Wednesday, Feb. 12: Spring Exhibits Open House!

Come out to an open house for our new exhibits in the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center this Wednesday, February 12, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.:

Noted and Notable: Treasures of the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center

and

‘Böcker Har Sina Öden’ (Books Have Their Destinies): Treasures of the Swedish Law Collection at the Riesenfeld Center

Open House: Wednesday, February 12, 2020
                         12 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
                         Riesenfeld Rare Books Center (N30, Sub-plaza)

                         Cookies, snacks and refreshments served.

What makes a rare book valuable?  What makes it into a treasure?  Two new exhibits featuring treasures from the Riesenfeld Center and treasures from the Center's rare Swedish law collection explore these questions.

The history of books is not only a history of more and less significant texts, or even more and less valuable editions. It is also a history of printers and engravers, of book binders and former owners, who have shaped the book as a historical object that is worthy of study. These individuals have left their marks on books, over time adding to and even changing our understanding of the texts themselves. It is no surprise, then, that the unique physical forms in which we find these texts can make individual copies into significant and singular treasures.

The Riesenfeld Center's current exhibits feature treasures that are made so by individual owners and their annotations, by beautiful illustrations, bindings and other physical features that make this material unique and valuable.

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections