Curator’s Picks

Haunted History

We choose favorite Halloween-adjacent items from the Library’s collections.
<br /> A photograph shows a man in a dark suit sitting in a chair, pointing with his right hand at an open book he holds in his lap. He is looking off to the side, where the shadowy, transparent figure of Abraham Lincoln is seated in a similar chair, looking at the man and the book.
PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION

Spirit Photos

Can you take a photo of a ghost? Such claims date back to the 1850s, when photography still was young. In the 1920s, famed author and spiritualist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle publicly insisted that, yes, cameras could capture the supernatural. Illusionist Harry Houdini, meanwhile, denounced the whole business as a hoax. To illustrate the point, Houdini had this image made showing himself sitting with the late Abraham Lincoln.
—Kristi Finefield, Prints and Photographs Division

Petition for Bail from Accused Witches

Hysteria about suspected witchcraft boiled over in New England in 1692. More than 150 people were accused, 19 were executed, one was crushed to death. Others died in prison due to harsh conditions. This desperate plea for bail came from a group of 10 women and “thre or foure men” accused of witchcraft and imprisoned at Ipswich jail near Salem, Massachusetts.
—Loretta Deaver, Manuscript Division
A handwritten letter from prisoners accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials is addressed "To the Honourable Governor and Council and Generall Assembly now sitting at Boston." The letter, in elegant cursive script, pleads for mercy and states that the prisoners are innocent. The names of the petitioners, including several "Widow"s, are listed at the bottom.
MANUSCRIPT DIVISION
A handwritten letter from prisoners accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials is addressed "To the Honourable Governor and Council and Generall Assembly now sitting at Boston." The letter, in elegant cursive script, pleads for mercy and states that the prisoners are innocent. The names of the petitioners, including several "Widow"s, are listed at the bottom.
MANUSCRIPT DIVISION

Petition for Bail from Accused Witches

Hysteria about suspected witchcraft boiled over in New England in 1692. More than 150 people were accused, 19 were executed, one was crushed to death. Others died in prison due to harsh conditions. This desperate plea for bail came from a group of 10 women and “thre or foure men” accused of witchcraft and imprisoned at Ipswich jail near Salem, Massachusetts.
—Loretta Deaver, Manuscript Division
A book cover for "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe, with illustrations by Gustave Doré. The cover is a monochrome drawing of a figure with large wings, possibly an angel, holding a staff. The figure is seated in a pillared doorway with stylized clouds above. The drawing is in black and white, with the wings, staff, and text for "The Raven" highlighted in gold.
RARE BOOK AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DIVISION

Poe and Doré’s ‘Raven’

To many, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” is a quintessential American gothic tale. This oversized edition — it measures about 18.5 inches — features 28 finely detailed woodcuts by French artist Gustave Doré. Paging through it, one can see the poem come alive with haunting portrayals of the scenes Poe describes.
—Elizabeth Gettins, Collections Digitization Division

Discovery of Witchcraft

An ancient tome delving into the dark arts of witchcraft and magic, a book of doom. This first edition of “The Discouerie of Witchcraft” — the 1584 Reginald Scot shocker that outraged King James I — is believed to be the first book published on witchcraft in English. The Bard himself likely researched it for the witches scene in “Macbeth.”
—Elizabeth Gettins, Collections Digitization Division
The title page of a book is visible, with the text "The discouerie of witchcraft, Wherein the lewde dealing of witches and witchmongers is notablie detected, the knauerie of coniurors, the impietie of inchan-tors, the follie of soothsaiers, the impudent fals-hood of coufenors, the infidelitie of atheists." The font is an old style serif, and the text is surrounded by decorative black and white borders at the top. The paper is aged and yellowed, with some handwritten notes and scribbles in the margin.
RARE BOOK AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DIVISION
A book cover for "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe, with illustrations by Gustave Doré. The cover is a monochrome drawing of a figure with large wings, possibly an angel, holding a staff. The figure is seated in a pillared doorway with stylized clouds above. The drawing is in black and white, with the wings, staff, and text for "The Raven" highlighted in gold.
RARE BOOK AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DIVISION

Poe and Doré’s ‘Raven’

To many, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” is a quintessential American gothic tale. This oversized edition — it measures about 18.5 inches — features 28 finely detailed woodcuts by French artist Gustave Doré. Paging through it, one can see the poem come alive with haunting portrayals of the scenes Poe describes.
—Elizabeth Gettins, Collections Digitization Division
The title page of a book is visible, with the text "The discouerie of witchcraft, Wherein the lewde dealing of witches and witchmongers is notablie detected, the knauerie of coniurors, the impietie of inchan-tors, the follie of soothsaiers, the impudent fals-hood of coufenors, the infidelitie of atheists." The font is an old style serif, and the text is surrounded by decorative black and white borders at the top. The paper is aged and yellowed, with some handwritten notes and scribbles in the margin.
RARE BOOK AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DIVISION

Discovery of Witchcraft

An ancient tome delving into the dark arts of witchcraft and magic, a book of doom. This first edition of “The Discouerie of Witchcraft” — the 1584 Reginald Scot shocker that outraged King James I — is believed to be the first book published on witchcraft in English. The Bard himself likely researched it for the witches scene in “Macbeth.”
—Elizabeth Gettins, Collections Digitization Division
A medieval manuscript is open, showing two pages. The left page contains Latin text in black and red ink, with a large, ornate illuminated letter 'D' in red and blue at the beginning of the first line. The text is a prayer or a passage from a religious work. The right page features a musical score with neumatic notation on a four-line staff with red lines, which is a form of early musical notation. The ink is faded and the pages are yellowed and slightly wrinkled, showing the age of the document. The manuscript binding is visible at the top, where the two pages meet.
MUSIC DIVISION

Last Rites and Matins of the Dead

Dominican priests used this small volume as they visited the mortally ill and prayed over the deceased. It contains liturgy, music, readings and instructions for priests on 53 handwritten pages. Another remarkable feature: its age. Though the volume is undated, the style of the manuscript notation indicates it likely was produced in southern France between 1375 and 1425, thus making it between 600 and 650 years old.
—Raymond White, Music Division
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