By Adrienne Rusinko
New year, new stickers! January’s sticker selection is brought to you by the staff of Princeton University Library’s Special and Distinctive Collections (Special Collections Firestone and Mudd, the Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology, and the East Asian Library), who voted from a list of 8 to determine which stickers would kick off 2026. A limited run of stickers are now available at Special Collections Firestone and Special Collections Mudd.
Des chats / Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, 21217 Folios, Costen Children’s Library
Théophile Alexandre Steinlen’s most famous illustration of a black cat is from his 1896 advertisement for the Parisian cabaret Le Chat Noir, but it was far from his only. Two years after that iconic poster, Steinlen published Des Chats: Images Sans Paroles (Some Cats: Pictures Without Words), a collection of comic-like scenes of cats getting into shenanigans. Pictured here is a feline fascinated by a fishbowl, captioned, “horrible fin d’un poisson rouge” (a horrible end for a goldfish).
Papillons, NK8667.S43 P36f, Graphic Arts
This Madagascan Sunset Moth is from E. A. Séguy’s Papillons, a collection of 20 pochoir prints inspired by butterflies and moths produced in Paris in 1925. Séguy, who Decalcomaniacs might recall from the April 2025 selection, was a French Art Deco and Art Nouveau artist who created designs primarily for textile and wallpaper manufacturers.
Lustige Gesellschaft, 34396 Euro 19Q, Cotsen Children’s Library
Artist, author, and puppeteer Count Franz Graf von Pocci published Lustige Gesellschaft (Funny Society), one of several illustrated books of children’s poetry, in 1867. This illustration is paired with a set of foot soldiers and accompanied by a short poem about a swift advance to battle.
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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