Libraries
Rare record: Acetate discs from the Robinso collection [Les Todd]

Keeping Up With the Robinsons

Writer: 

In its heyday in the late 1930s, the soapy radio serial The American Family Robinson aired on more than 300 U.S. radio stations. But as listeners followed the travails of Luke Robinson, a small-town newspaper editor, and his eccentric family, they were getting a heavy dose of political propaganda. Created in 1934 by the National Industrial Council—a front for the powerful National Association of Manufacturers—the program interlaced its plot with frequent screeds against New Deal policies and praise for unfettered capitalism.

The price of popularity:

The Pickwick Papers at Rubenstein

Writer: 

Charles Dickens’ first novel, commonly called The Pickwick Papers (1836-37), sent the memorable characters Samuel Pickwick and Sam Weller on a series of comic adventures through picturesque England. The book—a first edition of which is held in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library—also launched Dickens into prominence. The author, whose 200th birthday will be celebrated this year, became the publishing phenomenon of the Victorian age. His novels crossed boundaries of class, gender, and race to become worldwide favorites.

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