‘First Fridays @ Becker’ series offers quick views of fascinating items

A new monthly event dubbed “First Fridays @ Becker” will kick off on Friday, October 5, 2018 in the Glaser Gallery on the library’s 7th floor. All are welcome to stop by anytime (open house-style) between 2 and 4 p.m. on the first Friday of the month and enjoy light refreshments and an informal show-and-tell on themed picks from the collections.

The theme for the inaugural First Fridays @ Becker event on October 5 is “Skeletons, Cadavers and Mummies, Oh My!” and will feature artwork from the library’s Louis Crusius collection. Although Crusius was both a pharmacist (1882 graduate of the St. Louis College of Pharmacy) and a physician (1890 graduate of the St. Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons), he is best known for his colorful, humorous and ghoulish works of art. The Archives and Rare Books staff will show off samples of his more than 150 macabre drawings, such as those pictured below.