Are you ready to learn about another architectural detail of the Blackstone Library? For today’s 125^th Anniversary Fact, we’re sharing what is by far the most common motif sprinkled throughout the library. The library is home to hundreds of rosettes in marble, wood, and metal, but what exactly is the humble rosette? A rosette is a round, stylized flower design, used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity, appearing in Mesopotamia and used to decorate the funeral sites in Ancient Greece. It was adopted later in Romanesque and Renaissance, and also common in the art of Central Asia, spreading as far as India where it is used as a decorative motif in Greco-Buddhist art. Since the library is modeled on the Greek Erechtheion (Temple of Athena), it makes sense that the building would feature an architectural detail so popular with the Greeks, as well as the rest of the ancient world. The next time you’re at the Blackstone, see how many you can find!

It’s Valentine’s Day which is the perfect day for celebrating the special people in your life. That’s why for today’s 125^th Anniversary Fact we’re celebrating some of the most important people in Blackstone’s history–the men who built the library! We’re lucky enough to have a photo of the original construction crew taken on the front steps of the library back in 1896, each holding the tools of his trade. They worked for Probst Construction Company, the firm that built the library. They had offices in both Chicago and Branford (according to their business card) which must have made them the ideal team to build a library in Branford, designed and funded in Chicago. It’s truly remarkable the building was built by such a small crew, and we wish we knew more about these incredible craftsmen. Our best guess, judging by the tools they’re holding, is carpenters on the right, stone workers on the left, and possibly engineers and the foreman in the center.

Today’s 125^th Anniversary Fact is all about an architectural feature that will send you spiraling with delight! Everyone knows our marble spiral staircase is one of the most impressive features of the library, but have you ever wondered how it stays up while seeming to float in the air? We have physics to thank for its sturdy and beautiful construction.

Our staircase is known as a cantilever staircase, which means it is anchored on only one side. The key to its stability comes from the fact that each stair supports the weight of the stairs above it, while also being supported by the stairs below. The portion embedded into the wall prevents the stair from twisting under the weight, which makes for a very stable design. The spiral shape of the stairs also helps reduce the risk of an individual stair twisting (decreases torsion) which makes for an even more secure staircase. It’s a true marriage of form and function!

The temperature keeps dropping, but thankfully the Blackstone Library and today’s 125^th Anniversary Fact are nice and toasty! While the majority of our heating has been modernized, some of the original radiators are still warming the library after 125 years. The ones in the floors and those that line the rotunda have been decommissioned for quite some time, but the largest grates in the Reading Room and Café are still covering working radiators. If you’re looking for a cozy (and stunning!) place to get some work done, be sure to snag a table by one of the wall grates!

Library users love the convenience of modern library cards. They fit in your wallet, on your keys, even in your smartphone! But have you ever wondered what a library card used to look like? For today’s 125^th Anniversary Fact we’re going to show you! This library card dates from around 1900 and was recently found in one of our scrapbooks. It’s more of a pamphlet then a card, and it has spaces to record when a book was loaned and when it was returned. It also includes a list of rules on the front, some familiar, some thankfully a thing of the past! We know our patrons would not appreciate us limiting them to two books, especially if “only one of the two may be fiction.” Harsh!