History

John Foster|Accidental Mysteries

Folk Funeraria of the South

Accidental Mysteries for August 18th focuses on folk funeraria of the South.

Rob Walker|Essays

An Accidental Time Capsule

Snapshots of late-September 2001 signage reveal a tentative American moment.

Rick Poynor|Essays

Soft Machine’s Dysfunctional Mechanism

An alternative cover for the French release of The Soft Machine’s first album alludes to the history of the machine in 20th-century art.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Nevermind the Masterpiece

What's your "Masterpiece of Everyday New York"? A broken umbrella? A shirtwaist? Discarded gum?

Observed|Essays

The Strange Paragraph Symbol

In his book, Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols & Other Typographical Marks, software engineer and writer Keith Houston looks into punctuation, symbols and other typographical marks.

John Foster|Accidental Mysteries

The Voynich Manuscript

Accidental Mysteries for July 14, 2013 focuses on the rare and undecipherable Voynich manuscript.

Observed|Essays

Jan van Toorn

A video profile of Jan van Toorn, from the series "Dutch Profiles: Design, Fashion, Architecture".

Alexandra Lange|Essays

How To Unforget

The straightforward logic of “A Handbook of California Design” makes it the first step in unforgetting two generations of makers.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

An ABC of the ABCs

Were you a child? Did you read books? Then the NYPL's "ABC of It" serves as a portal back in time.

Michael Bierut|Competitions

50 Books/50 Covers 2012 Winners Announced

Continuing a tradition that dates back to 1922, we are pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 Fifty Books/Fifty Covers show.

Alexandra Lange|Essays

Every Little Thing

Cranbrook: A campus where the designers have thought of everything.

John Foster|Accidental Mysteries

Alaska Yukon Gold Rush Era Photo Album

Accidental Mysteries for June 9, 2013 features a photo album from the Alaska Yukon gold rush era.