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Copyright expiration releases works to the world
Cover of book Vinzi by Johanna Spyri showing child sitting in a windowsill and the title page of the book reading Vinzi a story of the Swiss Alps by Johanna Spyri translation by Elisabeth P. Stork and Illustrations in color by Maria L. Kirk. Philadelphia and London J.B. Lippincott Company 1923.

The Penn Libraries is digitizing and sharing books published in 1923 that have come into the public domain. One is "Vinzi a Story of the Swiss Alps," by Johanna Spyri, author of the more-famous "Heidi." The edition is the first U.S. translation to English from German, published in Philadelphia.  

Copyright expiration releases works to the world

Works from 1923 have entered the public domain after a 20-year extension on copyright protections. The Penn Libraries is digitizing unique works to share.
Hive mind: What’s in these Ed Bacon photos?

Hive mind: What’s in these Ed Bacon photos?

Hannah Bennett of the Libraries spoke about an unlabeled trove of photographs donated to Penn by urban planner Ed Bacon before his death in 2005. The photos are now being posted to Flickr to solicit public help identifying the locations depicted. “You don’t have to be a Bacon scholar – or a Bacon enthusiast – to enjoy these pictures,” said Bennett.

‘Lost world, lost lives, and the displacement of a culture’
library archivist walking through book stacks

‘Lost world, lost lives, and the displacement of a culture’

Hundreds of books looted by the Nazis during World War II sit on the shelves of the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, a window into a different time in history and individuals we may have otherwise never known.

Michele W. Berger

Walt Whitman up close
Student looking closely at a rare document in a plastic sleeve he is holding, while seated in a library.

The Penn Manuscript Collective is a group of students who meet on Fridays to transcribe rare documents at the Penn Libraries. Sophomore Henry Hung, a philosophy major, examines an early handwritten draft of  “Going Somewhere” by poet Walt Whitman. 

Walt Whitman up close

As part of the Penn Manuscript Collective, students transcribe rare documents and original works by Walt Whitman in the University’s collection. Their discoveries will be included in an international symposium at Penn this spring, Whitman at 200, led by the Penn Libraries marking the anniversary of the poet’s birth.
Historic Philly playbills get modern-day crowdsourcing
Librarian examines several playbills spread out on wood conference table in a historic library room lined with bookshelves filled with books.

Laura Aydelotte examines some of the 19th-century Philadelphia theater playbills in the Penn Libraries collection that are included in a project that allows the public to help transcribe digitized copies. An upcoming conference at Penn will explore digital approaches to researching theater history. 

Historic Philly playbills get modern-day crowdsourcing

An innovative online crowdsourcing project led by Laura Aydelotte of the Penn Libraries allows the public to transcribe digitized 19th-century Philadelphia theater playbills. An upcoming conference will explore digital approaches to researching theater history.
Blue pigment in 1,000-year-old teeth links women to the production of medieval manuscripts

Blue pigment in 1,000-year-old teeth links women to the production of medieval manuscripts

The Libraries’ Nicholas Herman offered commentary on a study that used bio-archaeology to identify ultramarine in the dental tartar of an 11th-century woman in rural Germany. “Only by looking very closely at new kinds of evidence can we begin to discover the true importance of female artisans,” said Herman.

Pigment and parchment
closeup of student with paint brush painting red paint on small image on paper at a table

Alison Yarto, an undergraduate student pursing majors in art history and political science, concentrates on painting her letter.

Pigment and parchment

Undergraduate and graduate students were paired with visiting scholars during a Penn Libraries workshop to paint illustrations like those in centuries-old illuminated manuscripts.
Marian Anderson’s legacy lives on
Penn-Libraries-April-James-shows-Philadelphia-elementary-school-students-sheet-music-for-Marian-Anderson-song.

April James of the Penn Libraries shows students from Philadelphia's Edwin M. Stanton elementary school four different versions of the original sheet music for a song the renowned contralto Marian Anderson sang about her cat, Snoopy. 

Marian Anderson’s legacy lives on

Philadelphia elementary school students visit the Penn Libraries to learn about the world-renowned singer (and the cat she dedicated an entire album to) through her collection.
She did it herself
Penn-Libraries-Regan-Klastrup-with-Annie-Oakley-trunk-and-gloves-in-exhibition-on-women-in-the-American-wilderness

Penn Libraries' exhibition “Ok, I’ll Do It Myself: Narratives of Intrepid Women in the American Wilderness” features 145 items from the vast collection by alumna Caroline Schimmel, including Annie Oakley’s trunk. Regan Kladstrup (above) has worked with Schimmel on her donation of 7,000 volumes of fiction to the Kislak Center. 

She did it herself

The Penn Libraries exhibition “OK, I’ll Do It Myself” with selections from the collection of alumna Caroline Schimmel features 145 books, photographs, manuscripts, artwork, and memorabilia on women in the American wilderness, even Annie Oakley’s trunk.