1. “I don’t care what anybody says about me as long as it isn’t true.” Happy birthday, Truman Capote. According to his quote, he may not like this, but here are two totally true facts about him. One, we have some of his papers in our Manuscripts and Archives Division. Two, we have a Berenice Abbott photo from May 14, 1936 of the Brooklyn house where he wrote “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” The photo — seen here — is part of Abbott’s famous “Changing New York” WPA/Federal Arts Project series of hundreds of black and white photos (we have about 80 percent of the images in our incredible photography collection, which also has about 1,000 Farm Security Administration photos not in the Library of Congress, as the Times reported). So there are some totally true Truman tidbits … sorry, Mr. Capote.

    “I don’t care what anybody says about me as long as it isn’t true.” Happy birthday, Truman Capote. According to his quote, he may not like this, but here are two totally true facts about him. One, we have some of his papers in our Manuscripts and Archives Division. Two, we have a Berenice Abbott photo from May 14, 1936 of the Brooklyn house where he wrote “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” The photo — seen here — is part of Abbott’s famous “Changing New York” WPA/Federal Arts Project series of hundreds of black and white photos (we have about 80 percent of the images in our incredible photography collection, which also has about 1,000 Farm Security Administration photos not in the Library of Congress, as the Times reported). So there are some totally true Truman tidbits … sorry, Mr. Capote.

  2. It’s an avant garde kind of Caturday. Check out this photo of famed composer and musical innovator John Cage — whose 100th birthday was last Tuesday — with a very cute black cat. When you’re done with that, download The New York Public Library’s new iBook about Cage, which is totally free and features videos, unique images, rare Cage manuscript material and more (it’s part of the Library’s free iBook series, Point - check them all out). When you’re done with that, then go to The Library’s amazing John Cage Unbound project, a living archive of narrated performance videos by professional musicians, students, and performers - you can watch, listen to, and compare artistic interpretations. You can also get an up-close look at rare John Cage manuscripts, which are housed at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Once you’ve done all that and are totally inspired, submit your own video. Happy Caturday!

    It’s an avant garde kind of Caturday. Check out this photo of famed composer and musical innovator John Cage — whose 100th birthday was last Tuesday — with a very cute black cat. When you’re done with that, download The New York Public Library’s new iBook about Cage, which is totally free and features videos, unique images, rare Cage manuscript material and more (it’s part of the Library’s free iBook series, Point - check them all out). When you’re done with that, then go to The Library’s amazing John Cage Unbound project, a living archive of narrated performance videos by professional musicians, students, and performers - you can watch, listen to, and compare artistic interpretations. You can also get an up-close look at rare John Cage manuscripts, which are housed at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Once you’ve done all that and are totally inspired, submit your own video. Happy Caturday!

  3. For this week’s Caturday, we thought we’d share this image of a cat sitting in a field in September 1918 (meaning this photo is celebrating its 94th anniversary, since today is the first day of September). It’s a stereoscopic image from our Robert N. Dennis Collection of Stereoscopic Views that we’ve actually shared before for Caturday in its original, double-sided form. Now, thanks to the magic of NYPL’s Stereogranimator, we can make the image (and all of our stereoscopic images) move - and in honor of Labor Day, why not make our images do some work? Happy Caturday!

    For this week’s Caturday, we thought we’d share this image of a cat sitting in a field in September 1918 (meaning this photo is celebrating its 94th anniversary, since today is the first day of September). It’s a stereoscopic image from our Robert N. Dennis Collection of Stereoscopic Views that we’ve actually shared before for Caturday in its original, double-sided form. Now, thanks to the magic of NYPL’s Stereogranimator, we can make the image (and all of our stereoscopic images) move - and in honor of Labor Day, why not make our images do some work? Happy Caturday!

  4. It’s raining in NYC. It’s the middle of August.  Of course, you need something to do. Well, you can go to one of NYPL’s branches for free programs or to check out books (or you can download an eBook from home). Or you can … sketch a kitten. That’s what this cigarette card from between 1928 and 1934 is supposed to be teaching - how to sketch a kitten. The back of the card - found in the Library’s George Arents Collection - includes barely helpful instructions, such as, “First, it would be advisable to try action sketches before details such as the head; these should be made as quickly as possible, trying to retain in the mind the principle lines suggesting the movement.” Got it? Great. Happy Caturday!

    It’s raining in NYC. It’s the middle of August.  Of course, you need something to do. Well, you can go to one of NYPL’s branches for free programs or to check out books (or you can download an eBook from home). Or you can … sketch a kitten. That’s what this cigarette card from between 1928 and 1934 is supposed to be teaching - how to sketch a kitten. The back of the card - found in the Library’s George Arents Collection - includes barely helpful instructions, such as, “First, it would be advisable to try action sketches before details such as the head; these should be made as quickly as possible, trying to retain in the mind the principle lines suggesting the movement.” Got it? Great. Happy Caturday!

  5. It may be the “dog” days of August, but we’re partying it up and celebrating Caturday with one of our “dancing” stereoscopic images, created in The New York Public Library’s Stereogranimator  (a website by the brilliant NYPL Labs team). The site allows you to take one of the 40,000 stereoscopic images in our collection (originally meant to be looked at in a special machine that made them look 3-D) and turn it into a dancing gif (like this one) or your own 3-D image. Neat, huh? The image dancing above (check out what it looks like still) is from 1915, and shows a cat sitting on a tree stump on a pillow in the Adirondacks (because, of course, cats always sit on pillows in trees). It is in our Robert N. Dennis Collection of Stereoscopic Views, in our Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs. There are many other cat stereographs available, so go to town and create your own dancing kitties! HAPPY CATURDAY!

    It may be the “dog” days of August, but we’re partying it up and celebrating Caturday with one of our “dancing” stereoscopic images, created in The New York Public Library’s Stereogranimator  (a website by the brilliant NYPL Labs team). The site allows you to take one of the 40,000 stereoscopic images in our collection (originally meant to be looked at in a special machine that made them look 3-D) and turn it into a dancing gif (like this one) or your own 3-D image. Neat, huh? The image dancing above (check out what it looks like still) is from 1915, and shows a cat sitting on a tree stump on a pillow in the Adirondacks (because, of course, cats always sit on pillows in trees). It is in our Robert N. Dennis Collection of Stereoscopic Views, in our Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs. There are many other cat stereographs available, so go to town and create your own dancing kitties! HAPPY CATURDAY!

  6. The “world’s biggest barn dance” at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair.

    The “world’s biggest barn dance” at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair.

  7. I iz steamed!!!! This odd French children’s book drawing by artist Auguste Vimar (which is from the late 1800s or early 1900s and is currently in our Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection) shows a poor cat, strolling down the street, pack slung over his shoulder, getting unpleasantly surprised by a bucket of water, thrown from an above apartment window by a monkey who is, of course, wearing a dress (which begs the question: why isn’t the cat wearing clothes? But we digress). The cat looks pretty darn annoyed in the last panel (he sort of turns into an evil comic book character or something). On this incredibly, incredibly hot Caturday, when we all sort of wish someone would throw buckets of water on us, we thought we’d share. Happy Caturday!

    I iz steamed!!!!

    This odd French children’s book drawing by artist Auguste Vimar (which is from the late 1800s or early 1900s and is currently in our Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection) shows a poor cat, strolling down the street, pack slung over his shoulder, getting unpleasantly surprised by a bucket of water, thrown from an above apartment window by a monkey who is, of course, wearing a dress (which begs the question: why isn’t the cat wearing clothes? But we digress). The cat looks pretty darn annoyed in the last panel (he sort of turns into an evil comic book character or something). On this incredibly, incredibly hot Caturday, when we all sort of wish someone would throw buckets of water on us, we thought we’d share. Happy Caturday!

  8. picturedept:

    Gordon Parks: 100 Moments

    Gordon Parks was a multitalented artist known most for his skill as a photographer. To celebrate the centennial of his birth, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture as well as the International Center of Photography have mounted two different exhibitions featuring photographic work from his long career.

    100 Moments, the exhibition presented by The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, focuses on Parks’ work documenting African Americans in Harlem and Washington, D.C. during the early 1940s.

    These photographs were taken when both cities were going through significant changes—arising from post-WW II urban migration, the expansion of the black press, concern for children’s education, and entrenched segregation and economic discrimination.

    The exhibit is open now, and runs through December 1, 2012.

    For more information, visit nypl.org.

  9. Happy birthday to legendary writer Ernest Hemingway … and happy Caturday to you! The author of classics such as “The Old Man And The Sea” and “A Farewell To Arms” was a known cat fanatic, who once said “One cat just leads to another.” The photo above from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum shows Hemingway hanging with one of his cats in his home in Cuba (we have Hemingway photos, too, but alas, not with his kitties). The Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West is also known for its cats, which roam the premises freely and are descendents of Hemingway’s six-toed cat Snowball. There’s even a book called “Hemingway’s Cats,” which we have in our research collection. We also have plenty of books written by him, so check one out in his honor! Happy Caturday, and happy birthday, Hemingway!

    Happy birthday to legendary writer Ernest Hemingway … and happy Caturday to you! The author of classics such as “The Old Man And The Sea” and “A Farewell To Arms” was a known cat fanatic, who once said “One cat just leads to another.” The photo above from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum shows Hemingway hanging with one of his cats in his home in Cuba (we have Hemingway photos, too, but alas, not with his kitties). The Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West is also known for its cats, which roam the premises freely and are descendents of Hemingway’s six-toed cat Snowball. There’s even a book called “Hemingway’s Cats,” which we have in our research collection. We also have plenty of books written by him, so check one out in his honor! Happy Caturday, and happy birthday, Hemingway!

  10. When a movie actor can make a picture, talk and see his audience at the same time — that ‘s something out of the world of tomorrow. Here’s Adolph [sic] Menjou doing just that, in the A.T. & T. exhibit at the New York World’s Fair after his lucky number had come up and he’d won a free long distance call to the director of his next picture in Hollywood.  “Everybody’s listening in and it’s just like telephoning from a goldfish bowl,” he’s telling David Butler, R.K.O. director. This text is from the reverse side of a publicity photo from the 1939 World’s Fair. Adolphe Menjou was a prolific film actor in the early 20th century, appearing in films including The Three Musketeers (1921) and A Star is Born (1937). And what a mustache! Happy Mustache Monday!

    When a movie actor can make a picture, talk and see his audience at the same time — that ‘s something out of the world of tomorrow. Here’s Adolph [sic] Menjou doing just that, in the A.T. & T. exhibit at the New York World’s Fair after his lucky number had come up and he’d won a free long distance call to the director of his next picture in Hollywood. 

    “Everybody’s listening in and it’s just like telephoning from a goldfish bowl,” he’s telling David Butler, R.K.O. director.

    This text is from the reverse side of a publicity photo from the 1939 World’s Fair. Adolphe Menjou was a prolific film actor in the early 20th century, appearing in films including The Three Musketeers (1921) and A Star is Born (1937). And what a mustache!

    Happy Mustache Monday!