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Luke Carroll returns to share about another item featured in our Gallery, this time a letter from Clinton Charles Beatty (Class of 1775) to Enoch Green (Class of 1760).
Visit "Nursery of Rebellion: Princeton and the American Revolution" https://library.princeton.edu/princetonandtherevolution
In the 19th century, chromolithographs were used to make multi-color prints by carefully layering one color at a time. Separate plates are used for each color and carefully aligned, all for one impressive final print.
Scribner's Magazine became highly regarded for its color illustrations, and Special Collections has progressive proofs for one of its cover designs!
To demonstrate the layering process, staff in our Digital Studio created a GIF that shows each color layer in sequence, building up to the final print.
What's your favorite item in our latest exhibition? History senior Luke Carroll takes a look at "The Apotheosis of George Washington" (Circa 1785).
"Nursery of Rebellion: Princeton and the American Revolution" runs through July 12, 2026, in the Milberg Gallery at Firestone Library.
04/22/2026
In the summer of 1787, 55 delegates gathered to fix the nation’s troubled structures of government. Charged with revising the Articles of Confederation, the 1787 Convention—which included nine Princeton graduates—instead designed a new national government from scratch, one strong enough to pay its debts and act on the world stage. Supporters argued that these reforms were necessary to preserve the republic, for wartime experience had made Congress’s failures painfully clear. But many others thought the Convention had betrayed the principles of the Declaration, replicating the kind of tyrannical state that patriots had fought eight long years to escape.
As contemporaries knew, the proposed Constitution was fragile and imperfect. Crucially, though, it included a process for future improvement. After vigorous debate, the Constitution was ratified in part because federalists promised to address skeptics’ concerns through a series of amendments protecting individual liberties. Now called the Bill of Rights, each of these first ten amendments carries its own legacy of colonial resistance and the trials of war.
This official edition of the US Constitution – one of 14 copies known to survive – is on display as part of Nursery of Rebellion: Princeton and the American Revolution," which is open now in the Milberg Gallery at Firestone Library. https://library.princeton.edu/princetonandtherevolution
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