With early modern architecture one of the Library’s five key Special Collections areas, the Redwood aims to be an indispensable resource for researchers, historians and restoration architects. This two-leaf pamphlet in its original blue wrappers gives the wholesale pricing in dollars & cents of lumber in Boston for the year 1805, extremely valuable historical information […]
In Library of Amorphous Matter, Curator, Leora Malt-Leca described how Jocelyne Prince considers the material properties of glass, an amorphous or noncrystalline solid that is the central protagonist of a fantastical library of cracks, drips and scars. Slide Library (2002-present), exhibited in the Redwood’s Rovensky Delivery Room on custom “atheneum-like” bookcases. She examined the features of hundreds of […]
Pheidippides, Soldier of Marathon, c. 1917. Bronze. Gift of Mrs. George S. Scott. This bronze statue is a mechanical copy of the original marble in the Louvre by Jean Pierre Cortot (1787-1843), French School, and is known as The soldier of Marathon Announcing the Victory. Pheidippides is a character in a play by Aristophanes, he is said to have […]
The American School Boy, c. 1857. Joseph Mozier (1812-1870). Marble. Gift of Edward King. Joseph Mozier was born in Vermont and opened a studio in Rome in 1845 where he remained until his death. Most of Mozier’s themes had a strong literary, historical, or anecdotal appeal. His most famous work, The Prodigal Son, won the Grand […]
Captain Charles Hunter, c. 1875. Richard Saltonstall Greenough (1819-1904). Marble. Gift of Henry D. Phelps. Charles Hunter (1774-1849), son of Senator William Hunter (President of Redwood 1846-49) and Mary Robinson, was born in Newport 19 June 1813. He entered the Navy in 1831, was promoted to Lieutenant in 1841 and retired from service in 1855 due to ill […]
Transition, c. 1870. William Greene Turner (1833-1917). Marble. Gift of William Greene Turner. Artist’s interpretation of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s line, “there is no Death! What seems so is transition…” from “Resignation,” written in the autumn of 1848 following the death of his daughter Fanny and first published in his collection The Seaside and the Fireside in […]
Silver Teapot, c.1745-1750. Samuel Casey (c.1723-c.1773). South Kingstown & Newport, RI. This teapot has particulary fine engraving at the shoulder. The earliest monogram on this teapot is that of Sarah Pope (1742-1819), who was married to William Redwood (son of our founder Abraham Redwood) in 1757.
Spectacles, ca. 18th century. These spectacles once belonged to Abraham Redwood, founder of the Redwood Library. Circular lens holders are filled with clear glass lenses within tortoise-shell frames and earpieces are adjustable in length by folding. The artist is unknown
George Washington, c. 1858. Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860)(after Charles Willson Peale 1741-1827). Oil on Canvas. Bequest of Roderick Terry, Jr. This painting is the earliest known depiction of George Washington, painted when he was only forty years old. Rembrandt Peale, son of Charles Willson Peale, was born in Pennsylvania. He received instruction in art from his father […]
Charles Bird King Self-Portrait at 30, c. 1815. Charles Bird King (1785-1862). Oil on Canvas. Bequest of Charles Bird King. Charles Bird King was born in Newport, made his living in Washington, DC as a painter of political figures and other celebrities of the day. Over the years, King contributed handsomely to the Library, giving […]
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