Suzanne Karr Schmidt
@drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
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
Pinned
Some Rare Bookish News!
Man and dog find 16th c. German books on the Chicago sidewalk; I (eventually) find their rightful owner! www.chicagotribune.com/2024/11/22/c...
Man and dog find 16th c. German books on the Chicago sidewalk; I (eventually) find their rightful owner! www.chicagotribune.com/2024/11/22/c...
HAD to put the bookplate there, didn't you...
November 10, 2025 at 5:16 PM
HAD to put the bookplate there, didn't you...
Fancy Meeting You Here!
November 9, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Fancy Meeting You Here!
Ivory does not Bleed, Victor,
Flesh does!
Perhaps my favorite part of Frankenstein was this medical teaching moment! Thanks for playing with one of these extraordinary eighteenth-century interactive anatomy dolls @realgdt.bsky.social! (The anachronistic Struwwelpeter reading was a close second.)
Flesh does!
Perhaps my favorite part of Frankenstein was this medical teaching moment! Thanks for playing with one of these extraordinary eighteenth-century interactive anatomy dolls @realgdt.bsky.social! (The anachronistic Struwwelpeter reading was a close second.)
November 8, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Ivory does not Bleed, Victor,
Flesh does!
Perhaps my favorite part of Frankenstein was this medical teaching moment! Thanks for playing with one of these extraordinary eighteenth-century interactive anatomy dolls @realgdt.bsky.social! (The anachronistic Struwwelpeter reading was a close second.)
Flesh does!
Perhaps my favorite part of Frankenstein was this medical teaching moment! Thanks for playing with one of these extraordinary eighteenth-century interactive anatomy dolls @realgdt.bsky.social! (The anachronistic Struwwelpeter reading was a close second.)
Going to the store, need a python?
November 7, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Going to the store, need a python?
Portrait of the Author?
This doodle inside the front cover of a 1491 edition of a book by esteemed Greek literature scholar Manuel Chrysoloras (1350-1415). What do you think,are the hat and nose a match? 🤔
#NewberryLibrary (Inc. 7132) i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
This doodle inside the front cover of a 1491 edition of a book by esteemed Greek literature scholar Manuel Chrysoloras (1350-1415). What do you think,are the hat and nose a match? 🤔
#NewberryLibrary (Inc. 7132) i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
November 7, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Portrait of the Author?
This doodle inside the front cover of a 1491 edition of a book by esteemed Greek literature scholar Manuel Chrysoloras (1350-1415). What do you think,are the hat and nose a match? 🤔
#NewberryLibrary (Inc. 7132) i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
This doodle inside the front cover of a 1491 edition of a book by esteemed Greek literature scholar Manuel Chrysoloras (1350-1415). What do you think,are the hat and nose a match? 🤔
#NewberryLibrary (Inc. 7132) i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
S-U-Z-A...
Still playing with my new favorite hand-colored 16th c. book at #NewberryLibrary! (Kirchen Postilla, 1553.) Was trying to spell out my name in its wacky initials, as one does, and noticed something...
1/?
Still playing with my new favorite hand-colored 16th c. book at #NewberryLibrary! (Kirchen Postilla, 1553.) Was trying to spell out my name in its wacky initials, as one does, and noticed something...
1/?
November 6, 2025 at 3:04 PM
S-U-Z-A...
Still playing with my new favorite hand-colored 16th c. book at #NewberryLibrary! (Kirchen Postilla, 1553.) Was trying to spell out my name in its wacky initials, as one does, and noticed something...
1/?
Still playing with my new favorite hand-colored 16th c. book at #NewberryLibrary! (Kirchen Postilla, 1553.) Was trying to spell out my name in its wacky initials, as one does, and noticed something...
1/?
Reposted by Suzanne Karr Schmidt
The #1 lesson from yesterday’s blowout:
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
November 5, 2025 at 3:59 PM
The #1 lesson from yesterday’s blowout:
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
The Emperor's New Clothes?
An early reader of this 1553 book of Lutheran sermons ripped out this G initial... But he missed a spot! The uncensored ruler reappears in all his unclothed glory at the very end!
#NewberryLibrary (Case folio C 43 .528) i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
An early reader of this 1553 book of Lutheran sermons ripped out this G initial... But he missed a spot! The uncensored ruler reappears in all his unclothed glory at the very end!
#NewberryLibrary (Case folio C 43 .528) i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
November 5, 2025 at 1:51 PM
The Emperor's New Clothes?
An early reader of this 1553 book of Lutheran sermons ripped out this G initial... But he missed a spot! The uncensored ruler reappears in all his unclothed glory at the very end!
#NewberryLibrary (Case folio C 43 .528) i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
An early reader of this 1553 book of Lutheran sermons ripped out this G initial... But he missed a spot! The uncensored ruler reappears in all his unclothed glory at the very end!
#NewberryLibrary (Case folio C 43 .528) i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
What's the oLDest book on this #NewberryLibrary shelf?
Apparently, an 1894 University of Vermont yearbook with an attitude! #LibraryofCongress #Classification #oLD #shelfie
Apparently, an 1894 University of Vermont yearbook with an attitude! #LibraryofCongress #Classification #oLD #shelfie
November 4, 2025 at 3:43 PM
What's the oLDest book on this #NewberryLibrary shelf?
Apparently, an 1894 University of Vermont yearbook with an attitude! #LibraryofCongress #Classification #oLD #shelfie
Apparently, an 1894 University of Vermont yearbook with an attitude! #LibraryofCongress #Classification #oLD #shelfie
Reposted by Suzanne Karr Schmidt
How a misread Arabic tale misled generations of historians about the Black Death's rapid spread
Paper: Mamluk Maqāmas on the Black Death. (2025). Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 25(4), 151-181. doi.org/10.5617/jais...
Paper: Mamluk Maqāmas on the Black Death. (2025). Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 25(4), 151-181. doi.org/10.5617/jais...
How a misread Arabic tale misled generations of historians about the Black Death's rapid spread
Myths about how the Black Death traveled quickly across Asia, ravaging Silk Route communities, date back to a single fourteenth-century source, experts have found.
phys.org
November 4, 2025 at 1:09 PM
How a misread Arabic tale misled generations of historians about the Black Death's rapid spread
Paper: Mamluk Maqāmas on the Black Death. (2025). Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 25(4), 151-181. doi.org/10.5617/jais...
Paper: Mamluk Maqāmas on the Black Death. (2025). Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 25(4), 151-181. doi.org/10.5617/jais...
Multi-Map Monday
#NewberryLibrary (Inc. 4385)
Both Pomponius Mela Cosmography, published by Ratdolt in 1482 Venice.
The hand colored, annotated copy on the left arrived in 2023 as part of Art and Jan Holzheimer's amazing collection! i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
#NewberryLibrary (Inc. 4385)
Both Pomponius Mela Cosmography, published by Ratdolt in 1482 Venice.
The hand colored, annotated copy on the left arrived in 2023 as part of Art and Jan Holzheimer's amazing collection! i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
November 3, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Multi-Map Monday
#NewberryLibrary (Inc. 4385)
Both Pomponius Mela Cosmography, published by Ratdolt in 1482 Venice.
The hand colored, annotated copy on the left arrived in 2023 as part of Art and Jan Holzheimer's amazing collection! i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
#NewberryLibrary (Inc. 4385)
Both Pomponius Mela Cosmography, published by Ratdolt in 1482 Venice.
The hand colored, annotated copy on the left arrived in 2023 as part of Art and Jan Holzheimer's amazing collection! i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
Oh, Academia! 🤦
(Museums and libraries aren't exactly hiring either...)
(Museums and libraries aren't exactly hiring either...)
Pulling this back into TLs to be sure that all who can will stand as witnesses for him (and for me and so many others too).
we had a good run while it lasted, academia, and you let me write a few books, dozens of articles etc., win prizes, secure a million and a bit more of funding for research projects, and you let me work as a professor in 4 cities for the the last 11 years, but you never invited me to stay for good.
November 2, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Oh, Academia! 🤦
(Museums and libraries aren't exactly hiring either...)
(Museums and libraries aren't exactly hiring either...)
I wasn't a pop-up book for Halloween, but I played with them at work...
November 2, 2025 at 2:14 PM
I wasn't a pop-up book for Halloween, but I played with them at work...
Going Somewhere This Weekend?
This pilgrim's hat with a tiny "Vernicule" on it is a nod to the Vera Icon or Veronica's Face of Christ contact relic, stemming from Crucifixion lore. Worn this way as a printed or painted badge, often on fabric, it was supposed to keep the wearer safe en route!
1/2
This pilgrim's hat with a tiny "Vernicule" on it is a nod to the Vera Icon or Veronica's Face of Christ contact relic, stemming from Crucifixion lore. Worn this way as a printed or painted badge, often on fabric, it was supposed to keep the wearer safe en route!
1/2
November 1, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Going Somewhere This Weekend?
This pilgrim's hat with a tiny "Vernicule" on it is a nod to the Vera Icon or Veronica's Face of Christ contact relic, stemming from Crucifixion lore. Worn this way as a printed or painted badge, often on fabric, it was supposed to keep the wearer safe en route!
1/2
This pilgrim's hat with a tiny "Vernicule" on it is a nod to the Vera Icon or Veronica's Face of Christ contact relic, stemming from Crucifixion lore. Worn this way as a printed or painted badge, often on fabric, it was supposed to keep the wearer safe en route!
1/2
October 31, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Happy Halloween!
We recorded the ACTUAL Dance of Death (via music from a #NewberryLibrary book c. 1650) for your listening pleasure! Read all about it while you listen to the recording in my latest blog post!
www.newberry.org/blog/spooky-...
We recorded the ACTUAL Dance of Death (via music from a #NewberryLibrary book c. 1650) for your listening pleasure! Read all about it while you listen to the recording in my latest blog post!
www.newberry.org/blog/spooky-...
October 31, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Happy Halloween!
We recorded the ACTUAL Dance of Death (via music from a #NewberryLibrary book c. 1650) for your listening pleasure! Read all about it while you listen to the recording in my latest blog post!
www.newberry.org/blog/spooky-...
We recorded the ACTUAL Dance of Death (via music from a #NewberryLibrary book c. 1650) for your listening pleasure! Read all about it while you listen to the recording in my latest blog post!
www.newberry.org/blog/spooky-...
Schreinmadonna, anyone?
(14th c., Germanisches Nationalmuseum)
(14th c., Germanisches Nationalmuseum)
October 30, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Schreinmadonna, anyone?
(14th c., Germanisches Nationalmuseum)
(14th c., Germanisches Nationalmuseum)
Ad Astra!
Looking forward to a sneak peek at the NEW "Stars Aligned" exhibition on Astronomy and Astrology at the Adler Planetarium tonight. It opens officially on Halloween!
www.adlerplanetarium.org/explore/exhi...
Looking forward to a sneak peek at the NEW "Stars Aligned" exhibition on Astronomy and Astrology at the Adler Planetarium tonight. It opens officially on Halloween!
www.adlerplanetarium.org/explore/exhi...
October 30, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Ad Astra!
Looking forward to a sneak peek at the NEW "Stars Aligned" exhibition on Astronomy and Astrology at the Adler Planetarium tonight. It opens officially on Halloween!
www.adlerplanetarium.org/explore/exhi...
Looking forward to a sneak peek at the NEW "Stars Aligned" exhibition on Astronomy and Astrology at the Adler Planetarium tonight. It opens officially on Halloween!
www.adlerplanetarium.org/explore/exhi...
Grass is Always Greener
Music in and out of the Marginalia at #NewberryLibrary (Case 4A 643 and Inc. 1902)
Music in and out of the Marginalia at #NewberryLibrary (Case 4A 643 and Inc. 1902)
October 29, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Grass is Always Greener
Music in and out of the Marginalia at #NewberryLibrary (Case 4A 643 and Inc. 1902)
Music in and out of the Marginalia at #NewberryLibrary (Case 4A 643 and Inc. 1902)
👸
October 29, 2025 at 3:01 AM
👸
Reposted by Suzanne Karr Schmidt
Book Waste Bindings
October 28, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Book Waste Bindings
Getting my literary princess on
October 27, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Getting my literary princess on
Apply! Astronomy! The Adler!
At The Newberry!
The Celestial Imagination in Indigenous and Early Modern Worlds: mailchi.mp/1222ede5b9c6...
At The Newberry!
The Celestial Imagination in Indigenous and Early Modern Worlds: mailchi.mp/1222ede5b9c6...
October 27, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Apply! Astronomy! The Adler!
At The Newberry!
The Celestial Imagination in Indigenous and Early Modern Worlds: mailchi.mp/1222ede5b9c6...
At The Newberry!
The Celestial Imagination in Indigenous and Early Modern Worlds: mailchi.mp/1222ede5b9c6...
When Book Collectors Think About the Roman Empire
Alfred Bull's be-coined 1484 Ptolemy at #NewberryLibrary (Inc. 4394).
Alfred Bull's be-coined 1484 Ptolemy at #NewberryLibrary (Inc. 4394).
October 26, 2025 at 12:44 PM
When Book Collectors Think About the Roman Empire
Alfred Bull's be-coined 1484 Ptolemy at #NewberryLibrary (Inc. 4394).
Alfred Bull's be-coined 1484 Ptolemy at #NewberryLibrary (Inc. 4394).