Item of the Week: Egypt Delineated

         In 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt in an ambitious attempt to upset the balance of power in central Asia. While Napoleon’s soldiers went about the business of conquering and occupying Egypt, another small army of artists and scientists – called the Commission of the Sciences and Arts documented its antiquities, history and culture. Among them was Vivant Denon, a talented painter and engraver and an enthusiastic antiquarian. Sometimes called the first Egyptologist, Denon not only explored, sketched and described Egypt’s ancient monuments but also documented Egyptian life and culture at the end of the 18th century. Denon’s engaging work became part of the Description de l’Egypt, one product of the Commission of the Science and Arts, but he also published two volumes relating his personal experiences.

One of these, Egypt Delineated enjoyed great success and was reprinted in numerous languages. The Library is lucky to have an English edition of Egypt Delineated published in London in 1819. This large folio edition describes itself as “The celebrated work detailing the expedition of the French” and contains engravings “exhibiting the scenery, antiquities, architecture, hieroglyphics, costume, inhabitants, animals, etc” of Egypt. Denon’s engravings provided a wealth of information for the first generation of French and British Egyptologists, helped to inspire the use of Egyptian motifs in art, literature, architecture, fashion, and décor and also guaranteed a place in 19th century popular culture for a romanticized image of Ancient Egypt.

If a visit To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum has you dreaming of elaborate temples and tombs encircled by wind-swept desert landscapes, stop by the Library and ask to take a look at this monumental volume that helped to reintroduce Egypt to the European imagination.

Au revoir, Jeanne-Claude.

This week, we’d like to honor the memory of Jeanne-Claude – wife and creative partner of Christo – who passed away on Thursday at the age of 74. Jeanne-Claude’s complicated upbringing and intriguing sense of self made her overwhelmingly attractive to Christo, whom she met when her mother contracted him to paint her portrait in October 1958. Christo was already a working artist, and though they had a rocky start, the couple eventually married and had a son. Over the years, Jeanne-Claude became Christo’s creative collaborator and business partner. Together, they created such memorable works as “Wrapped Walkways,” “Wrapped Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago,” Wrapped Reichstag,” and the “Pont Neuf Wrapped.” The couple overcame social and political adversity to produce art of which they could be proud. The art world has lost half of an amazing and unforgettable team who seemed to always understand that, like their work, life is transient and should be cherished.

- Library Assistant Sara Mason

In the Galleries....

Wow! The museum has been so busy lately! Of course, there are a number of exciting new exhibitions to take in. Here in the Jean Outland Chrysler Library, we have a few areas in our reading room dedicated to keeping up with current exhibitions - like the galleries these are constantly changing and are always available for browsing. I thought we’d let you know what is currently on display. Of course, the hot topic of interest in the Museum this fall is Egypt. Come by and take a look at the exhibition catalog To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum to get the inside scoop about the objects in the show, or take a look at some of our other Egyptian resources. Also featured in the reading room right now are books about Dutch Golden Age paintings to compliment a group of works on display in the Kaufman Furniture Gallery. We have a number of books on view about art inspired by war in honor of “At the Front,” which is currently showing in the Frank Photography Gallery. There is a section devoted to the photographic works of Eliot Porter, as well a selection of our many books on African art in celebration of the newly-reinstalled African gallery. Our newest display features Action painting; specifically books about the artists currently hung in the small changing gallery. (Outside of the café.) “Action painting” is a dynamic form of creation and free expression that involves the spontaneous splattering, dripping, scraping, etc. of paint onto canvas and occasionally mixing in other elements such as sand or strips of tape. This show is a great conversation starter, and will have a lot of visitors wanting more. We have several great books that are worth taking a peek at. One such book is The Gesture: Movement in Painting and Sculpture, which analyzes the ways in which the advent of Action painting affected the art world in the long-term. If you have a moment, please stop by the Library and learn a little bit more about your favorite exhibition.


- Library Assistant Sara Mason

Edgar Allan Poe - 200 Years

Once upon a a research query while I pondered bright and cheery over many a quaint and curious volume of artistic lore...

In honor of Halloween this weekend and of Edgar Allan Poe's 200th birthday this year, we thought we would present these items from our collection  that are connected to the Poe's life and work. Click on the Album below to see more images. Enjoy!

Edgar Allan Poe in Jean Outland Chrysler Library Collections

Celebrating American Archives Month: At Home and Abroad

Every family keeps records: birth certificates, deeds to land, and of course, passports. This particular passport, signed July 8, 1810 is special. It would have kept Jean Jacques Andre and his wife Suzanne out of prison as they left Norfolk and traveled to France in the middle of the American embargo against France. Suspicious that the United States was turning a profit from shipping goods from French colonies, Napoleon ordered the seizure of all American ships in European ports in 1806. By 1809, the United States Non-Intercourse Act stated that any French or British ships entering U.S. waters were to be seized. In 1810, the year stamped on the Andre’s passport, fears of war between the United States and France ran rampant. Tensions ran high between the two powers, making it difficult to travel by sea, and even more difficult to be a Frenchman traveling on an American ship. The trade disputes were eventually settled by the creation of tariffs and proper documentation for items shipped overseas. Proper travel documentation and regulations for people and cargo remain an important part our lives to this day. Unlike the passports of today, however, photographs were not available at this time for easy identification. Instead this passport features a description by the issuing agent, providing an interesting look at what he may have looked like.  Interested in finding out more? Stop by the Library and take a look!

Celebrating American Archives Month: Archival Musings

Library volunteer Ramon Colorado has been working with a unique portion of our archival collections - ledgers. These oversized volumes contain a wide variety historical information and were used to record important data by organizations as varied as an early 19th century local milita (the Norfolk Blues), a late 19th century liquor store, and an early 20th century police Sargeant's in Norfolk. Ramon jotted down a few thoughts about some of the information our volunteers have come across while catagorizing, organizing, and preserving the ledgers in our archives. Ramon writes:

"Did you know that the Norfolk Sheriff of 1882 was wounded aboard the C.S.S. Virginia during the Civil War? Or, that bottles of Budweiser beer were being shipped into the area as early as the 1880’s. The next time you’re driving around town you might notice street names such as Corprew, Llewellyn, Nimmo or Colley. These are not just random names given by the city planners but instead modest memorials to our area’s founding citizens. While researching information at the Jean Outland Chrysler Library we’ve discovered many such links between past and present.

Researching with archives -  often consisting of unread or rarely read materials of American history  - may seem boring to many. However, opening up a 200 year old roster of a volunteer military unit (the Norfolk Light Artillery Blues) that served in the Virginia militia, the Confederate Army, and the United States military, and finding a pressed rose from the 1840’s and a letter to one’s sweetheart brings this history alive. Each book researched is a treasure chest of knowledge and each page turned a potential academic goldmine of information. "

Interested in learning more? Stop by the Library and take a look at ledgers on display in the Reading Room.

Celebrating American Archives Month: Hampton Roads Stories from Our Collections

October is American Archives Month. To celebrate, we thought we would share some of the stories told by items in the archival collections of the Jean Outland Chrysler Library. Each week in October we'll be featuring a story from our archives that reveals part of Hampton Roads history. This week's item, a diary, is a little mysterious...

Can you solve a mystery? – Diary-keeping has always been a popular form of reflection for both men and women. A diary might hold lists of daily activities, family life, travels, or – of course – secrets. The author of this diary is unknown. Writing between 1893 and 1895, the author was a servant on a working farm or estate in New Hampshire. We know what work the author did each day, what food they ate, what books they read (strangely enough, this diarist loved mystery novels), and even what time they got up each morning. We don’t know the name of the person who created this diary, their gender, why the author wrote or how this detailed account of daily life ended up here in Norfolk. Who knows, maybe you can solve the mystery.