Intriguing Items from the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives’ Adopt-a-Book Program

Intriguing Items from the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives’ Adopt-a-Book Program

The Smithsonian Libraries and Archives’
Adopt-a-Book
program has brought donors, Smithsonian staff, and treasured collection items together for twelve years. This year our annual event went virtual in a series of Adopt-a-Book Salons. Across four evenings, we were able to showcase 77 items from our collections. We featured selections from the Smithsonian Institution Archives for the first time, giving our attendees a look into our incredible archival materials.
Even though the Salons are over, we still have many intriguing items available for adoption. Each adoption provides essential funding to support the conservation, acquisition, and digitization of our materials while allowing you to create your own Smithsonian legacy. Here you can see some of your options, but there are many more on
our website
.
Aspen: The Magazine in a Box
Forgive us for stating the obvious, but this item is simply fab. Packaged to look like Fab laundry detergent is
Aspen: The Magazine in a Box
,
Volume 1 Issue 3, December 1966. It is one of six issues owned by the
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Library
and was designed by Andy Warhol and David Dalton. As with all the Aspen volumes, this issue has many components, including a flipbook based on Warhol’s film
Kiss
and a flexidisc by John Cale of the Velvet Underground. Each issue was intended to be a time capsule, capturing the culture and events of the late 1960s.
Cover,
Aspen: The Magazine in a Box
, Volume 1 Issue 3, December 1966.
Ne’Ho Niyo’ Dë:Nö’ = That’s What It Was like
Knowledge of the Seneca Nation is preserved in this compilation of oral histories from sixty-one tribal elders, creating a valuable historical and cultural resource. The grant-funded
Seneca Nation Curriculum Development Project
gave the Seneca Nation Education Department an opportunity to produce this rare publication that preserves, teaches, and conveys Seneca history from the Seneca perspective. Most of the elders interviewed were born early in the 20th century. Their stories tell the rich tapestry of life as Haudenosaunee people who were deeply impacted by government or parochial boarding schools and language loss. The book was intended for use by teachers and students on and around the nine Seneca reservations.
Cover,
Ne’Ho Niyo’ Dë:Nö’ = That’s What It Was like
(1986).
Russia’s Treasure of Diamonds and Precious Stones
A real gem of a rare book,
Russia’s Treasure of Diamonds and Precious Stones
is an illustrated catalogue of the Russian crown jewels, published by the Soviet Union’s People’s Commissariat of Finance after the Russian Revolution removed the Tsar and his family from the throne. It is believed to be the only complete record of the Romanov dynasty’s treasures before their dispersal through private sale and a subsequent auction. The work was published as a limited-edition portfolio consisting of 100 photographic plates (often life-sized) a…