Dr. Will Fenton speaks with Dr. Zara Anishanslin, associate professor of history and art history at the University of Delaware. A self-professed “historian with a thing for things,” Anishanslin specializes in eighteenth-century material culture. In this episode, Anishanslin discusses her first book, Portrait of a Woman in Silk: Hidden Histories of the British Atlantic World, which was recently awarded the Library Company’s first biennial book prize.

Fenton and Anishanslin began their conversation by examining several fabric swatches contained John F. Watson’s Annals of Philadelphia Extra-Illustrated Manuscript in the Print Department at the Library Company of Philadelphia.