#pagefrights

[thebotanicalarcade]

n252_w1150 by Biodiversity Heritage Library Via Flickr: Curtis's botanical magazine.. London ;New York [etc.] :Academic Press [etc.]. biodiversitylibrary.org/page/471202

[uwmspeccoll]

Science Saturday / Halloween Crossover

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, and what better way to celebrate than to look at a “scientific” work about monsters, Gaspar Schott’s Physica Curiosa!

Gaspar Schott was 17th-century German Jesuit scientist whose compilations, “experiments,” and deep interest in magic occasionally led to some pretty dodgy publications of his own – much to the delight of his 21st-century readers! Such is the case with his Physica Curiosa (almost-full title below), published in Würzburg (Herbipolis) in 1662. 

This two-volume set explores the physical curiosities of the known and unknown worlds, mixing (as the extended title suggests) observed fauna, flora, and astronomical phenomena with fabulous beasts, monsters, angels, demons, specters, and portents.

P. Gasparis Schotti ... Physica curiosa, sive Mirabilia naturæ et artis libris XII. comprehensa; quibus pleraque, quæ de angelis, dæmonibus, hominibus, spectris, energumensis, monstris, portentis, animalibus, meteoris, &c. rara, arcana, curiosaq́ue circumferuntur, ad veritatis trutinam expenduntur, variis ex historia ac philosophia petitis disquisitionibus excutiuntur, & innumeris exemplis illustrantur ...

You can browse a digital copy of Physica Curiosa online through the Internet Archive! Which seems like a great Halloween activity. There is also a full moon tonight! SPOOKY!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

View our other posts about Physica Curiosa.

View other Halloweeny-like posts.

View more Science Saturday posts.

-- Sarah, Special Collections Graduate Intern

[detroitlib]

From our stacks: Illustration “Saw a corpse...in his winding sheet” from Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales. Selected and Edited, with an Introduction, By Sir George Douglas, Bart. Twelve Illustrations by James Torrance. London: Walter Scott, Ltd., c1901?

[loynosca]

sinister spell books or early 20th-century yearbook covers? you decide! Happy Halloween from the Special Collections & Archives wolf pack at Loyola University New Orleans!

[smithsonianlibraries]

This little animation for Bat Week is from Imao Keinen's Keinen shūgajō v. 4 published 1906 in Kyoto. While a lot of his work is more elaborate than this set, you can find some exceptional sumi-e or black ink painting (with the occasional pop of color) inside the 7 volumes we’ve digitized. 

Explore our collection of Japanese Illustrated Books from the Edo and Meiji Periods for more great finds.

[muspeccoll]

Everyone does their part for the #skeletonwar!⠀ ⠀ QM21 .C5 1741⠀ ⠀ #skeletons #spooky #spookyskeletons #halloween #morbid #anatomy #pagefrights #bookguts #bibliophile #rarebooks #specialcollections #librariesofinstagram #iglibraries #mizzou #universityofmissouri #ellislibrary #ifttt

[harvardfineartslib]

Kui Xing, stellar patron of the literati, is associated with the constellations and a servant to Wenchang, the God of Literature. The name Kui Xing, or Star Ghost, also refers to stars in the Big Dipper constellation. He is often depicted standing on one leg, clutching a brush in one hand and a tablet in the other, as well as standing on the head of a turtle waving a Chinese brush in the air.

Portrait of Kuixing stellar Alternate Title :Kui xing xiang bing zan Transliterated (Pinyin) Title :Kui xing xiang

Rubbing from a stele depicting Kui xing, a stellar deity, standing on one leg and clutching a brush in one hand. 1 big seal on the center top section of the stele. 2 inscriptions stating the painting is by Luo pu yu zhe (Qing artist), inscription and calligraphy by Long quan zhu ren and engraved by Liu. Ink on paper. intaglio 106 x 50.5 cm Citation/references: Chavannes, 1909, vol. X, no. 1178. ; Beijing tu shu guan cang hua xiang ta ben hui bian, 1993, v. 9, p. 137 (Kui xing xiang bing zan). Rubbing recorded originally taken from stone engraving outside Longmen Caves, Loyang, Henan. Historical: Stele date: Spring of 3rd. yr of Tongzhi, Qing Dynasty (1864).

[othmeralia]

We found this beautifully embossed book cover in the stacks that, upon closer examination, has an adorable little bat. 

The Book of Nature, 1851. By Friedrich Schoedler.

[librarycompany]

“To give an accurate description of their shape is a thing impossible. Some  of them appear with horns that they bend to every shape; some seem to have but one leg and a tail, others seem to have three; some have bodies somewhat of the shape of a tadpole; others bear a distant resemblance to the porpoise; others exhibit the shape of a catfish with the head of a grass-hopper; others resemble nothing under the sun, but are wholly sui generis.” 

Magnified #PageFrights from The Book of Wonders (Boston, circa 1872).

The Book of wonders. : A strange, mysterious, and most wonderful publication. [Boston] : Published by F. Gleason & Co., 738 Washington Street, Boston, Mass., [not before 1872] 80 p. :  ill. ;  24 cm.

[hagleyvault]

Thomas Marshall in his stylish Halloween costume, 1925. Possibly the first and only non-terrifying clown.

From the Thomas C. Marshall photographs (Accession 1990.270), in Hagley’s Audiovisual Collections

[rubensteinlibrary]

Opening the 1960 Chanticleer has always been a bit of a page fright....

(Browse the 1960 Chanticleer online!)

[uwmspeccoll]

Macabre Monday 

It’s no secret that Edward Gorey is a bit of a fan favorite here at UWM Special Collections. Therefore, it seems only fitting that we highlight the gor(e)y images from Haunted Looking Glass, a collection of spooky short stories he assembled and illustrated, for this week’s #Macabre Monday post. His chosen authors run the gamut of heavyweight horror, including Bram Stoker, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Edith Nesbit, and Algernon Blackwood, among others. It was published by Avenel Publishing in New York in 1984 and distributed by Crown Publishing. With twelve illustrations for the twelve different short stories, the pen-and-ink drawings were created with a level of intricately-detailed line work that express foreboding and sinister implications.

View more posts about Edward Gorey. 

In the mood for more spooky imagery? See more here.

-- Emily, Special Collections Writing Intern

[detroitlib]

From our stacks: Illustration “Blue Beard.- “Four heads were hanging by their long hair from the wall.” from Queen Titania’s Book of Fairy Tales. New York: Frank Leslie’s Publishing House, 1883.

[loynosca]

Any message against eating candy is a #pagefright in our book! May you not "abstaine from all sweete things" this Halloween season ; ) Detail from a letterpress printed page in The Golden Trade: or, A discovery of the river Gambia, and the golden trade of the Aethiopians (1603) by Richard Johnson, reprinted in 1904 on handmade paper.

[ucsfarchives-blog]

Happy Halloween!

-Gyōsai manga sho-hen by Kawanabe Kyōsai​, late 19th century, UCSF Japanese Woodblock Print Collection. 

[wilsonlibunc]

Halloween reading from the Rare Book Collection at Wilson Library. We have spooky mysteries, devilishly illustrated books, and even a dictionary for all things infernal! 

Give me death (1934);  Saducismus triumphatus (1689);  Dictionnaire infernal (1844); The twin hells (1890)