Faces from the Past
A Viewing of Death Masks from the Laurence Hutton Collection in Firestone Library, Princeton University
12:00 to 5:00 p.m. on “Obscura Day” Saturday, April 28, 2012
Curator’s talk at 2:00
On April 28, the International Obscura Day, you are invited to Firestone Library for a rare viewing of selected life and death masks from the Laurence Hutton Collection. Hutton was the dramatic critic for the New York Evening Mail from 1872 to 1874 and literary editor of Harper’s Magazine from 1886 to 1898. In 1897, he received the degree of A.M. from Princeton University and presented Rare Books and Special Collections with his collection of over sixty death masks of distinguished men and women.
A group of the expressive memonto mori will be on view from noon to 5:00. Stop by when you are able, free of charge. At 2:00, there will be an informal talk about these iconic artifacts, how they were made and how they found their way from a trash can in Manhattan to the rare book vaults of Princeton University.
The Atlas Obscura, a compendium of the world’s wonders, curiosities, and esoterica, was founded in 2009 by Joshua Foer and Dylan Thuras. To be included a place should appeal to our sense of wonder and curiosity, “places that expand our sense of what is possible and tell us something about ourselves, and about the wider world in which we live.”
Once each year, hundreds people around the world join together to create Obscura Day, offering rare and unusual sights and experiences to anyone who wishes to attend. Here is a link to Obscura Day 2011: http://atlasobscura.com/obscura-day/
When the complete list for Obscura Day 2012 is ready, it will be posted here: http://obscuraday.com
Obscura Day 2011 Preview from Atlas Obscura on Vimeo.
