Wednesday, February 25, 2009

New Obsession

I may have been living under a rock on this one, but did you know the New York Public Library has an amazing Digital Gallery? The Digital Gallery provides free and open access to over 685,000 images digitized from the The New York Public Library's vast collections, including maps, vintage posters, rare prints, photographs and more. I found out about the Digital Gallery after finally watching Design by the Book, a collaborative video series between Design*Sponge, the New York Public Library and several great artists. Check out the must watch series here.

Some of my favorites from the gallery included elegant and beautiful vase drawings, floral sketches and butterfly specimen prints. Aren't they fantastic? The inspiration seems endless and might be my new obsession!

35 comments:

  1. Ms UnreliableFebruary 25, 2009 at 10:12 AM

    Those vase drawings are exquisite! I only had a very quick look at the Digital Gallery, but I'll definitely be taking a better look now that I know there's such wall-worthy goodies in there!

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  2. please sirFebruary 25, 2009 at 10:31 AM

    Oh I know - don't you want to frame them?!

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  3. hmstrjamFebruary 25, 2009 at 11:15 AM

    very cool- will have to check it out!

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  4. nelyaFebruary 25, 2009 at 11:21 AM

    What an excellent find. Thank you for sharing these, I'm going to have to carve out some time to really explore!

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  5. erin@designcrisisFebruary 25, 2009 at 11:31 AM

    I didn't actually know about this... thanks!

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  6. Ann MarieFebruary 25, 2009 at 11:34 AM

    i must have been under that rock with you! thanks for the link.

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  7. LeciawpFebruary 25, 2009 at 11:47 AM

    Wow - I didn't know about this - thanks for the tip!!

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  8. Tina { Luphia Loves... }February 25, 2009 at 12:16 PM

    floral illustrations has always been one of my fav prints! the beautiful vases print arew so lovely too!

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  9. JoyceFebruary 25, 2009 at 12:33 PM

    I didn't know this, I love the butterflies. xoxo

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  10. AnonymousFebruary 25, 2009 at 1:04 PM

    Amazing! I love each and every one. I could spend hours and hours browsing old botanical and nature illustrations...

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  11. KaseyFebruary 25, 2009 at 1:15 PM

    now that is a great find.

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  12. CindyFebruary 25, 2009 at 1:21 PM

    it's an incredible collection. i love these, especially the top two.

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  13. DenizFebruary 25, 2009 at 1:27 PM

    very neat! i am going to check it out now- thanks :)

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  14. Simple AnswerFebruary 25, 2009 at 1:37 PM

    the library of congress is working on getting all their stuff digitized. it is worth a peek when you have a free moment!

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  15. drollgirlFebruary 25, 2009 at 1:49 PM

    these are so cool!!!! i am going to have to check it out, STAT!!!!!!

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  16. JuliaFebruary 25, 2009 at 1:57 PM

    I had no idea! THANK YOU!!

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  17. RachelFebruary 25, 2009 at 2:07 PM

    I did not know, but this is fabulous! I'm bookmarking the page and I can see myself spending a whole afternoon looking at them.

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  18. heidiFebruary 25, 2009 at 2:51 PM

    o.m.g.
    there goes my entire afternoon...
    xoh

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  19. AnonymousFebruary 25, 2009 at 2:52 PM

    THose are beautiful prints... LOVE LOVE LOVE them... especially the first two.

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  20. AMM blogFebruary 25, 2009 at 3:25 PM

    I think I figured this out!

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  21. SimplyGroveFebruary 25, 2009 at 4:11 PM

    Very nice!

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  22. LauraFebruary 25, 2009 at 4:24 PM

    knew about it, but of course forgot about it ( i would forget my head if it wasn't attached) thanks for the reminder!

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  23. piccioloFebruary 25, 2009 at 5:07 PM

    I must have been under a similar rock, what a find! And I love those wallpapers in your last post too
    : )

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  24. Design ScoutingFebruary 25, 2009 at 6:04 PM

    I LOVE the NYPL... it's amazing! xoxox

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  25. i.d.February 25, 2009 at 10:02 PM

    Wow, thanks for sharing! Great news for those of us who don't live in NY! xx

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  26. AnonymousFebruary 25, 2009 at 11:45 PM

    What gorgeous nostalgia! Your picks and vintage appreciation always make me happy when I visit.

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  27. *SNYdesignFebruary 26, 2009 at 3:51 AM

    The butterflies are gorgeous!

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  28. AnonymousFebruary 26, 2009 at 6:31 AM

    what a great inspirational source! I have to check it out...

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  29. yasmineFebruary 26, 2009 at 11:52 AM

    aaa! so awesome! totally bookmarked!

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  30. annechovieFebruary 26, 2009 at 12:02 PM

    I didn't know about this - thanks so much for sharing the tip!

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  31. UnknownFebruary 26, 2009 at 10:39 PM

    oh..it's all so pretty! especially the butterflies.

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  32. UnknownFebruary 28, 2009 at 6:19 PM

    i'm a lil bit late to the game on this one, but i love these vase drawings! something about them reminds me a bit of art nouveau. might be the colours, or the style of design on the vases... or i might be completely off my rocker.

    either way, i like 'em.

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  33. Laura @ the shorehouse.February 28, 2009 at 7:02 PM

    I love the old maps...LOVE!

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  34. AnonymousMarch 1, 2009 at 9:54 AM

    what a cool find! I'm going to be looking through these for hours now!

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  35. Brittany | the Home GroundMarch 2, 2009 at 10:42 AM

    I must check it out! Those botanical prints are beautiful.

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