By Adrienne Rusinko
March’s sticker selections were determined by the staff of Princeton University Library (PUL) Special and Distinctive Collections. Staff who work in the East Asian Library, the Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology, and Special Collections at both Firestone and Mudd Libraries voted for their favorite of 10 options, and these 5 came out on top. A limited run of stickers are now available at Special Collections Firestone, Special Collections Mudd, and the PUL Makerspace.
The Long Telegram, George F. Kennan Papers (MC076) Box 163, Folder 45, Public Policy Papers
On February 22, 1946, George Kennan, an American diplomat living in Moscow, sent a 19-page telegram to the U.S. Department of State operating under President Harry Truman. This document, known as the “Long Telegram,” was an analysis of Soviet motivations based on the culture and history of the area, and ultimately laid the foundation for American policy towards the Soviets.
Prophetic Drawing of New York Skyline, by Thomas Nast, GA 2008.01731, Graphic Arts
One of the most influential political cartoonists in American history, Thomas Nast published this illustration, with the caption “New York in a Few Years from Now, View from the Bay,” in an 1881 edition of Harper’s Weekly.
The first “official” skyscraper was built in Chicago in 1885, but Nast, who had grown up in New York City, would have been no stranger to the ever-increasing size of the continuous new construction. Whether this commentary was intended to be in favor of architectural emergence or a condemnation against it is not stated, but it’s certainly clear his prognostication was accurate.
Theatrum chemicum Britannicum, by Elias Ashmole, N-003358, Rare Books
These entwined dragons make multiple appearances in Elias Ashmole’s alchemical text, Theatrum chemicum Britannicum, or, British Chemical Theatre. Ashmole’s annotated work pulled together writings from English mathematicians, poets, and alchemists, many of whom had only been written in privately owned manuscripts up to that point.
The symbol of two-headed dragon is a common motif in alchemy. The sun and moon represent the Chemical Wedding, the diametric forces that are eternally at play, while the dragon itself represents the alchemical process.
Radio-zhiraff, by V. Kataev, illustrated by T. Pravosudovich, 58164 Pams / NR 20 / Cyrillic / Box 22, Cotsen Children’s Library
This goofy DJ set comes from Радио-Жираф, or Radio Giraffe, written by Valentin Kataev and illustrated by Tatyana Pravosudovich in Moscow in 1926. After a monkey drapes a giraffe’s horns with radio wires, all the zoo animals join in the broadcast.
A Collection of the Birds of Paradise, by Robert Havell, 2012-0008F, Graphic Arts
The Nébuleux, more commonly known in English as the twelve-wired bird-of-paradise, is native to the islands of New Guinea, Salawati, and Indonesia. This illustration comes from Robert Havell’s circa 1835 A Collection of the Birds of Paradise, and was inspired by an earlier ornithological study by Jacques Barraband.
According to our 2012 Graphic Arts blog post, these volumes would have been sold at Havell’s Zoological Society shop located in Oxford, where he also sold prints, feathers, and taxidermized birds.
Decalcomania is a limited monthly release of stickers made available at Special Collections Firestone, Special Collections Mudd, and the PUL Makerspace. All images are selected from materials held by Special Collections. Check out the Special Collections website for information about visiting our reading rooms.
Did we run out of your favorite sticker? Do you want to make your own? Head over to the PUL Makerspace! Design your own or reprint a Decalcomania sticker using the cutting machines.
Digital images of some of the materials in Special Collections can be found in the catalog and finding aids. Our blogs and Digital PUL have collection highlights.
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