Published: Baltimore, 1927 Upon graduating from MIT in 1881, Edward Royal Warren left his native Massachusetts and headed west to the silver fields and mining camps of Colorado. He worked for 20 years as an engineer, all the while observing Colorado’s wildlife. Around 1900, he began to devote himself entirely to natural history. In the 40 years that followed, this “amateur” became the foremost authority on Colorado’s mammals, writing the two go-to books on the subject, in addition to publishing nearly 100 articles on mammals and birds. One indication of the esteem in which his colleagues held Warren is the […]

Published: London and New York, 1926 Countless people love Shakespeare’s Tempest. As with so much of Shakespeare, there are also innumerable people who don’t think they know the play at all but who still, in a sense, can be said to love it too: it’s filled with such beautiful imagery and such gorgeous poetry that pieces of it have become treasured parts of our shared language. Full fathom five thy father lies Of his bones are coral made: Those are pearls that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and […]

Published: New York, 1925 This survey of French bridges was printed in France in an edition of 1000 by the American Institute of Architects. MIT’s copy is number 841. It’s tied prettily with three golden cloth ribbons – a charming but practical feature, since the folio pages are not bound, and could otherwise become separated from the volume. That’s one reason why this book and others like it (whether because of age, scarcity, or fragility) are shelved in the secure and climate-controlled Limited Access Collection of MIT’s Rotch Library. The frontispiece quotes Paul Séjourné (a French engineer who was awarded […]

Published: London, 1924 MIT’s copy of this illustrated book on Stonehenge is something special. It belonged to Harold “Doc” Edgerton (1903-1990), the MIT Institute Professor who perfected the electronic stroboscope. Edgerton has pasted many of his own photographs of Stonehenge into his copy, turning it into a volume that’s been “extra-illustrated” by a notable figure in the history of photography. On the book’s front endpapers, Edgerton noted where and when he acquired it; his inscription reads,“Harold E. Edgerton, Aug. 1944. Purchased in Oxford, Eng.” Below that, in pencil and alongside a close-up of two uniformed men at Stonehenge, is written, […]

Published: New York, 1923 While it’s best known for science (and for its scientists), MIT also boasts an impressive array of musical talent. Nearly half of MIT’s undergraduates participate in the Music Program, and there are dozens of active music-performance groups on campus. Of course not everyone plays music, but nearly everyone can appreciate it. Today’s featured item, How to Listen to Music, provides instruction for the non-musician in how to listen more effectively, and therefore, at least in theory, with more enjoyment. Henry Krehbiel (1854-1923) was a notable music critic in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Though […]

Published: New York, 1922 This elaborately titled volume was published by the Champion Coated Paper Company to showcase and market its various paper lines. Today, the book serves as a valuable reference work covering the paper types and printing processes of the early 20th century. Coated paper, as the name implies, is coated on one or both sides with a mixture of binder and pigment; the resulting paper provides an excellent base for printing. The coating, when burnished, creates an enamel-like surface, which explains several of the company’s fanciful product names for their enamel papers: Aigrette, Wedgewood, Velvett and Hingefold […]

Published: London, 1921 During the Industrial Revolution, the physical well-being of workers was of little concern to the typical employer. Small children were regularly shoved up chimneys, and were also expected to pick out broken threads from massive machines that were still running. In the 1910s and 20s, female workers at the United States Radium Corporation ingested radioactive materials as they licked the tips of their radium-laden brushes in an effort to paint glow-in-the-dark numbers precisely as their employers demanded. Eventually, though, the health of workers would come to be seen as a worthy consideration for industry. Edgar Collis and […]

Published: New York, 1920 Hugh Lofting’s Doctor Dolittle series was a consistent best-seller from the time of its initial publication through the mid-20th century. In the rankings of children’s literature, its popularity was for many years topped only by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Though its iconic status had solidified, Doctor Dolittle faded slowly from the cultural radar, enough so that today most people have little knowledge of the original story. (The Eddie Murphy film version from a decade ago has little in common with the book.) For those unfamiliar with the book, here’s a quick primer (sorry, spoiler alert): English […]

Published: Boston, ca. 1919 Robert P. Bellows and Ralph W. Gray, the architects behind this grand proposal, submitted their plans to the Metropolitan Improvements Commission of Massachusetts in 1911. While their modifications no doubt addressed the structural concerns with the existing bridge, the proposal really sings in its aesthetic aspirations (not least of which lies in a war memorial included in the design). To replace the existing structure of iron and steel, Bellows and Gray envisioned “a permanent and handsome structure of stone and concrete” – something reminiscent, perhaps, of the Old World. In these plans, they point to bridges […]

Published: Cambridge, 1918 We’ve all seen yearbooks, and we know what to expect from them. They follow a formula that doesn’t vary much from year to year: there’s usually a dedication, then a list of faculty; formal portraits of the senior class; maybe some candid shots; humorous bits about tough professors or difficult courses; sections on clubs, activities, and athletics. It’s boilerplate, and it can seem as though the only thing that actually changes from year to year is the photos. And sure enough, the MIT yearbook published in 1918 (by and for the class of 1919) covers the usual […]