 
cocktails. As to rules for fancy 
cocktails there is no end, and the addition 
of the various ingredients for sweetening 
and blending of fancy cocktails has been 
left to the taste of the mixer. 

A cocktail should never be bottled and 
should always be made at the time of drinking. 
A bottled cocktail might be likened unto a
depot sandwich—neither are fit for use 
except in case of necessity. 

An old-fashioned yet attractive way of 
serving a cocktail to ladies is the wiping of 
the rim of the cocktail glass with lemon 
peel and then dipping the rim in powdered 
sugar, which leaves a frosty decoration on 
the rim of the glass.

The Harvard cocktail

..and the competing Yale cocktail

Even the esteemed Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. recognized the value of a good cocktail. In his correspondence with colleague and protégé, Professor John Henry Wigmore, Holmes notes Wigmore’s proficiency as a “maker of first class cocktails”.

Description:

Cocktails :how to make them. Providence : Livermore & Knight Co., 1898. 

Persistent Link:

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:10877320

Repository:

Widener Library

Institution:

Harvard University

The history of military action in Afghanistan is full of costly successes and bitter calamities. The First Anglo-Afghan War (which even became known as Auckland’s Folly) was fought between the British East India Company and Afghanistan from 1839-1842. The campaign resulted in the death of some 4,500 British and Indian soldiers as well as some 12,000 civilians. The British motivation for an invasion and occupation Afghanistan was to check the expanding Russian Empire from creeping further into British holding interests in the south and east Asia. The war was not without its naysayers, including Lord Aberdeen and Commander-in-Chief John Keane, who even prognosticated that the war would end in catastrophe. In 1842, The British would realize that catastrophe during the Battle of Kabul and its humiliating retreat. In the end, British eventually found it untenable to occupy the territory, only to re-invade Afghanistan in 1878. 

Rollo Gillespie Burslem served the British Infantry during the campaigns of 1838-1842 in Afghanistan. He participated in several battles, but also helped to survey the land for possible passes through the rugged and inhospitable mountain ranges and desert plains. Upon his return from the war, Captain Rollo Burslem authored an account of his expedition under the title “A Peep into Toorkisthan”, which was first published in 1846.

He opens his book with:

The following pages are literally what they profess to be, a record of a few weeks snatched from a soldier’s life in Afghanistan, and spent in travels  through a region which few Europeans have ever  visited before. The notes from which it is compiled were written on the desert mountains of Central  Asia, with very little opportunity, as will be easily supposed, for study or polish. Under these circumstances, it can hardly be necessary to deprecate the criticism of the reader. Composition is not one of  the acquirements usually expected of a soldier. What is looked for in his narrative is not elegance, but plainness. He sees more than other people, but he studies less, and the strangeness of his story must make up for the want of ornament.

Burslem later describes what difficulties any army would experience with traversing the harsh land:

We were now about to explore a part of Toorkisthan 
which I have reason to believe had never been 
visited by Europeans; the distance between Ghoree 
and Badjghar is about eighty miles, across as wild 
and romantic a country as can well be conceived, 
consisting of a succession of difficult and in some 
places perilous defiles ; the last of these was the 
famous Dushti Suffaed, which leads to Badjghar. 
There is a sameness in the features of these Toorkisthan 
passes which renders a faithful description 
tedious, from its monotony and the necessary repetition 
of similar characteristic features; yet the 
reader will hardly fail to draw important conclusions 
from the immense difficulty and almost practical 
impossibility that a modern army of considerable 
numbers, with all its encumbrances, through such 
a country, with any hope of its retaining its efficiency 
or even a tithe of its original numerical 
strength, will encounter.

He addresses the accusations of brutality and cruelty to the native population:

 I am aware that ill-informed people have accused our armies in Affghanistan, especially after the advance of General Pollock’s force, of many acts of cruelty to the natives, but I  can emphatically deny the justice of the accusation.  Some few instances of revenge for past injuries did occur, but I am sure that an impartial soldier would rather admire the forbearance of men who for days had been marching over the mangled remains of the Cabul army.

Immediately before us lay the populous city of Koollum ; 
the fortress standing on a small isolated eminence, 
and the dome-shaped houses embosomed in the 
deep foliage of their gardens and orchards clustered 
round it for miles on every side. Immediately on 
the outskirts of the city the desert commences, 
which, stretching away to Bokhara as far as the 
eye could reach, formed a melancholy and uninviting 
background to the busy scene before us.

 …human skeletons were strewed around ; as far as 
the eye could penetrate these mournful relics presented 
themselves ; they were very perfect, and had 
evidently not been disturbed since death.

Beautifully brilliant were the prismatic colours 
reflected from the varied surface of the ice, when 
the torches flashed suddenly upon them as we  
passed from cave to cave. Around, above, beneath, 
 every thing was of solid ice, and being unable to 
stand on account of its slippery nature, we slid 
or rather glided mysteriously along the glassy  
surface of this hall of spells.

Description:

Burslem, Rollo Gillespie. A peep into Toorkisthān. London : P. Richardson, 1846. 

Persistent Link:

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:3442971

Repository:

Widener Library

Institution:

Harvard University

Edo (Yedo) Castle, constructed in 1457, transformed Tokyo (then called Edo) from a small fishing village into an urban center for trade, culture, and politics. Edo Castle became the official residence of the Tokugawa shogun who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1867. Upon the shogun’s arrival in 1603, the castle was in shambles, requiring an extensive 40 year reconstruction project. The castle was upgraded to be an appropriate residence for the shogun as well as an administration center for a unified Japan. At the time, it was the biggest castle in the world with a defensive perimeter of over 10 miles comprised of an inner and outer moat. The moats were crossed by 36 gates or watchtowers, each heavily guarded. In 1868 the Tokugawa shogun’s power toppled and the emperor was restored to the supreme ruling position, ending the feudal era and ushering the modernization of Japan. Emperor Meiji resided at the castle from 1868 to 1888 before moving to the newly constructed Imperial Palace. Unfortunately, there is little that remains of the original castle structure today. Much of it had been destroyed due to fires and earthquakes, including most of the gates. The remnants are currently being preserved as historical landmarks.

This extravagant publication at the end of the 19th century tried to capture the magnificence of the gates for tourists and historians alike. Each of the 36 gates is depicted in color with an accompanying historical description.

OTE-GOMON (THE MAIN CASTLE-GATE.) When the Shogun passed the gate, all the people were to be sent away (they being not allowed to take sight of the Shogun), except the Daimyo, who was the master of the guards, his Karo (1st class steward), and Rusui (a Daimyo s deputy keeping a castle or mansion).

Since the disastrous fire, of 1806, which, however, did not destroy the gate or its bridge, the site of the residence of Matsudaira Noto-no-kami was made an open space for protection against fire.

Within this gate, there was a well called Himega-i famous for good water. The lord of the Nabeshima clan used to contribute one to of rice at the end of every year for its maintenance.

The gate was called Hokuto-Kwaku (lit. : polar-star gate). The place outside the gate facing toward Hitotsugi was called Fujimi-Kwaku (probably from its having the view of the Mount Fuji)

Description:

Shimizu, Sanju. The pictures of the 36 gates of the Shogun’s castle in Yedo. Tokyo, Japan : Dobun-Kwan, [1896?].

Persistent Link:

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:4516637

Repository:

Widener Library

Institution:

Harvard University

Chandler Owen (1889-1967) was a prolific writer, editor, and early activist for African-American Civil Rights. In 1916, he joined the Socialist Party of America and became a follower of the Harlem activist, Hubert H. Harrison. In 1917, Owen founded a socialist journal, the Messenger, where he published political and social commentary, promoted unionism, and literature of the New Negro Movement. The journal was both progressive and radical, taking the stance that African Americans should not fight in WWI for a “so-called” democracy of Europe while still being denied equality in their own homeland. Owen was arrested under the Espionage Act for his incendiary comments in the journal. The Messenger folded in 1928 and Owen became disenchanted with socialism. He eventually joined the Republican Party believing it would provide the best forum for increasing political rights and equality for blacks. By the mid-1920s Owen had become a speechwriter for local Republican candidates. Though he was no fan of President Roosevelt’s policies toward African Americans, Owen worked for the Allied war effort in WWII. He took a job with the U.S. Office of Information, a government propaganda bureau, and wrote Negroes and the War, a booklet that presented arguments in favor of black support of the war effort. Owen saw this world war as a true threat to democracy, especially toward African American aspirations for progress and equality. The US government wanted the support of blacks in the war effort, and while Owen’s political leanings and activism were controversial, his credibility with the minority population was viewed as an acceptable compromise. OWI published and distributed 2.5 million copies of Negroes and the War. Heavily illustrated to demonstrate the roles of blacks in the war, the pamphlet also featured imagery of growing opportunities and achievements of blacks in American society, such as professional work, education, religion, athletics, and entertainment.

“Some Negro Americans say that it makes no 
difference who wins this war”. They say that 
things could not be any worse under Hitler.
These are the people who emphasize liabilities; 
they never appraise their assets. They magnify 
the bad. They minimize the good. 
Without underestimating the Negro’s liabilities
without denying the fact of handicaps and 
inequalities, I want to set down just what stake 
the Negro has in America—just what he has to lose under Hitler.

-Owen Chandler

Howard University

The legendary Tuskegee Airmen

Joe Louis enlisted as a private in the army and became a recruitment icon

Description:

Owen, Chandler. Negroes and the war. [Washington, D.C. : U.S. Office of War Information, 1942].

Persistent Link:

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:9050591

Repository:

Widener Library

Institution:

Harvard University

                Carte-de-visite of Laura Bridgman

Before the remarkable accomplishments of Helen Keller, there was Laura Dewey Bridgman (1829-1889), a deaf and blind woman from New Hampshire, who amazed educators and the American public with her exceptional achievements in language and education. She was the first deaf and blind person to ever be taught language formally, having lost her sight and hearing at the age of 2 from a bout with scarlet fever. Bridgman began her education in 1837 at the recently established Perkins School for the Blind. Samuel Gridley Howe, the first director, had developed an embossed version of the alphabet as a tool for teaching language to the blind. He actively sought out Laura Bridgman and convinced her family to have her move to the school at the age of eight. During her time at Perkins, Howe taught Bridgman language by first using words before individual letters. He would place paper labels on everyday objects such as forks, spoons, knives, or keys, with the names of the item printed in raised letters. Bridgman would feel the labels by themselves, learning to associate the raised letters with the corresponding item. With time, she was able to quickly identify the correct label when given a mixed pile of objects. From there, she was taught the individual letters of the alphabet to spell and write. Bridgman was a miraculous success, studying reading, writing, geography, arithmetic, history, grammar, algebra, geometry, physiology, philosophy, and history, and along the way, changed the way the world viewed the education of women and the deaf and blind. Her story was published in numerous outlets and even Kate Keller, mother of Helen Keller, read about Bridgman through an account by Charles Dickens, thereafter giving her the motivation to seek out the assistance of Anne Sullivan, a former pupil at Perkins.

In January 1842 Charles Dickens visited the Perkins Institution, intrigued by the story of Laura Bridgman. He described his meeting with the 12 year old Bridgman in his American Notes.

“Her social feelings, and her affections, are very strong; and when she is sitting at work, or at her studies, by the side of one of her little friends, she will break off from her task every few moments, to hug and kiss them with an earnestness and warmth that is touching to behold. When left alone, she occupies and apparently amuses herself, and seems quite contented; and so strong seems to be the natural tendency of thought to put on the garb of language, that she often soliloquizes in the finger language, slow and tedious as it is.  But it is only when alone, that she is quiet: for if she becomes sensible of the presence of any one near her, she is restless until she can sit close beside them, hold their hand, and converse with them by signs. In her intellectual character it is pleasing to observe an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and a quick perception of the relations of things. In her moral character, it is beautiful to behold her continual gladness, her keen enjoyment of existence, her expansive love, her unhesitating confidence, her sympathy with suffering, her conscientiousness, truthfulness, and hopefulness.”

With the fame of Laura Bridgman, reproductions of her compositions became interesting for educators and the public. Below is a rare surviving facsimile of her handwriting, demonstrating the Howe alphabet with its angular forms and absence of capitals.

              Rare facsimile of the handwriting of Laura Bridgman

One of the earlier biographies of Laura Bridgman from 1878.

Description:

Bridgman, Laura Dewey. Fac simile of the handwriting and composition of Laura Bridgman. Boston : Thayer’s Lith., [between 1840 and 1851?].

Persistent Link:

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:5118514

Repository:

Widener Library

Institution:

Harvard University

Description:

Bridgman, Laura Dewey. photograph. Boston, Massachusetts, c 1865.

Persistent Link:

http://hollis.harvard.edu/?itemid=|misc/via|FAL94506

Repository:

Special Collections, Fine Arts Library

Institution:

Harvard University

Description:

Lamson, Mary Swift. Life and education of Laura Dewey Bridgman :the deaf, dumb, and blind girl. Boston : New England Pub. Co., 1878.

Persistent Link:

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:GSE.LIBR:3475684

Repository:

Gutman Education Special Collections 

Institution:

Harvard University

Mesmerism orginated with Franz Anton Mesmer (1734 –1815), a German physician who postulated the theory of natural energetic transference, which occurs in all animated and inanimate objects. The term he used for this energy was “animal magnetism”. Mesmer considered all human illness a breakdown in the balance and flow of this magnetic force. When nature failed to resolve this blockage spontaneously, “mesmerism”could be used to remedy the problem. Mesmerism attracted practitioners and audiences, with its peak between 1780 and 1850. The technique usually involved some social role-playing where the mesmerizer would make suggestions to his clients who eventually became absolutely “mesmerized” by him in some sort of hypnosis-like trance. Mesmer used his extraordinary powers of suggestion to send people into frenzied convulsions, swooning, or sleeplike trances. It was all very ceremonious and dramatic, attracting audiences to observe and participate.

Chauncy Hare Townshend (1798-1868) was a poet who became fascinated with mesmerism during his tour of Germany. He became a enthusiastic supporter for its further study and application in England. Townshend is now mostly know for his collections donated to the Victoria & Albert Museum, but during his lifetime, he was an established literary figure and close friend of Charles Dickens (Great Expectations was dedicated to Townshend). Townshend published a work on mesmerism in 1841 where he acknowledged the worldwide skepticism of the theory, but offered a counter-argument for continued experimentation and examination. To support his quest, he supplied a number of testimonies, including Louis Aggasiz, who participated as a mesmeric subject for Townshend in 1839.

Townshend states:

“The original cause of the ill reception which
mesmerism has met with from the world, is undoubtedly
to be found in the character of its discoverer, Mesmer,
in his want of candour and philosophic strictness.
Had it been introduced to notice by a Newton or an
Arago, by one who would have stated his facts honestly,
and drawn from them none but legitimate conclusions,
the difference of its career may be estimated by
all who are aware how much depends upon a propitious
beginning. But, unfortunately, from the very outset,
mesmerism was associated with the soiling calculations
of self-interest and the errors of an over-heated brain.
Mesmer wished to make a monopoly of that which
should have been the property of all mankind..

…We should lay aside all prejudice,
connected either with the origin, name, or injudicious
exposition of mesmerism, and try the subject,
wholly and impartially, upon its own merits.
Unalarmed by the apparent strangeness and incongruity
of the phenomena to be investigated, we should call
to mind how frequently “appearances of external nature,
puzzling at first sight, and seemingly irreconcilable
with one another, have all been solved and harmonized
by a reference to some one pervading principle”… – Townshend

Under “hypnosis”-

Nothing could be more curious than to
see the two sisters sitting opposite to each other, both
with their eyes shut, and yet, by the expression of their
countenances, appearing to look at each other. I now
went away to another part of the room, when Anna
M got up, and walked to just half way between her
sister and myself; but she seemed arrested there by the
attraction of contending forces, and so she remained,
turning from me to her sister, and vice versa, as if she
knew not to which she should go, till I put an end to
this curious scene by returning to my sleepwaker, and
begging her to awake her sister. This, however, she declared
that she could not do, but added, ” The moment that
you awake me, my sister will wake also.”

While mesmerism began a steady decline in popularity in the later part of the 19th century, one practitioner carried on the tradition into the 1880s. D. Younger advertised broadly in newspapers as a mesmerist and healer of various maladies.

“With an experience of nearly forty years as a professional 
practitioner of mesmerism, I publish this work to demonstrate 
the wonderful resources of this science, especially in its 
application to the alleviation of suffering and cure of disease. 
The results I have been able to accomplish by this natural 
method of treatment, in conjunction with the various herbal 
remedies I recommend, have, in many cases, been most surprising, 
never failing to afford relief, and often effecting a 
permanent cure, after all the usual orthodox methods have been 
tried in vain. “

Producing mesmeric sleep

producing a cataleptic state

Breathing into the patient

Description:

Townshend, Chauncy Hare. Facts in mesmerism :with reasons for a dispassionate inquiry into it. New-York : Harper & Brothers, 1841.

Persistent Link:

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:11815343

Repository:

Widener Library

Institution:

Harvard University

Description:

Younger, D. Full, concise instructions in mesmerism (falsely termed hypnotism), curative magnetism, and massage :with brief hints on natural medicine, etc. : with illustrations showing various phases of mesmeric treatment. [London] : E.W. Allen, [1887?].

Persistent Link:

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:2562357

Repository:

Widener Library

Institution:

Harvard University

Family outings at Mt. Auburn Cemetery

Life is full of changes ; and Mount Auburn itself is an illustration
of a change. A fairy region it has seemed to the traveller and student,
who have sought its sequestration for the purposes of intellectual
indulgence ; — a terrestrial paradise it has proved to all seekers after
the beautiful in nature; and, so enticing have been its groves, its
scenery and associations, that it received long since, the significant
appellation of  Sweet Auburn”— a name, as yet, unforgotten, though
innovation has been at work, and the favorite resort of the promenading
explorer, the inviting ground of the botanist, the charmed retreat
of the thoughtful student, has become dedicated earth— a consecrated
spot — a rural cemetery — a ” garden of graves !”

Mt. Auburn Cemetery is considered a landmark in the history and development of American parks, public spaces, health, burials, and even education. The ambitious nature of the cemetery was the brainchild of one Dr. Jacob Bigelow.  Bigelow, often considered a 19th century Renaissance man, was a doctor, botanist, Harvard professor, author, architect, and the person responsible for popularizing the term of “technology”. Bigelow taught medicine and botany at Harvard and published numerous books, including one of America’s first botanical books, American Medical Botany. His theories and teachings moved medicine away from old traditional methods of bloodletting and purging, and toward the use of safe and less invasive therapeutics. He recognized a growing health concern with overcrowded urban burial grounds and the rapid growth of American cities. Poor planning and traditional burial practices were a major cause of widespread disease, pollution, and even poor mental health. With the help of civic leaders, along with a few landscape gardening enthusiasts, Bigelow proposed the creation of a new kind of burial ground near Boston — a garden cemetery.

The establishment of Mt. Auburn Cemetery in 1831 marked a major departure in the way Americans buried their dead. This cemetery was the first large-scale designed landscape that was not just for burials, monuments, and dedications, but as a space open to the public with a multitude of uses. Mt. Auburn Cemetery set the style for other American cemeteries, but also deeply influenced the approach of public park and garden design, eventually having a direct impact on the creation of New York’s Central Park just a few decades later. Mount Auburn Cemetery provided its visitors with educational recreation, to learn the lives of heroes, appreciate the beauty and mystery of nature, and study architecture and design. It was a popular place for “courtship walks”, contemplative thought, or just simple relief from the frenetic pace of the city. Mt. Auburn became a tourist destination in its own right, similar to a museum, with guidebooks suggesting routes and offering highlights of individual monuments.

This published work by Cornelia Walter (considered to have been the first woman editor of a major newspaper in the United States) provides a description of the cemetery as it appeared in the middle of the 19th century. Walter makes particular emphasis of the cemetery as a place for the nourishment of mind, body, and soul, and James Smillie’s elegant engravings add to the notion.

A teaching moment

Admiring the beautiful landscape

An environment for discourse

A place to read with one’s dog.

Description:

Walter, Cornelia W. Mount Auburn illustrated :in highly finished line engraving, from drawings taken on the spot. New York : R. Martin, 1847.

Persistent Link:

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:1386239

Repository:

Widener Library

Institution:

Harvard University