Suzanne Karr Schmidt
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drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
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
Just don't accidentally ask for butter for the (amazing) biscuits... Did that exactly once, but I swear it was only going to be for the mashed potatoes!!
November 10, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Not sure, the reference at the bottom to it being a gift suggests not, at least to me. Quite a lot of interacting with a guild library book in any case!
November 10, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Lending Library?

Names with dates from 1545 to 1578 pepper the title page marking this 1494 devotional book's circulation among friends. Maybe the owners expected it back within a year? One notes that it has 365 days!
#NewberryLibrary (Inc. 464.5)
i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
November 10, 2025 at 5:58 PM
🤷 Happened before it got to the Newberry!
November 10, 2025 at 5:48 PM
At least he's got a friend in
November 10, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Only the finest heraldic diving bell for our scribbles!
November 10, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Was so busy deciding between the clarity of Carolinian and the proto-letterpress textuality of Gothic that I missed the fine print...
November 9, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Music to my Eyes

I'd never seen this anonymous woodcut in a 1491 book at #NewberryLibrary (Inc. 571) or the music it is part of anywhere previously... has anyone else? Beautiful addition in any case!
i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
#BookWaste
November 9, 2025 at 4:18 PM
It shows up twice!! Wonderful visual motif, especially considering how limited the anatomical information in them actually is... Btw, you probably already know, but Yale Medical Historical library is featuring them in an exhibition through January 21... library.medicine.yale.edu/historical/c...
November 8, 2025 at 2:45 PM
🤔
November 8, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Found some...
November 8, 2025 at 1:08 AM
November 8, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Voilà!
November 8, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Aka "anything"...

Thanks autocorrect!
November 7, 2025 at 11:06 PM
T is for Turd?

Yep! Did I mention this is a Protestant publication?
There were many, many scatological digs at the Catholic clergy around this time! Not sure I've seen it in an initial though!
😁💩
November 6, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Usually there are fighters or dolphins, but this one's got a tonsured monk in the background! What's the pendulous decoration near his mouth though?
3/?
November 6, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Let's take a closer look at that Z, shall we? Here's another one, with different colors...
2/?
November 6, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Thanks for reading it!
November 5, 2025 at 5:33 PM