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Stories from the Library: Damaged Goods

Exhibitions
A large ink stain covers handwriting on one page of an open journal.

Sat., June 27, 2026–Mon., Nov. 30, 2026

Huntington Art Gallery, Large Library

Reserve Tickets
See how damaged objects, visible mistakes, and other imperfections reveal how physical traces can make library materials more compelling, beautiful, and revealing.

Featured objects include an ink-stained draft of Benjamin Franklin’s manuscript of his autobiography, an Edo-period arithmetic guide whose pages were bored through by bookworms, and a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, made weeks before his assassination, showing cracks formed by thermal pressure.

“Damaged Goods,” on view in the Large Library on the Huntington Art Gallery’s first floor, brings together collection materials marked by natural processes, human error, and intentional acts of censorship. 

A large ink stain covers handwriting on one page of an open journal.
A daguerreotype of a woman sitting on a chair with her face is blurred out by a smear on the plate.
Fading paint on a portrait of people on horses holding a hat in a hand while dogs follow.
A black-and-white image of photographer Alexander Gardner’s “cracked-plate” portrait of Abraham Lincoln, made weeks before Lincoln’s assassination, shows how a glass plate negative likely broke under thermal stress.
A book opened to text on the left page and illustrations of birds on the other.
A book from 1300 open to pages with elaborate lettering and colorful shields in the margins.
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Benjamin Franklin, Draft of The Life of Benjamin Franklin written by himself, 1771-1789. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

Unidentified photographer, Woman seated in chair, ca. 1845. Daguerreotype. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

Cecil (Cornelius Tongue), Records of the Chase and Memoirs of Celebrated Sportsmen, after 1877. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

 Alexander Gardner, Portrait of Abraham Lincoln, 1821–1882. Gelatin silver print. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

 Alexander Wilson, American Ornithology, 1808. Illustrated with plates, engraved and colored from original drawings taken from nature. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

Book of Hours, ca. 1300. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

About Stories from the Library 

The “Stories from the Library” exhibition series celebrates The Huntington’s world-class Library collections by presenting rare archival materials through new and unexpected thematic lenses.  

Future iterations will explore such topics as early science and medicine, international relations, and reflections on mortality. The series will continue through 2029, coinciding with the transformation of The Huntington’s Library/Art Building. 

Generous support for the Stories from the Library exhibition series is provided by the Robert F. Erburu Exhibition Endowment. Additional support is provided by The Neilan Foundation, the Steinmetz Foundation, Laura and Carlton Seaver, and the John Brockway Huntington Foundation. 

More Stories from the Library

About the Series
A book opened to two drawings of a moon on the left and text on the right.
Exhibitions

Stories from the Library: The Mirror of the Moon

June 27, 2026–Nov. 30, 2026

Stories From The Library