Suzanne Karr Schmidt
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drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Suzanne Karr Schmidt
@drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
7.6K followers 4.4K following 3.2K posts
Curator of (very old) curious books, prints on fabric, functional ephemera (newberry.org), Director of a pop-up book society (movablebooksociety.org). History of art, science, decorative food, pirates. Where's your WHIMSY? Mostly Chicago. She/her
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drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Suzanne Karr Schmidt @drkarrschmidt.bsky.social · Jan 9
Loooooooooooooooong Book

#NewberryLibrary (Vault Case MS minus VM 1619 M98) #shelfie
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Post a banger that's not in English

youtu.be/lyuFLU2Zqz0?...
February 10, 2026 at 1:42 AM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Memento Mori

It's a sad occasion, but even the weeping woman on this tomb sculpture in the cathedral in Turin has a backup read!
#MementoMoriMonday
February 9, 2026 at 1:27 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Something something Birnham something something Wood?
gwenckatz.bsky.social Gwen C. Katz @gwenckatz.bsky.social · 1d
Macbeth: SHIT
simifresh.bsky.social simi @simifresh.bsky.social · 1d
the bushes were people 😂
February 9, 2026 at 3:25 AM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Today?
I have resting Owl Face nr. 6 most of the time! #skeptical #SuperbOwl
February 9, 2026 at 12:15 AM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Which Superb Owl Are You Today?

Every #SuperbOwl is from @newberrylibrary.bsky.social!
Grid of 9 early modern owls from the Newberry asking "Which SuperbOwl are you today?
February 8, 2026 at 2:48 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
FingerOfContempticule!

#manicule #letterpress
February 7, 2026 at 9:45 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Feline Fabric Fun!
#Caturday
Tiger with a large steak, saying "I do enjoy my dinner." On fabric!
February 7, 2026 at 3:55 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Not sure I'm ready for this Umbrellas of Cherbourg reboot before I have my coffee
sarahebond.bsky.social Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 3d
Polychromatic moka pot fever dreams are the best dreams.
Dancing polychromatic moka pots at the Milan Winter Olympics opening ceremony
February 7, 2026 at 3:21 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Glad to see @newberrylibrary.bsky.social books slip sliding out into the world every so often!
Fabeelous alt text as always!
greenleejw.bsky.social Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 3d
It's Friday. And I want you to enjoy these fabulous eels from a 19th C. children's reader, printed on cloth.

Also note the resplendent goat. That's a goat you could take home to meet your mother. Or...is it?

Have a eely good weekend, 'y'all!
🗃️🧪
A book, looking old and tatty, open so that you can see both pages. On the verso (left) is a set of poems, next to B&W drawings of eels, a frog, a goat, and a hare. On the rector (right) are colored versions of those animals. The eel is swimming with an oyster and a seal. The frog is sitting on a log reading. The goat is strutting his stuff in a maroon robe, and the hare is in a chair. Around the edges are the letters E, G, F, and H, large and orange. The goat *looks* sophisticated and classy. But that's packaging. He's absolutely showing a bit of leg to passersby. Standing by the fence, teasing his wares; that classy goat is for sale. The poems read: E is an eel that danced a round reel With a very large oyster and very fat sea. F is a frog that sat on a log and sang a nice song to his friends in the bog. G is for goat that wore a long coat that made him look quite like a wise man of note H is a hare that sat in a chair and thought of course no one would know he was there.
February 6, 2026 at 8:44 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Our Flag Means Death still with Stede Bonnet answering which his favorite horse is.
February 6, 2026 at 7:17 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Reader, I bought him!*

*For @newberrylibrary.bsky.social where you can come see him in all his glory as soon as cataloging is complete!
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social Suzanne Karr Schmidt @drkarrschmidt.bsky.social · Jul 30
This Gap-Toothed Charmer
just made my afternoon...

Thanks for introducing us @themedievaldrk.bsky.social!
#Skull #hourglass #MementoMori #Manuscript
Tiny watercolor skull, hourglass, flower border, cost of arms. Slightly zoomed out skull.
February 6, 2026 at 7:00 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Booked for the Evening?

Tonight we'll premier my favorite new acquisition, a 17th c. surveying manuscript with a Galileo link! My Conservation colleagues will explain the plan to deacidify and support areas with iron gall ink damage...
It's not too late to join us!
www.newberry.org/calendar/boo...
Book under the microscope. Chart with a scientific instruments border and iron gall damage in the text.
February 6, 2026 at 3:26 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Indestructibles, Assemble!

Getting together a group of extra-durable kidlit books printed on fabric for the hands-on shelf in my upcoming exhibition...
Impressive Textiles: Printing on Fabric opens December 10 @newberrylibrary.bsky.social!
www.newberry.org/calendar/pri...
#linen #DeansRagBooks #ABC
Pile of children's books printed on linen and other fabrics on a messy desk.
February 5, 2026 at 1:29 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Who needs BOOKS, anyway? 😬
leahmcelrath.bsky.social Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 5d
WaPo also closing Books section and downsizing International and Metro sections
Michael Calderone & • 26m Executive editor Matt Murray just announced a "strategic reset" and cuts in meeting with Washington Post staff going on now Michael Calderone & • 20m The Post will be closing sports "in its current form" Michael Calderone • 17m The Post is shrinking international, restructuring metro Michael Calderone @ @mlcalderone X.com The Post is eliminating Books section 7:44 AM • 2/4/26 • 461 Views
February 4, 2026 at 3:10 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Dürer-tastic email morning!

I'd never seen this impression on silk of my favorite buddy portrait of Albrecht Dürer's, now in Bremen, but their curator reached out...
And YES, I have a (forthcoming) essay about it and a few other satin restrikes!
onlinekatalog.kunsthalle-bremen.de/DE-MUS-02761...
Detail off Bremen Willibald Pirckheimer on silk. Bremen Willibald Pirckheimer on silk.
February 4, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Suzanne Karr Schmidt
newberrylibrary.bsky.social
We’re excited to share today that the Newberry has received a $4 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to expand access to our Indigenous Studies collections and strengthen collaboration with tribal nations. www.newberry.org/news/newberr...
Newberry Library Receives $4 Million Grant
Funding will expand access to Indigenous collections, enable community-led research, and strengthen tribal partnerships.
www.newberry.org
February 3, 2026 at 5:42 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Tag yourself.

I'm "PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF UNEXPECTED WOBBLE IN A RIGIDLY NON-WOBBLING SYSTEM."
juliarez.placid.horse Julia Rez 🏳️‍⚧️ @juliarez.placid.horse · Jan 3
That time I found a pile of old NASA research documents in a skip and took them home for a lark.
A selection of old (60s/70s) NASA research notes.
February 3, 2026 at 5:28 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Mark My Words...

This multi-ribbon, bejeweled bookmark book bling craze has gone far enough! And don't get me started about those gloves!(Left, Amberger portrait of Charles V; Right, portfolio of 16th c. documents from #NewberryLibrary (VAULT Case MS folio J 035 .182))
#ThingsInBooks #Bookmark
🧵
Detail of velvet bound book with pearl encrusted bookmark top, and gilt gauffered edges. Owner is oddly wearing one glove as he pretends to read. Green gilt leather book binding with a metal bookmark ribbon holder.
February 3, 2026 at 2:13 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
SEVEN Curators?

www.bostonartreview.com/read/mfa-bos...
MFA Boston Layoffs Thrust the Museum into a Credibility Crisis
As names and positions of eliminated staff at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston begin to roll in, here’s what we know so far.
www.bostonartreview.com
February 2, 2026 at 10:01 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Discworld Bookwheel?!
🥰📚🛞🥰
February 2, 2026 at 7:23 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
How Much Ground Would A Groundhog Hog?

Audubon's Viviparous Quadrupeds don't have the cachet of his Birds of America, but we still like seeing them in natural size and in living color!

@newberrylibrary.bsky.social
(Case oversize W 764 .052)
#GroundhogDay #ROUS
#HMWWAWCIAWCCW
#AWWCATWHCCIAWCCW
February 2, 2026 at 3:01 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Feeling Prickly?

🦔 Which Renaissance Hedgehog are you today? 🦔
(It's #NationalHedgehogDay somewhere... ie the UK.) Also #GroundhogDay
Grid of 9 increasingly questionable illustrations of hedgehogs from medieval and early modern sources (1, 3 and 6 from the Newberry).
February 2, 2026 at 1:59 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Benedict Episode 1
vs
Benedict Episode 4 🤦

#Bridgerton #Cinderella
Masked Dread Pirate Roberts. Monkey mask engraving
February 1, 2026 at 4:51 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
👉👈👉👈
Finger pointing at a handwritten manicule finger opposite woodcut of foolish pilgrim pointing near a roadside shrine featuring Christ on the cross. Cartoon of three spidermen pointing at each other.
January 30, 2026 at 2:18 PM
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Now accepting naming suggestions for my new office fiend (or was that friend?)
Goth Xmas tree squishable in oh-so-soft grays with teeth and a skull on top, next to my computer monitor.
January 29, 2026 at 8:26 PM