Verso
The Huntington’s blog takes you behind the scenes for a scholarly view of the collections.
Overlooked: Thomas Young’s “Afro-American Freeman’s Light”
Tue., July 30, 2024 | Josh Garrett-Davis, Ph.D.Thomas Young’s 1896 volume of original poems and songs is among the few books by African American authors to have been published in the American West before the 20th century. Young’s as-yet-unheard voice belongs to the longer tradition of Black literature and, more broadly, American literature.
The HMS “Challenger” Expedition: Illuminating Earth’s Darkest Abyss
Tue., July 23, 2024 | Natalie LawlerThe scientific voyage of the HMS “Challenger” nearly 150 years ago defined the field of modern oceanography and continues to inform climate change studies to this day. As both a global expedition and a staggering publication series, the “Challenger” synergized art, craft, and science to visualize Earth’s mysterious underwater world.
A Focus on Plants: Photography’s Long Infatuation with Botany
Tue., July 16, 2024 | Sandy MasuoThanks to digital technology, it’s possible for anyone with a smartphone to create galleries of captivating plant images. But this is just the latest chapter in a long love affair between photographers and plants—many examples of which are documented in The Huntington’s collections.
Albrecht Dürer and the Significance of Artist Networks
Tue., July 9, 2024 | Sophia Quach McCabeAlbrecht Dürer’s travels to Italy and beyond shaped him as an artist, and his influence on artistic contemporaries transformed European art.
Proclaiming Independence
Tue., July 2, 2024 | Olga Tsapina, Ph.D.In July 1776, the Second Continental Congress considered it imperative that the official text of the Declaration of Independence be disseminated as quickly and widely as possible.
Joseph Hansen, Detective Novelist and LGBTQ+ Activist
Tue., June 25, 2024 | Sarah FrancisJoseph Hansen, whose novels chronicle significant shifts in gay life between 1970 and the early 1990s, is best known for his series featuring the openly and unapologetically gay private investigator Dave Brandstetter.
Resistance and Resilience in Clay: How Enslaved African American Potters Gave Shape to Their Lives
Tue., June 18, 2024 | Lauren CrossThe works of enslaved and freed African American potters in the Edgefield District of South Carolina serve as both personal records of the brutality of slavery and creative acts of resistance.
Buzzy, Fuzzy, and Wild: Celebrating Peak Pollinator Season
Tue., June 11, 2024 | Sandy MasuoWith the arrival of peak bloom season, The Huntington’s gardens attract pollinators as diverse and delightful as the plants they visit. Although many animals perform this role, nature’s preeminent pollinators are insects. Now is a great time to watch them at work.