What's New in the Library

The John and Carolyn Grossman Collection

A world-class collection of some 250,000 items that visually document life in America from 1820 to 1920, The John and Carolyn Grossman Collection is now housed in the Winterthur Library.

Ephemera, or printed materials usually meant to last only a brief time, include greeting cards, product labels, tickets, calendars, invitations, paper dolls, and much more. The Grossman Collection features the finest examples of these beautiful and intricate pieces of paper that, by all rights, should never have survived this long.

Of particular interest are materials that document chromolithography, the first form of commercial color printing. From about 1840 to the 1930s, vibrant colors appeared on a vast array of materials from paper "scrap" used for making scrapbooks to cigar box labels. Other treasures of the collection include the first commercially produced Christmas card, made in England in 1843, and a printer's proof of that card.

This landmark collection is an amazing resource for in-depth study of American culture represented in printed materials.

Please call 302.888.4699 to make arrangements to see the collection.

Click here to download the brochure.