Historically such travels served to expand the knowledge of the earth and were often well documented in books, carnets de voyages, journals and other publications.   Before the advent of photography such associated travel images were often sketched by hand or later related to artists who would then reproduce imagery of what the explorer had seen and experienced in far away lands.  The famous lost Franklin expedition, an 1845 Arctic expedition lead by Sir John Franklin, is one whose tragic tale is today less known but whose trace remains well preserved in the archive and its corresponding treasure trove of accompanying images.

As a librarian I can attest first-hand to the power and importance of such early images in generating new interest in libraries and research.  Last year I worked as part of an academic team producing a short film from the Le Moyne- De Bry engravings of 16th century Florida, digitized by the State Archives of Florida from the Fisher family’s original edition and animated by UF’s Digital Worlds Institute*.  Such visual resources and projects have the potential to bring history to life for a new generation of students and researchers. Other academic sites highlighting early expeditions include Harvard’s Expeditions and Discoveries which does a wonderful job of emphasizing the importance and diversity of more modern travels and excursions.

 
*The French in Florida short film.

Haeckel as an artist created flamboyant images of the natural world and as a scientist and public figure, he was no less colorful.  One of the earliest proponents in Europe of Darwinism and the evolution of man, Professor Haeckel shocked the scientific community by announcing that man’s ancestors (whose remains were yet to be discovered) would be found in Indonesia.  He challenged his students to a globe-trotting quest of being the first to find the ‘missing link’.  In 1891 one of his students Eugene Dubois would unearth Java Man in the very region Haeckel had predicted.

Haeckel’s amazing illustrations, over 100 colorized images in all, are part of a hidden heritage of science that is both beautiful and revealing.  As an image resource, Pictoscope hopes to help uncover these historic works for today’s students and researchers.  Better understanding the lengths that the men and women of the past went to in their quest for knowledge and learning is easily perceived through past publications that often included artwork, illustrations and images of every description.

Through the vivid artwork created by Ernst Haeckel, the beauty of science and the natural world is rediscovered through Pictoscope and its visual discovery services.

While living as a grad student in Paris I had the opportunity to interview the Afghan librarian and poet Latif Pedram for American Libraries* magazine.  At that time Latif was living in exile and teaching at the Sorbonne after having narrowly escaped the Taliban who had threatened his life and burnt down the library he oversaw.  

That interview was the first time I had heard the words auto-de-fé or Shahnameh and I learned as well that Latif had traveled around the world acquiring priceless editions of Ferdowsi’s illuminated Persian epic poem for his library– all tragically lost in a hail of machine gun fire and rocket launcher detonations.  

Why is the Shahnameh or Book of Kings so special?  In the modern context, Latif explained that in Iran, Afghanistan and other areas where Persian is traditionally spoken,  the poem is a national tradition and family owned editions are an important pathway to literacy. Historically, sumptuous illuminated editions of the poem, produced for royal houses and wealthy families, provide important insights into Persian history and culture.  The mythological adventures of heroes such as Garshap, Nariman and Sam provide fantastic visual imagery wherein armies are conquered, dragons slain and monsters overcome by amazing feats of courage and daring.  

The power of Pictoscope’s visual discovery service is on full-display for students and researchers wanting to take a look at online digital editions of the Shahnameh. Our resource is designed to improve access to these priceless resources, now preserved and digitized by libraries and archives around the world.  Pictoscope’s imaging index instantly allows users unprecedented access to Persian culture as preserved in these amazing illuminated manuscripts.  

The experience is sure to inspire you just as the words of Ferdowsi continue to inspire present and future generations: “Instead of leaving behind palaces and riches, leave instead a memory of justice, honest thought, and good actions. These things will never turn to dust.”

*Loving, Matthew. 2002. “The War on Terror: Darkest Days – From exile in Paris, Afghan librarian Latif Pedram relives the nightmare”. American Libraries. 33 (5): 68.

Luckily for me, when I say super weird stuff out loud like that my wife doesn’t even flinch… (she’s also a librarian).  In fact, I can clearly remember her shaking her head in equally tired agreement (we have young children) as we talked about it for awhile and then turned out the lights on the small seedling of a new idea.

So it was that creating an online service that could capture and index amazing arrays of images and visual content found its way into my heart and mind.   Yet the more I worked on ways to move forward with the project, the more the metrics grew in immensity –seeming evermore intimidating and elusive to manage.

Another very clear moment in the development of Pictoscope was meeting Al Kirby and Jeremy Rimer.  Al’s initial reaction after hearing me describe the proposed resource was a true game changer: “Yep, we can do that.”   How Al convinced his very talented friend Jeremy that they were going to work with a librarian to build an online image database and discovery service is likely another story that I have not heard…  But regardless, turns out that “Yep, we can do that” was all we needed to move forward and I think in hindsight Jeremy and I thank Al for his great instincts and optimism.

A year later, as business partners, we form a small dedicated team working to launch what we hope will prove to be one of this year’s most innovative online resources, the Pictoscope Visual Discovery Service.

Interested? Take a look at what’s in store for you.

We’ve also created a Facebook page and Twitter account. Stay connected and uncover the past.