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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Sneak Peek From the Stacks: Designs for 19th Century Walking-Sticks



Design sketches for the handles of walking sticks from Sheldrake's Notebook


The Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology has a large collection of manuscripts, including some rather odd miscellaneous items. The Practical Notebook of Thomas B. Sheldrake (fMSS 001279 B SCDIRB Dibner Library) contains handwritten notes for the construction and use of batteries and "apparatus for showing electrical phenomenon," as well as instructions for electroplating and plaster-casting. Sheldrake, a self-described working cabinet maker about whom little else is known, also collected these whimsical hand-drawn sketches of "designs for the tops of walking sticks, 1860" in his notebook.

--Diane Shaw, Special Collections Cataloger, Smithsonian Institution Libraries

1 comment:

  1. I suggest that these also be cataloged and/or tagged as canes since this is a more commonly used term among collectors.

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