The Lewis Walpole Library

06/19/2026

Scott instructs the LWL bears on the finer points of croquet 😉🐻

Credit to

06/18/2026

The Lewis Walpole Library is closed in observance of Juneteenth.

Farmington has a long history of being home to abolitionists, and several houses were used to shelter the Mende and later as stops on the Underground Railroad.

06/18/2026

Happy ! Here's to enjoying a meal in the great outdoors.

Pic nic party disturbed by a swarm of bees
By Cruikshank, George, 1792-1878; Humphrey, G. (George), 1773-1831?
London : Pubd. June 1st 1826 by G. Humphrey 24 St. James's Street
aquatint with etching



https://search.library.yale.edu/catalog/9995469573408651

06/16/2026

"...to say truth, I have generally found that persons who had studied painting least, were the best judges of it..." Hogarth quoted by Walpole in a letter to Montagu 5 May 1761.



Gulielmus Hogarth.
Hogarth, William, 1697-1764, artist & printmaker
London, [1749]
Self-portrait after the painting in the Tate; the artist is portrayed as if on an oval canvas resting on a pile of books; in the foreground, his dog Trump, his burin, and palette. On the palette is engraved the title "The line of beauty."
Gift of Richard Greenberg

06/13/2026

It's the first weekend! Who will you be for?

⚽️

Foot ball.
Robt. Cruikshank fecit. ; engd. by Geo. Hunt.
Published by Chas. Hunt, 18, Tavistock Stt., Covt. Garden, [1825]

https://search.library.yale.edu/catalog/9996010343408651

06/13/2026

❤️🐻

06/12/2026

What a busy week it's been in . This we share with you a montage of videos showing visiting black bears enjoying the first that have dropped from the tree at the back of the LWL property.

The trail cam captured one in the back field on Sunday evening (first videos); then two smaller bears (was mama there, too? We didn't see her if she was) made that appearance Wednesday morning by the tree and wowed the staff, readers, and landscapers; and then the trail cam, now positioned under the mulberry tree, captured one foraging on dropped mulberries Thursday morning.



Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) deep

06/08/2026

All Yale libraries will be closed in recognition of Juneteenth, Friday, June 19
https://library.yale.edu/.../yale-library-will-be-closed...

In accordance with the university holiday schedule, all Yale libraries will be closed on Friday, June 19, 2026, in celebration of Juneteenth.

06/05/2026

Special bonus edition of .

We just had to share this early morning video of two wily coyotes trotting around the back of the library property.

Yale University Library

06/05/2026

Happy from Farmington! We feel so fortunate to be situated on a campus with open fields, woods, and adjacent to a small river.

Scott took this photo of a chipping sparrow fledgling hanging out by the terrace. He commented that it looks as if it might have left the nest slightly early, but he noted the parents are still feeding it. We all hope it will make it.

(We especially like the little tufts of fluffy baby feathers sticking up from its head.)




Yale University Library