Historical Highlights 075

It’s Friday again! I’ve lots of archival and historical news to share, plus some beautiful images.

We’ll begin with the tale of an archival hero.

Learn about the history of medicine in this Ukrainian museum housed behind a working pharmacy.

Did you know there’s a tunnel under Jerusalem’s Western Wall?

A $30 million collection of rare books (including first editions of Columbus’s 1493 letter) has been donated to two Miami institutions.

Two weeks ago Alexander Hamilton’s family archive was sold at auction for $2.6 million.

Meanwhile Penn Libraries have acquired the only known copy of Benjamin Franklin’s first broadside. 

Feast your eyes on these 19th century infographics.

Here, Emslie and Reynolds compare mountains and volcanoes, including mountains in the Alps and Andes. Featured in Geological Diagrams. COURTESY DAVID RUMSEY HISTORICAL MAP COLLECTION

Then take a look at these “star charts” created by diagramming the first sentences of famous novels.

Are you a writer and a Mark Twain fan? You can sign up to spend three uninterrupted hours working in the Mark Twain House & Museum.

Here and here you’ll find news of interesting new postage stamps.

For years now the idea of collecting globes has been in the back of my mind, but I’ve never gotten beyond three. I find globes from different periods fascinating, plus they look great on a bookshelf. So you can understand why this article caught my eye.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone.

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