#LibraryBowl23
This article was originally posted on February 8, 2023.
UPDATE: The Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl LVII champions! Stay tuned for more information on when you'll be able to see one of Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanacks on display here in #ChiefsKingdom.
The Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, MO, and the American Philosophical Society's Library & Museum (APS) in Philadelphia, PA, are taking the Super Bowl LVII matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles off the field and into the stacks for #LibraryBowl23!
Both institutions have long histories of promoting science, learning, and technological innovation. The oldest learned society in North America, the APS was founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin. Its Library & Museum's history of science collections range from Newton to NASA, including the papers of 7 Nobel Laureates. Linda Hall Library was founded in 1946 by Herbert and Linda Hall and is one of the world's preeminent libraries devoted to science, engineering, and technology. The Library's collections comprise over one million books, journals, conference proceedings, and industrial standards.
When the Chiefs are triumphant in Sunday's game, APS will loan one of Benjamin Franklin's pseudonymously-authored Poor Richard's Almanacks from its extensive collection for display in Chiefs Kingdom (Kansas City, MO) at Linda Hall Library. Franklin's Almanacks were immensely popular pamphlets that shared useful information for their readers, like the calendar, weather, poems, astronomical information, and other inventions. The 1753 edition proposed for the bet referenced the transit of Mercury would be displayed in Linda Hall's east exhibition gallery, along with a selection of works by American scientists, including APS founder Benjamin Franklin, APS Member Thomas Jefferson, as well as the Conchology of Thomas and Lucy Say. Also on display will be a ciphering manuscript by John R. Carpenter, who observed and calculated the totality of a lunar eclipse in Philadelphia on the 22 of September, 1820.
APS's wager, a Poor Richard's Almanack from 1753 featuring a diagram on the transit of Mercury
APS's wager, a Poor Richard's Almanack from 1753 featuring a diagram on the transit of Mercury
If the Eagles happen to win, the Linda Hall Library will loan APS its first edition of Mary Somerville's On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences (1834) for inclusion in their 2023 exhibition Pursuit and Persistence: 300 Years of Women in Science. This book was a 19th-century popular science bestseller that discussed physics, chemistry, astronomy, electricity, and more. Its author, Scottish writer Mary Somerville was called "the Queen of Science" for her skill in explaining complex ideas.
Linda Hall Library's wager, a first-edition copy of Mary Somerville's On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences (London, 1834)]
Linda Hall Library's wager, a first-edition copy of Mary Somerville's On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences (London, 1834)]
"This is an exciting way to increase the Super Bowl stakes while highlighting the important collections of our Philadelphia colleagues at the American Philosophical Society," said Linda Hall Library President, Lisa Browar. "We look forward to a Chief's victory over the Eagles and the opportunity to host Benjamin Franklin's famous almanac in Kansas City!"
"The APS has been promoting useful knowledge in Philadelphia for 280 years, and we look forward to displaying Somerville's work in our women in science exhibition when the Eagles win," said Mary Grace Wahl, APS's Associate Director of Collections and Exhibitions, closing with, "Go Birds!"
There's no doubt that Super Bowl LVII will be electric. We look forward to a victory here in #ChiefsKingdom and APS's and Linda Hall Library's history of science collections continuing to spark the spirit of investigation and discovery.
