Emily Miranker, Project Coordinator

Here at the Library our highest priority and our favorite thing to do are one and the same: share the collection. We’re constantly thinking up new ways to do this and we’re thrilled to announce the latest: we’ve launched an online shop with over 3,000 products featuring images from our collections. If you’ve ever been entranced by a gorgeous picture featured on the blog, something we’ve posted on our Instagram feed, or an item seen during an in-person visit to the library, our store is for you! Or if you need a truly unique treat for someone in your life who’s just impossible to find the perfect gift for; we’ve got you covered.

The items you’ll find in our shop range from accessories to home goods to fine art. The products mirror the diversity of our collections from medicine, food, and cookery, to New York City history, botany, and much more. And, best of all, the proceeds from shop sales support preservation of the collections, outreach and programming.

This group of musicians come from an 18^th century work by Jacques Gamelin –possibly my favorite memento mori in the collection.

Spiral notebook, featuring the musicians of Jacques Gamelin’s Noveau recueil d’ostéologie, 1779.

As you browse the items, you’ll find bibliographic and historical information about the featured image in the product description. And if you’re not interested in a notebook per se, there’ll be a link to see the image on other products.

In the Academy’s online shop, you can find other product options using a particular image from the collections.  Here, headphones, a lamp and a t-shirt, to name just a few.

The subjects of our images were frequently the inspiration for the products on which they feature. Even the most familiar picture gets some new life breathed into it as they take on new forms.

Below, we draw from a confectioner’s 1907 cookery manual, a tempting selection of pretzels and breads from Prague, and a detail of condiment bottles from Lyman Phillips’ helpful book for the solo gentleman A Bachelor’s Cupboard, and the best Benjamin Franklin look-a-like I’ve ever seen on a 1911 pamphlet from our Margaret Barclay Wilson cookery collection.

Paper plates from the Academy shop, with image, “Types of Dessert Fancies” from John Kirkland’s The modern baker, confectioner, and caterer…, 1907.

Apron from the Academy shop, using an image from Emil Braun’s 1903 Baker’s Book.

We’re also loving kitchen accessories from our Botanicals collection:

Clove serving tray from the Academy shop, featuring an image from Robert Bentley’s Medicinal Plants, 1880. 

In case you’re starting to think about holiday cards or stocking stuffers for later this season, consider any of these:

Enjoy seeing our collection from these new angles. Don’t forget that we are open to readers by appointment four days a week, and for those just wanting to visit, we have lunchtime tours on the first Monday of the month .

We will be constantly adding new products to the store, if you’d like to see your favorite image on a product, feel free to get in touch and we will see what we can do!