“More Than You Think” is more than just a tagline!
The Rochester Public Library houses many unusual and unexpected artifacts in its collections.
Many of these special treasures are showcased in Central Library’s new exhibit Secret Stash.
Divisions from across the Library selected rarely seen items for Secret Stash, including:
- a fanciful, one-of-a-kind, large-scale sketch by author Mercer Mayer
- a gorgeous set of animal block prints, At the Zoo, by Kendrick Bell
- interesting examples of automatic writing/psychography
- select pages from the remarkable multi-volume set of The American Woods by Romeyn Beck Hough, that contain actual wood samples from more than 100 kinds of trees across the United States
- an oversized quarter-cloth portfolio of House & Garden’s Twenty-Five Flower Prints, published in 1937
- a well-preserved 1839 hair album, containing locks of hair from friends and relatives (a common keepsake in the 19th century)
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a historically significant copy of Harper’s Magazine from October 1851 that features the first ever mention of Melville’s novel Moby Dick in print (the book was originally titled The Whale)
- a fascinating trade show display from the late 1950’s depicting the global reach of Todd Protectograph, the Rochester company that developed equipment for preventing check fraud
Secret Stash will be on view June 1 – August 3, 2024 during regular Library hours, in Central Library’s Anthony Mascioli Gallery in the Rundel Memorial Building.
