Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Writing and Reading
September 15, 1981 – January 3, 1982
A range of objects from various periods and cultures provides a survey of the basic skills of writing and reading. Included among the major categories are
- Writing Implements—pens, pencils, typewriters, and a word processor
- Furniture and Desk Accessories
- Calligraphy and Applied Ornamental Writing
- School Books—primers, horn books, and penmanship manuals
- Embellished Correspondence
- History of Printing. Two printing presses are on view, one in operation at times.
Among the items on display are: a pioneer 15th-century encyclopedia, Anton Koberger's Nuremberg Chronicle; Sangorski & Sutcliffe's bejewelled leather-bound Wine, Women and Song; an array of end papers; original drawings for book illustrations and title pages; and 19th- and 20th-century "mechanical" books with moving parts.
