Very Like a Whale exhibition material

This article offers a comprehensive list of each piece included in Very Like a Whale, one of the Exhibitions at the Folger.

Shadows and Mirrors (case 1)

One of the phrases we kept repeating as we were assembling this exhibition was “seeing things for what else they are.” In this case you can see shadows and mirrors, both of which change the way things look, and in some cases, radically distort those things so that they start to look like something else. All of these things in this case are here to help us understand that something may appear one way, but that either technology or our angle of viewing or even our imagination, can distort those things and make them seem like something else.

Items included

• Franz Reinzer. Meteorologia philosophico-politica. Augsburg: Jeremias Wolf, 1698. Call number: PN6349 .R37 1698 Cage and LUNA Digital Image.
• Johann Theodor de Bry. Proscenium vitae humanae sive Emblematum secularium …. Frankfurt: William Fitzer, 1627. Call number: PN6349.B789 P6 1627; displayed fol.27r and LUNA Digital Image.
• Edward Brown. A Brief Account of Some Travels in Divers Parts of Europe. London: Benjamin Tooke, 1685. Call number: B5111.
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Miner’s lamp.
• FACSIMILE from Danish Royal Collections, Rosenborg Castle. Attributed to Pieter Stevens. Peasants collecting wood. Oil on wood, ca. 1681.
• Sir John Davies. Γνώθι σεατόν. Gnōthi Seauton. Nocse Teipsum: or, The Delphick oracle expounded, in two elegies, as a looking–glass for the soul. London, 1688. Call number: D400; displayed title page.
• FACSIMILE. Fortunio Liceti, ed. Gerardus Leonardus Blasius. De monstris. Amsterdam: Andreas Frisius, 1665. Call number: GR825 .L5 1665 and LUNA Digital Image
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. 4 mercury glass jars. 20th century.
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Framed mirror. 18th century.
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Piece of hematite.

Wall after case 1

• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Dreamers Often Lie.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. All Are Fled.
• LOAN courtesy of Jeffrey Shore. Narwhal Tusk.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Know my Stops.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Leviathan. Image

All’s The Whale’s A Stage (case 2)

The title of our exhibit Very Like a Whale and so many things can be very like a whale. This case is dedicated to the idea that the whale could be a stage and could be a stage for something of than people just hunting it, killing it, and eating it. It could be a stage for the curious citizens of a Belgian town to climb up on when it was beached and they didn’t understand what this monster was doing on the shore. They wanted to know what its ribbed back was like, was it like a field, and certain intrepid citizens climbed up on its back and walked across it as though it was a field and the monks more tentative at the end put a cautious foot or two on it. Then there are people actually in the mouth of the whale looking around. This was a monster of the deep that had suddenly presented itself into the world of men.

Items included

• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. John Jonston. Historie Naturalis de Piscibus et Cetis. Frankfurt: Mattaeus Merian, ca. 1650.
• LOAN courtesy of Olivia Parker. Honorius Philoponus [Caspar Plautius]. Nova typis transacta navigation. Linz, 1621. Displayed at Tab. XLI and Tab. XLII.
• FACSIMILE LOAN from Olivia Parker. Honorius Philoponus [Caspar Plautius]. Nova typis transacta navigation. Linz, 1621.
• Conrad Gessner. Nomenclator aquatilium animantium. Zürich: Christoph Froschauer, 1560. Call number: 222727; displayed p. 176–177.
• Strange newes for England. London: W. Thomas, 1659. Call number: S5884.6; displayed title page.
• FACSIMILE from Plantin-Moretus Museum, Antwerp, Belgium. Aangespoelde vinvis te Egmond [Rorqual washed ashore at Egmond], Drawing, 1547. Object number: PK.OT.00826.
• Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Uppsala. Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus. Rome: Giovanni Maria Viotti, 1555. Call number: DL45 .M1 1555 Cage; displayed p. 754 and LUNA Digital Image.
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Whale vertebrae. Found near South Carolina.
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Fossilized inner ears of whale. Found near South Carolina.

Doorway between case 2 and 3

• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Knawing Vulture of Thy Mind.

Wind (case 3)

• The wonders of this windie winter. London: George Eld for John Wright, 1613. Call number: STC 25949; displayed title page
• Lucas Jacobsen Debes, trans. John Sterpin. Faeroe & Faeroa Reserata. London: Francis Leach for William Iles, 1676. Call number: 149- 306q; displayed p. 52–53 (foldout).
• Matthaeus Merian. “Portavit eum ventus in ventre suo” in Michael Maier Atalanta fugiens. Oppenheim: Hieronymus Galler for Johann Theodor de Bry, 1617. Call number: QD25.M2 A8 1617 Cage; displayed p. 12–13.
• Ralph Bohun. A discourse concerning the origine and properties of wind. Oxford: W. Hall for Thomas Bowman, 1671. Call number: 142- 004q; displayed p. 18.
• Charles Leigh. The natural history of Lancashire, Cheshire, and the Peak, in Derbyshire. Oxford: Printed for the author, 1700. Call number: L975; displayed p. 164.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Barren Winter.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Blasted Heath.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. This Blessed Plot.

Wall after case 3

Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Till That Her Garments. Image

To One Thing Constant Never (case 4)

This case is about change and variability in the affairs of human beings and in nature. The goddess Fortuna is the embodiment of the Renaissance idea of change. This picture shows Fortuna balancing on a sphere. And the reason why she balances on a sphere is that she is able to react quickly to any changes in the world, and she’s even a source of changes in the world. This particular case shows all forms of changeability, including the way people’s desires change because they’re fickle and the way forms change.

For more on the idea of Fortune during the Renaissance, visit the exhibition page, Fortune: All is But Fortune.

Item included

• Johann Theodor de Bry “Semicircular world/universe chart.” Engraving in Robert Fludd. Utriusque cosmi maioris scilicet et minoris metaphysica … Oppenheim: Johann Theodor de Bry and Hieronymus Galler, 1617. Call number: BD500 .F4 1617b Cage vol.1; displayed p. 4–5 and LUNA Digital Image.
• Charles de Rochefort, trans. John Davies. The History of Barbados, St Christophers, Mevis, St Vincerts, Antego, Martinico, Monserrat, and the rest of the Caribby-Islands. London: John Macock for John Starkey and Thomas Dring, 1666. Call number: R1739; displayed p. 106–107.
• Flavius Vegetius Renatus, trans. Nicolaus Wollick. De re militari. French. Paris: Chrestien Wechel, 1536. Call number: U101 .V3 F7 1536 Cage Fo.; displayed p. cxiv and LUNA Digital Image.
• FACSIMILE from Houghton Library, Harvard University. Andre Thevet. La cosmographie universelle. Paris: Pierre L’Huillier, 1575. Houghton call number: (Typ 515.75.831 ) and Digital image.
• Theodor de Bry. Emblemata nobilitati et vulgo scitu digna … Frankfurt am Main, 1592. Call number: PN6349 .B79 E5 1592 Cage; displayed plate 1 and LUNA Digital Image.
• Konrad Lykosthenes. Prodigiorum ac ostentorum chronicon …. Basel: Heinrich Petri, 1557. Call number: GR825 .L8 1557 Cage; display p. 24–25 and LUNA Digital Image.
• Andrea Alciati, ed. Pietro Rositini. Emblematum liber. Venice: Sons of Aldo Manuzio, 1546. Call number: 219- 060q; displayed p. 42.

Wall after case 4

• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Jacque’s Travels.

Eyed Awry (case 5)

• FACSIMILE. Matthaeus Merian “Campus Anthropomorphos.” Engraving in Athanasius Kircher. Ars magna lucis et umbrae. Amsterdam: Johannes Janssonius van Waesberge, 1671. Call number: Q155 .K5 1671 Cage; displayed p. 709 (middle plate).
• Gaspar Schott. Magia universalis naturae et artis. Würzburg: Heirs of Johann Gottfried Schönwetter, 1657. Call number: Q155.S3 1657 Cage; displayed p.194.
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Oil Lamp.
• FACSIMILE. Athanasius Kircher. Physiologia Kircheriana experimentalis …. Amsterdam: Johannes Janssonius van Waesberge, 1680. Call number: 196025; displayed pg. 125.
• FACSIMILE. Athanasius Kircher. Physiologia Kircheriana experimentalis …. Amsterdam: Johannes Janssonius van Waesberge, 1680. Call number: 196025; displayed pg. 127.
• FACSIMILE. Jean François Nicéron. La perspective curieuse du reverend P. Niceron … avec L’optique et la catoptrique du R. P. Mersenne. Paris: Widow of François Langlois, 1652. Call number: QC353.N6 1652 Cage; displayed plate LXVII.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. To One Thing Constant Never.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Points of the Compass.

Vitrine after case 5

• Eric Stepp, after Athanasius Kircher (1602–80). Model of metamorphosis room constructed for this exhibition.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Twenty Shadows.

Doorway After case 5

• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Replica Crocodile, 20th century.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Anthropomorph.
• Etching of Hippo, quote from Richard Stoneman.

The Horrors of War (case 6)

• Flavius Vegetius Renatus, trans. Nicolaus Wollick. De re militari. French. Paris: Chrestien Wechel, 1536. U101 .V3 F7 1536 Cage Fo.; displayed xvii (at top).
• LOAN courtesy of Mount Holyoke College of Art Museum. Jacques Callot. La pendaison (The hanging) from Les misères et les malheurs de la guerre Etching. Paris, 1633. LAN Mount Holyoke College of Art Museum.
• Ein wahres Probiertes und Pracktisches geschriebenes Feuerbuch. Manuscript, 1607. V.b.311; displayed fol.129r.
• Hiob Ludolf. Historia Aethiopica. Frankfurt am Main: Johann David Zunner, 1691. 226296; foldout opposite p.243.
• LOAN courtesy of Lisa Unger Baskin. Leonard Baskin. Hanged man.
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Mandrake Root.
• LOAN courtesy of Lisa Unger Baskin. Life cast of entangled lizards. Northern European, 16th century.

Wall after case 6

• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcel. Shield made from hippopotamus skin. Ethiopia, date unknown.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Armor on the Shore.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Macduff’s Castle.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. The Wars to Come.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. The Penalty.

Bad Behavior (case 7)

• Jacob Cats, illus. after Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne. Silenus Alcibiadis, sive Proteus …Middelburg: Hans vander Hellen, 1618. PN6349 .C2 S5 1618 Cage; displayed pg. 52–53.
• Walther Hermann Ryff. Der furnembsten, notwendigsten, der gantzen Architectur … Nuremberg: Johannes Petrejus, 1547. 184- 609f; displayed p.1.
• LOAN courtesy of Ricky Jay. John Selman.
• LOAN courtesy of the Richard Balzer Collection. 3 Jack-in-the-boxes.
• Thomas Hill. The Gardeners Labyrinth. London: Henry Bynneman, 1577. STC 13485; displayed pg. 41.
• Thomas Fella. A book of diverse devises and sorts of pictures with the alphabets of letters. Manuscript, ca. 1585–1622. V.a.311; display fol. 72v–73r.
• FACSIMILE. Thomas Fella. A book of diverse devises and sorts of pictures with the alphabets of letters. Manuscript, ca. 1585–1622. V.a.311; display fol. 80v.
• LOAN courtesy of Ricky Jay Collection. Rembrandt. Etching (?) De kwakzalver, 1635.
• Fragment of a drinking glass. ca. 1650
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Jack Cade.

Vitrine after case 7

• LOAN courtesy of National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. Automaton figure of a friar. South Germany or Spain, c. 1560
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Awake Your Faith.

Before case 7

• LOANS courtesy of Richard Balzer. Backlit Protean Views:

[1] Simon Fokke (1712–84) Afbeelding der eerst uitslaande Vlamme in de Amsterdamschen Schouwburg Amsterdam: G. Warnars & P. den Hengst, 1772.

[2] Noach van der Meer (1740?–1822) Afbeelding van den Brand des Amsterdamschen Schouwburgs. Amsterdam: G. Warnars & P. den Hengst, 1772.

[3] Noach van der Meer (1740?–1822) Afbeelding van den Brand des Amsterdamschen Schouwburgs. Amsterdam: G. Warnars & P. den Hengst, 1772.

An Art That Nature Makes (case 8)

• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Mastodon Tooth.
• Robert Hooke. The posthumous works of Robert Hooke. London : S. Smith and B. Walford, 1705. 165791; displayed 2 openings- p283 Robert Hooke of ammonite & p286 Robert Hooke of mastodon tooth (image1, image 2).
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Fossilized ammonite.
• FACSIMILIE from Rosamond Purcell. Ole Worm,“The Petrified Snake” from Museum Wormianum. Leiden, 1655. (d. 1654)
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Wisconsin river concretions.
• FACSIMILE. Ulisse Aldrovandi. Monstrorum historia. Bologna: Nicolò Tebaldini, 1642. 167114; displayed pg. 145.
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Staurolite crosses. Northern Siberia.
• LOAN courtesy of Academy of Natural Sciences, Drexel University. Hematite in the shape of a bird wing.
• FACSIMILE. Athanasius Kircher. Ars magna lucis et umbrae … Amsterdam: Johannes Janssonius van Waesberge, 1671. Q155 .K5 1671 Cage Fo.; displayed p.709 (top plate).
• LOAN courtesy of Julia Sheehan. Small agate “Volcano.”
• LOAN courtesy of Academy of Natural Sciences, Drexel University. Italian marble landscape stone.
• LOAN courtesy of Lisa Unger Baskin. Life cast of lizards after Wenzel Jamnitzer. Northern European, 16th century.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. The Sounds at Dover Cliffs.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. An Art That Nature Makes.

Snakes (case 9)

• LOAN courtesy of Mount Holyoke College Art Museum. 4 Apothecary Jars. Italian Renaissance.
• LOAN courtesy of Lisa Unger Baskin. Life cast of snake after Wenzel Jamnitzer. Northern European, 16th century.
• LOAN courtesy of the Ricky Jay Collection. “Quack Doctor with Snakes.” Etching in Guiseppe Maria Mitelli. Di Bologna Arti Per Via D’Annibale Caracci Disegnate, intagliate, et offerte Al grande, et alto Nettuno Gigante. Rome: Jacomo Rossi, 1660.
• FACSIMILE. Thomas Fella. A book of diverse devises. Manuscript, ca. 1585–1622. V.a.311; displayed fol. 61.
• Moyse Charas. Nouvelles experiences sur la vipère. English. London: T.R. for J. Martyn, 1673. C2038 vol. 1; displayed title page.
• Edward Topsell. The historie of serpents. London: William Jaggard, 1608. STC 24124; displayed title page.
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Wood in the shape of a snake.
• Herbarium. Manuscript, ca. 1680. V.a.598; displated fol. between 4 & 5.
• FACSIMILE/PHOTOGRAPH from Rosamond Purcell. Tazza di terra siglillata
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Remember Me.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Detestable Maw.

Wall before case 10

• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Othello Greets Desdemonain Cyprus.

Hearsay (case 10)

• Ulisse Aldrovandi. Monstrorum historia. Bologna: Nicolò Tebaldini, 1642. 167114; displayed pg. 14–15.
• Konrad Lykosthenes, trans. Stephen Batman. The doom warning to the Judgment. London: Ralph Newberry, 1581. STC 1582 c.2; displayed p. 206–7.
• FACSIMILE. Theodor de Bry. Emblemata nobilitati et vulgo scitu digna … Frankfurt am Main, 1592. PN6349 .B79 E5 1592; displayed plate 19.
• Liceti, Fortunio. De monstris. Amsterdam: Andreas Frisius, 1665. GR825.L5 1665 Cage; displayed pg 149.
• FACSIMILE from the J. Paul Getty Museum. Unknown artist. Akephalos and Knokephalos. Ghent, Belgium, c. 1475.
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. “Twinned glass.”
• LOAN courtesy of Lisa Unger Baskin. Life cast of lizard.
• FACSIMILE from Tate, London. British School. The Cholomondelet Ladies, FACSIMILE. Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Uppsala. Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus. Rome: Giovanni Maria Viotti, 1555. DL45 .M1 1555 Cage; display p.764.
• FACSIMILE. Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Uppsala. Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus. Rome: Giovanni Maria Viotti, 1555. DL45 .M1 1555 Cage; display p.780.
• LOAN courtesy of the Ricky Jay Collection. Etching, Tartar prisoner, n.d.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Descant of My Deformity.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Meadow Fairies.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Mandrakes.

Love of Having (case 11)

• LOAN courtesy of the Ricky Jay Collection. John Smith after Egbert van Heemskerck. Jemmy LaRoche the Raree showman. Mezzotint ca. 1690
• FACSIMILE. Johann Theodor de Bry Self portrait in Jean-Jacques Boissard. De divinatione & magicis praestigiis. Oppenheim: Hieronymus Galler for Johann Theodor de Bry, 1617. BF1750.B6 1616 Cage; displayed 4v.
• Lumb Stocks after Charles Robert Leslie. Autolycus (The winter’s tale). Engraving. Mid-19th century. ART File S528w1 no.49 c.1 (size M).
• FACSIMILE. Johann Theodor de Bry. Proscenium vitae humanae sive Emblematum secularium … Frankfurt am Main: William Fitzer, 1627. PN6349.B789 P6 1627.
• Denis Lebey de Batilly, illus. Theodor de Bry after Jean Jacques Boissard. Emblemata. Frankfurt am Main, 1596. PN6349.L353 1596 Cage; displayed F4r.
• Gold coins. England, ca. 1509–1602
• Embroidery and design by Erin Moody. Imagined design of Dedesmona’s handkerchief.
• Coronet owned by Julia Marlowe and Edward Hugh Sothern. Late 19th century.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. The Field of Cloth of Gold
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Mirror.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Richard’s Crown.

Wall before case 12

• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Open Your Eyes.

Speaking in Tongues (case 12)

• Athanasius Kircher. Musurgia universalis sive ars magna consoni. Rome: Heirs of Francesco Corbelletti, 1650. 163411; displayed pg 30–31.
• Renold Elstracke title page to Thomas Scot. Philomythie or Philomythologie. London: John Legatt for Francis Constable, 1616. STC 21869; displayed title page.
• Burnet Reading after John Hamilton Mortimer. Caliban. London : T. & H. Rodd, 1820. ART File S528t2 no.72 (size XS).
• Gaspar Schott. Magia universalis naturae et artis. Würzburg: Heirs of Johann Gottfried Schönwetter, 1657. Q155 .S3 1657 Cage ; displayed pg. 373.
• Joannes Jonstonus. A description of the nature of four-footed beasts. London: Moses Pitt, 1678. J1015A.2; displayed Tab LV.
• FACSIMILE from the British Library. A baited bear. Marginal decoration in The Luttrell Psalter English, before 1340. Add. MS 42130, f.161
• LOAN courtesy of the Ricky Jay Collection. Francesco Bartolozzi, after John Alefounder. Peter the Wild Boy. London: John Alefounder, 1784.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Exit, Pursued by a Bear.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Rude Mechanicals.

Vitrine after case 12

• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Chained Book.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. The Book, The Land.

Caliban (case 13)

• FACSIMILE. Ulisse Aldrovandi. Monstrorum historia. Bologna: Nicolò Tebaldini, 1642. 167114; displayed pg 356.
• FACSIMILE. Ulisse Aldrovandi. Monstrorum historia. Bologna: Nicolò Tebaldini, 1642. 167114; displayed pg 357.
• FASCIMILE. A. Birrell, after Thomas Stothard. Caliban in the Tempest. London: Edward Harding, 1798. ART File S528t2 no.75 copy 1 (size XS) ;.
• John Gerald. Herball or Generall historie of plantes. London: Adam Islip, Joice Norton, and Richard Whitakers, 1633.
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Banksia seed pod.
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Barnacled shells.
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Turtle shell of Stigmochelys Pardalis. Eastern and Southern Africa.
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Amphora covered with vermicularia or tube-worm shells.
• John Frith. Vox piscis: or, the bookfish. London: Humphrey Lownes, John Beale, and Augustine Mathewes, 1627. STC 11395 c.3; displayed title page spread.
• Wood from Shakespeare’s birthplace. ART Inv. 1180
• LOAN courtesy of Rosamond Purcell. Starfish.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Caliban’s Freedom.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Boring the Moon.

Wall after case 13

• “Island” created from burned pages of The Tempest. William Shakespeare. Plays. London: Thomas Cotes, 1632. STC 22274 Fo. 2 no. 55; display leave 1,2,3,7 (image1, image2, image3, image4)
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. Ariel.
• Rosamond Purcell, photograph. The Conjurer, Prospero.

Prospero’s Books (case 14)

• Marcus Tullius Cicero. De Oratore. Venice: Haeredes Federici Torresani, 1569. PA6296 .D6 1569 Cage; displayed pg 5.
• Astrological notes and tables in Zacuto’s Almanach perpetuum and Stoeffler’s Almanach nova . Manuscript, ca. 1504.. V.a.323; displayed p. 271.
• Book of magic, with instructions for invoking spirits, etc. Manuscript, ca. 1577–83. V.b.26 (1); displayed p. 88–89 (blue numbering)
• Euclid. Preclarissimus liber elementorum Euclidis perspicacissimi. Venice: Erhard Ratdolt, 1482. B1749; displayed B1.
• LOAN courtesy of Lisa Unger Baskin. Life cast of lizard biting another lizard. Northern European, 16th century.