As part of the renovations to the Ground Floor, my department requested the addition of new exhibit cases, ones that would have a vertical orientation to complement our already existing table cases. The architects certainly delivered, building in 14 new cases around the floor. We’re excited to be able to not only share materials from the collections again, but to do so across the floor to showcase a variety of materials and topics.
Our current exhibits on display during the month of September:
The Alchemy of the Kitchen: Food, Science, and History (cafe area, 6 cases): This exhibit explores the rich story of how cooking and science have always been intertwined and features historic cookbooks and early food science texts.
Coffee near information desk, 1 case): This exhibit celebrates the reopening of the 8:15 cafe by displaying an 1881 work on the history of coffee.
Data Storage & Transfer Methods of Yesteryear (near office suite, 1 case): Explore the history of data transmission from cuneiform to computer!
Artists’ Books (near Book Arts Studio, 1 case): This exhibit showcases some of the beautiful artists’ books from the Book Arts collection.
Walker Collection (near office suite, 2 cases): Celebrate back to school with materials from the Walker collection highlighting both the return to classes and exploring older forms of media transmission.
Yearbooks (near Information Desk, 1 case): The first and last yearbooks, along with a couple of mid-century artifacts, are on display; you can also explore all UR yearbooks online through the UR Scholarship Repository.
J.J. Lankes (next to press, 1 case): Celebrate the homecoming of the ca. 1845 Lankes Washington Hoe Press by exploring this exhibit on Lankes and his friendship with Robert Frost.
Civil War Sheet Music: (just outside the Galvin Rare Book Room, 2 cases) In partnership with University Museums, explore a sampling of Civil War sheet music from the collections. These and other examples are also available online in the digital collections area.
Les Misérables: (next to the booth seating, 1 case) Did you know there’s a Richmond connection to Les Misérables? Explore 2 different editions and learn about the “Richmond translation,” an edition held in the Galvin Rare Book Room collection.
We hope you enjoy our exhibits, and we’d love to hear your suggestions and ideas for upcoming exhibits.