May 15, 2001

Rare Volumes from Smithsonian Libraries' Collections On View at the Grolier Club in New York City

Voyages: A Smithsonian Libraries Exhibition turns the visitor into an explorer by opening the doors to the extraordinary collections of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Voyages opens at the Grolier Club in New York City on May 16, 2001 and continues through August 4, 2001.

On display are nearly 100 examples of lavishly illustrated books from the Smithsonian Libraries' 1.5-million-volume collection. Books representing over 500 years of printing are included in the exhibition. They range from invaluable works published before 1500, to contemporary artists' books produced at the end of the twentieth century.

The exhibition is organized in three parts:

"Journeys Over Land and Sea" contains reports of people, animals, plants, and unknown lands.

"Journeys of the Mind" deals with scientists, whose intellectual journeys organized information on the subjects of botany, zoology, chemistry and physics.

"Journeys of the Imagination" features the works of architects, designers, and artists.

Regarding the exhibition's theme of travel and exploration, Voyages curator Mary Augusta Thomas says, "Entering a library is always a voyage of discovery. Any researcher who embarks on a project enters into the unknown. From these studies, a sort of map is constructed, which others may follow."

Nancy E. Gwinn, Director of the Smithsonian Libraries, comments that, "This exhibition shows the critical role the Libraries plays in the Smithsonian museum community. Our collections correspond to and serve the many, far-reaching fields of study conducted within the Institution. We are very glad to be able to bring distinctive volumes from our collection to New York City and to an exceptional organization like the Grolier Club." Voyages illustrates the ways in which books and other writings are used every day by the scientist and curator, and why they form a vital part of the research and exhibition enterprises of the Smithsonian.

Exhibition highlights include:

Bernhard von Breydenbach's Peregrinatio in terram sanctam (1486), an account of the author's 1483 pilgrimage to the Holy Land Albrecht Dürer's Institutionum geometricarum (1535), dedicated to art and its relation to geometry Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia (1582), the most thorough geographical, biological, and cultural treatise known from the ancient world Robert Hooke's Micrographia (1665), a captivating and influential collection of plates by Hooke made during his studies with early microscopes Giuseppe Bibiena's Architetture, e prospettive (1740), a work containing engravings of the artist's spectacular theatrical designs Charles Darwin's On the Origin of the Species (1859), which sets out his theory of evolution by natural selection Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon (1874), which speculated on what the first space voyage would be like Neil Armstrong's First On the Moon (1970), a book about the author's landmark lunar stroll, autographed by Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin Qauqaua: a San folk story from Botswana told by Coex'ae Qgam (1996), a collaboration between The Artists' Press and nine Bushmen artists to preserve traditional stories and culture in a time of rapid change in South Africa

Voyages opens at the Grolier Club, located at 47 East 60th Street in New York City. The exhibition is free and open to the public Monday-Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm (closed May 28 and July 4). A brochure is available on site

In May 2002, Voyages will be on display for a full year in the Libraries Gallery in the National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.

A catalogue, entitled Voyages: A Smithsonian Libraries Exhibition will be available for sale beginning in late October 2001. It contains a foreword by Nancy E. Gwinn, Director of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, and an essay on the history of the Smithsonian Libraries' collections by Mary Augusta Thomas, the exhibition's curator and Assistant Director of Management and Technical Services Division of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Also featured is an essay entitled "Realms of Wonder" by Michael Dirda, Senior Editor for The Washington Post Book World, and an essay,"The Curator and the Book" by Storrs Olson, Curator and Senior Zoologist at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

The Voyages exhibition and its publications and programs were made possible by the generous support of UBS Warburg UBS PaineWebber. Additional contributions were made by The Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Morgan Stanley, and the 1999-2000 Smithsonian Institution Libraries Board (Rosemary Livingston Ripley, Chair).

The Smithsonian Libraries is a 22 branch system with online exhibitions, rare books, and information services online at www.sil.si.edu. The library catalog is at www.siris.si.edu. The Libraries serves the Smithsonian and the public with information and reference support. Its collections number 1.5 million volumes including 40,000 rare books, 2,000 manuscript groups, 180,000 microfilm and -fiche, and nearly 300,000 commercial trade catalogs dating back to the 1850s and representing over 30,000 companies.

Smithsonian museums on the National Mall are open 10:00 am to 5:30 pm daily (except December 25). Admission is free.

Note to media editors: Digital images are available on CD. Please call Public Information Officer (202)786-2875.

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