“Thanks for Typing: Women’s Type Labor in Literature and the Arts” closes tomorrow! Thanks to those who typed us notes on our Olympia typewriter.
➡️ Swipe to read some of them.
#ClosingSoon #ThanksForTyping #Women #Labor #HoughtonLibrary #HarvardLibrary
#OnThisDay Vladimir Nabokov was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1899. He owed much of his career to his wife, Véra, who was always his first reader, confidant, contract negotiator, and, crucially, expert typist. Learn more about Véra and other typewriting wives in our exhibition, "Thanks for Typing," on view through May 1, 2026.
#Birthday #OTD #VladimirNabokov #VeraNabokov #ThanksForTyping #Women #Labor #HoughtonLibrary #HarvardLibrary
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1, 2, 4 and 5) Images courtesy of Carl Mydans, The LIFE Picture Collection, and Getty, 1958.
3) Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977). “Happy Birthday”: pencil sketch, about 1960–1977. MS Russ 140. Gift of Vladimir Nabokov Literary Foundation, 2017.
6) Véra Nabokov (1902–1999). Zhivago: typescript notes, undated. MS Russ 140. Gift of Vladimir Nabokov Literary Foundation, 2017.
7) First edition of Lolita, 1955.
#OnThisDay Henry James was born in Manhattan, New York in 1843. He worked closely with two typists in his late career who had profound impacts on his writing process and style. Learn more about Mary and Theodora, as well as other important literary typists, in our exhibition, "Thanks for Typing," on view through May 1, 2026.
#Birthday #OTD #HenryJames #MaryWeld #TheodoraBosanquet #ThanksForTyping #Women #Labor #HoughtonLibrary #HarvardLibrary
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2) Mary Weld in the Watchbell Street Studio bookbindery, Rye, around 1901–1904. MS Eng 1579 (36). Louis J. Appell Junior Fund for British Civilization in the Harvard College Library and the Bayard Livingston and Kate Gray Kilgour Fund, 2003.
4) Portrait of Theodora Bosanquet. MS Eng 1213.8. Amy Lowell fund and Henry James royalties, 1963.
6) Henry James (1843–1916) and Theodora Bosanquet. The Portrait of a Lady: manuscript, around 1906. MS Am 1237.17. Norton Perkins Fund, 1943.
7) Theodora Bosanquet (1880–1961). Henry James at Work. London: Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, 1927. AC85.J2335.Y924bb. Amy Lowell Trust, 1963.
Emily Dickinson’s first collection of poetry was published in 1890, four years after her death. How did it find its way into print? Meet her posthumous editor and amanuensis, Mabel Loomis Todd. Learn more about Mabel and other important literary typists in our exhibition, “Thanks for Typing,” on view through May 1, 2026.
#EmilyDickinson #MabelLoomisTodd #Poetry #ThanksForTyping #Women #Labor #HoughtonLibrary #HarvardLibrary
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3) Emily Dickinson (1830–1886). “All overgrown by cunning moss”: autograph manuscript, around 1860. MS Am 1118.3 (72a). Gift of Gilbert H. Montague, Class of 1901, in happy memory of Amy Montague, 1950.
4–6) Mabel Loomis Todd (1856–1932). Transcription of Emily Dickinson’s “All overgrown by cunning moss,” around 1896. Loan from the Emily Dickinson Collection, Amherst College Archives & Special Collections.
8) Emily Dickinson, Mabel Loomis Todd, and Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823–1911). Poems. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1896. Lavinia Dickinson’s copy. EDR 471. Gift of Gilbert H. Montague, Class of 1901, in happy memory of Amy Montague, 1950.
11) Mabel Loomis Todd at her typewriter, by unknown photographer, around 1930–1932. Image courtesy of Yale University Library.
Manuals for secretarial work proliferated in the 20th century and demonstrate the range of competencies expected of secretaries. They are also invaluable windows into 20th century women’s labor history. See our growing collection of manuals in our exhibition, "Thanks for Typing," on view through May 1, 2026.
#Secretary #Manuals #ThanksForTyping #Women #Labor #HoughtonLibrary #HarvardLibrary
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Peter Lawrence Agnew (b. 1901), et al. Secretarial Office Practice. Cincinnati: South-Western Pub. Co., 1966. 2026-258. Daniel D. Chabris Book Fund, 2025
Sheila T. Stanwell and Josephine Shaw. Essential Secretarial Studies. London: Edward Arnold, 1974. 2026-260. Daniel D. Chabris Book Fund, 2025
Albert C. Fries, et al. Applied Secretarial Procedures. New York: Gregg and Community College Division, McGraw-Hill, 1974. 2026-259. Daniel D. Chabris Book Fund, 2025.
Since its invention, the typewriter has been associated with women’s labor. Learn more about the women who took their typing skills out of the office and into the world of arts and letters in our exhibition, "Thanks for Typing," on view through May 1, 2026.
#ThanksForTyping #Women #Labor #HoughtonLibrary #HarvardLibrary
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1) Herkimer County Historical Society. "The Story of the Typewriter, 1873–1923," 1923. 2025-870. Daniel D. Chabris Book Fund, 2025.
3) "Scientific American" Vol. 27, no. 6 (August 10, 1872). Image courtesy of Cabot Science Library.
Lillian Sholes demonstrating a prototype typewriter invented by her father, Christopher Latham Sholes, by unknown photographer, 1872. Image courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
4) Stenographers sitting at desks in rows taking a civil service exam by unknown photographer, 1909. MS Typ 1446. Daniel D. Chabris Book Fund, 2025.
5) Frontispiece of "The Story of the Typewriter."
6) Margery W. Davies. "Woman’s Place is at the Typewriter: The Feminization of the Clerical Labor Force." Cambridge, MA: Radical America, 1974. Angela Davis’s copy. Loan from Schlesinger Library.
7–8) Underwood Corporation. "The Girl with the Halo." Public Relations Department, Underwood Corporation, 1950. Sperry Rand Corporation. "How to Be a Super-Secretary." Remington Rand Office Machines Division, 1962. Loans from Schlesinger Library.
9) Script supervisor Barbara Cole on location during the production of "Lawrence of Arabia," by unknown photographer, 1962. HTC 2. Daniel D. Chabris Book Fund, 2025.
10) “For Every Purpose” brochure for the Olympia SM3 typewriter, around 1953–57. 8 3/8 in. x 4 in. MS Typ 1446. Daniel D. Chabris Book Fund, 2025.
The library is closed due to the snow, but today is technically the opening day of Thanks for Typing, the exhibition at @houghtonlibrary I am very proud to have co-curated with @dalestinchcomb . The culmination of several years of research during which I was pregnant, stepped away to have a baby, and adjusted to my new life as a working mother, I absolutely could not have seen this show through without such a generous collaborator as Dale, who, by the way, was meanwhile helming @themorganlibrary 's blockbuster "A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250." We also had fantastic support from our colleagues at Houghton Library, as well as our friends at @schlesingerlibrary who were instrumental partners in research and agreed to lend us several key items for the show. A link to more info about the exhibition, including a very exciting slate of programming, is in my bio!
We were incredibly lucky to spend a morning at The Morgan Library & Museum for A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250 before it closed.
A huge thank you to Dale Stinchcomb, Curator of Literary & Historical Manuscripts, who walked us through the exhibit and shared an abundance of knowledge. We’re so grateful for the time, care, and insight he brought to this rare opportunity.
Seeing Austen’s handwritten letters, first editions of her novels, a lock of her hair, and even a ring that once sat on her finger was nothing short of extraordinary.
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#themorganlibrary #themorganlibraryandmuseum #janeaustenfan #janeaustenquote #newyork #newyorkmuseum #explorenyc #thingstodoinnyc #nymuseum #manhattan #morganlibrary #bedlam #offbroadway #nyctheatre
“What dreadful Hot weather we have!—It keeps one in a continual state of Inelegance.”
—Jane Austen
Jane Austen (1775–1817), Autograph letter to Cassandra Austen, Rowling, September 18, 1796. The Morgan Library & Museum, purchased by J. P. Morgan Jr., 1920; MA 977.2.
#alivelymind #heatwave #janeausten #morganlibrary
Jane Austen began writing this beautiful crossed letter #otd in 1808. Most of her surviving letters are addressed to her sister Cassandra and are written on a single sheet of paper to save on postage. With limited space, she sometimes resorted to writing upside down between lines, or cross-writing, seen here, by turning the page 90 degrees and writing across her earlier lines. Though accustomed to her sister’s handwriting, it would’ve still taken Cassandra some patience to decipher.
On view in A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250 through September 14.
Jane Austen (1775–1817), Autograph letter to Cassandra Austen, Godmersham, June 20–22, 1808. The Morgan Library & Museum, purchased by J. P. Morgan Jr, 1920; MA 977.16.
#alivelymind #janeausten #morganlibrary
Jane Austen began writing short, experimental fiction in her early teens, cheered on by her father, Rev. George Austen. Unusually for the time, he allowed his daughters to read what they liked from his collection of 500 volumes, a large personal library for a man of his means.
He also bought his younger daughter a blank book—at no small expense—into which she copied her teenage writings. That volume, the second in a set of three, is currently on view @themorganlibrary , and includes Jane Austen’s inscription in Latin, “Ex dono mei Patris”: “The gift of my Father.”
Silhouettes of Rev. George Austen and Jane Austen’s mother, Cassandra Leigh Austen, early nineteenth century. Pen and ink. Jane Austen’s House, Chawton; CHWJA:JAH75.1–2. Photo: Janice Chung for the New York Times.
Jane Austen (1775–1817), Volume the Second, Autograph manuscript, 1790–93. British Library; Add MS 59874.
#alivelymind #fathersday #janeausten #morganlibrary @britishlibrary@janeaustenshouse
Friday. Finis. Phew.
Detail of a drawing by Frederica St. John Orlebar (1839–1928) from Illustrated Ballads and Poems. Autograph manuscript, 1858. The Morgan Library & Museum, purchased on the Macomber Fund, 2024; MA 23877.
#finis #finisfriday
