Verso

Several of the objects on display in the upcoming exhibition, “What Now: Collecting for the Library in the 21st Century, Part 2,” provide windows into The Huntington’s array of collections that support important research interests.

What sparks the lightning bolt of insight? How do we come to see with new eyes? Literature can expose us to perspectives strange to us, but our interpretations can also be clouded by familiarity.

In March 1852, Charles Devens, the United States Marshal for Massachusetts, submitted an expense report

Harriet Goodhue Hosmer (1830-1908) unapologetically pursued her ambitions as a sculptor in a field considered inappropriate for women and lived openly as a lesbian

Born in Dublin and named for Irish folk heroes, Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854–1900) became a cultural hero in his own right

Offerings of fruit, rice cakes, fish, and wine; humble gifts of pine sprigs; scatterings of salt; rhythmic chants; and a taiko drum’s deep resonant tones soaring skyward to invoke the spirits. These were some of the sights and sounds of the jotoshiki, a Shinto roof-raising ceremony

Experts on nomenclature—from Madison Avenue marketing executives to the parents of newborn babies—have long believed that choosing the right name can make all the difference.

Archives are full of mysteries. Many manuscripts are undated. Often letters are addressed to first names and signed with initials. Accurately identifying and describing an item can be a research project all on its own.