news from the
La Mode Illustrée Comes to Schlesinger:
Library Expands Periodical Holdings
A Berlin assignment in the aftermath of the
Second World War has resulted in a spectacular
gift to the periodical holdings of the Schlesinger
Library. Elizabeth Gilmore Holt AM ’32 lived with
her officer husband and young daughter, also
named Elizabeth, in the divided city following the
war. The daughter sewed and especially loved
making clothes for her dolls. At a time when
residents throughout the city were selling their
treasured possessions, young Elizabeth became
entranced with volumes of an old French fashion
magazine in a second-hand bookshop. The bound
magazines were full of patterns designed to be
enlarged but just right for dolls.
The periodical was La Mode Illustrée, the
premier French magazine for women in the
second half of the nineteenth century, profusely
illustrated with black-and-white engravings of
dresses, hats, accessories, and coiffures. Nearly
every issue also includes a full-page engraved
and colored fashion plate.
Elizabeth persuaded her parents to purchase
the 33 bound volumes, spanning 1860 to 1896.
The prized tomes traveled with her to Greece,
where she attended school, and later to the
United States, where she taught home economics.
Elizabeth (Betsy) Holt Muench eventually settled in Lexington, Massachusetts, and raised a
family. When she and her husband recently began
to consider moving to a smaller retirement residence, she contacted the Schlesinger to ask
whether the library would be interested in acquiring her beloved magazine collection.
The set of 33 bound volumes, which begins
with the inaugural weekly issue of January 1860,
is the longest known run of this periodical in any
American library and perhaps the largest holding
in any library outside of France. The hundreds of
fashion plates (often missing because of their collectibility for framing) are all present, their colors
still vivid.
In addition to dressmaking, crochet, and
needlework patterns, each issue covers household advice, crafts, cultural and social events,
etiquette, recipes and menus, and serialized literature. Elizabeth Muench’s donation of these
volumes in memory of her mother greatly
enhances the library’s resources on the lives of
women in the 19th century.
The library has also acquired five bound
volumes of another French women’s periodical,
Femina, spanning 1902 to 1904, as part of an
extensive visual archive of women in art and
graphic design assembled by Sally Fox.
Finally, the Schlesinger Library recently
received two rare bound volumes of 19th century
American periodicals: Mrs. Whittlesey’s
Magazine for Mothers for 1855, and The
American Ladies’ Magazine, edited by Sarah
Josepha Hale, for 1835, both donated by Marion
Hall Hunt ’63.
These acquisitions join the library’s
significant holdings of early American women’s
periodicals such as Harper’s Bazaar, Godey’s
Lady’s Book, and Ladies Home Journal, placing
American trends in a broader context and presenting one of the richest women’s periodical
collections to be found anywhere.
—Marylène Altieri
Curator of Books and Printed Materials
Schlesinger Library
The set of 33 bound volumes, which
begins with the inaugural weekly
issue of January 1860, is the longest
known run of this periodical in any
American library and perhaps the
largest holding in any library outside
of France.
Fashion plate from La Mode Illustrée, no 52, December 29, 1895
La Mode Illustrée Comes to Schlesinger:
Library Expands Periodical Holdings
A Berlin assignment in the aftermath of the
Second World War has resulted in a spectacular
gift to the periodical holdings of the Schlesinger
Library. Elizabeth Gilmore Holt AM ’32 lived with
her officer husband and young daughter, also
named Elizabeth, in the divided city following the
war. The daughter sewed and especially loved
making clothes for her dolls. At a time when
residents throughout the city were selling their
treasured possessions, young Elizabeth became
entranced with volumes of an old French fashion
magazine in a second-hand bookshop. The bound
magazines were full of patterns designed to be
enlarged but just right for dolls.
The periodical was La Mode Illustrée, the
premier French magazine for women in the
second half of the nineteenth century, profusely
illustrated with black-and-white engravings of
dresses, hats, accessories, and coiffures. Nearly
every issue also includes a full-page engraved
and colored fashion plate.
Elizabeth persuaded her parents to purchase
the 33 bound volumes, spanning 1860 to 1896.
The prized tomes traveled with her to Greece,
where she attended school, and later to the
United States, where she taught home economics.
Elizabeth (Betsy) Holt Muench eventually settled in Lexington, Massachusetts, and raised a
family. When she and her husband recently began
to consider moving to a smaller retirement residence, she contacted the Schlesinger to ask
whether the library would be interested in acquiring her beloved magazine collection.
The set of 33 bound volumes, which begins
with the inaugural weekly issue of January 1860,
is the longest known run of this periodical in any
American library and perhaps the largest holding
in any library outside of France. The hundreds of
fashion plates (often missing because of their collectibility for framing) are all present, their colors
still vivid.
In addition to dressmaking, crochet, and
needlework patterns, each issue covers household advice, crafts, cultural and social events,
etiquette, recipes and menus, and serialized literature. Elizabeth Muench’s donation of these
volumes in memory of her mother greatly
enhances the library’s resources on the lives of
women in the 19th century.
The library has also acquired five bound
volumes of another French women’s periodical,
Femina, spanning 1902 to 1904, as part of an
extensive visual archive of women in art and
graphic design assembled by Sally Fox.
Finally, the Schlesinger Library recently
received two rare bound volumes of 19th century
American periodicals: Mrs. Whittlesey’s
Magazine for Mothers for 1855, and The
American Ladies’ Magazine, edited by Sarah
Josepha Hale, for 1835, both donated by Marion
Hall Hunt ’63.
These acquisitions join the library’s
significant holdings of early American women’s
periodicals such as Harper’s Bazaar, Godey’s
Lady’s Book, and Ladies Home Journal, placing
American trends in a broader context and presenting one of the richest women’s periodical
collections to be found anywhere.
—Marylène Altieri
Curator of Books and Printed Materials
Schlesinger Library
The set of 33 bound volumes, which
begins with the inaugural weekly
issue of January 1860, is the longest
known run of this periodical in any
American library and perhaps the
largest holding in any library outside
of France.
Fashion plate from La Mode Illustrée, no 52, December 29, 1895