University Library hosts exhibition 'Five Hundred Years Ago in Printing'

12:58 p.m., Jan. 12, 2015--The University of Delaware Library has announced the opening of a new exhibition, “Five Hundred Years Ago in Printing,” which will be on display from Tuesday, Jan. 13, through Friday, March 20, in the Information Room on the first floor of the Morris Library.

Following the introduction of the printing press in 1455, printing spread across Europe over the course of the 15th century, with most major centers of printing developing in the same cities that served as centers for trade and commerce. 

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While the earliest printed books had been designed to imitate the manuscript books that had preceded them, the printed book gradually evolved into a distinctly different technology and art form. 

By 1515 the printed book was a well-established commercial product, with a sizeable industry behind it. 

The books on display will show a sampling of the variety of works that were available in print 500 years ago. Items on display in the exhibition will include important early printings of works by Dante, Albertus Magnus and Trithemius, as well as work by important early European printers such asAldus Manutius.

“Five Hundred Years Ago in Printing” was curated by Alexander C. Johnston, senior assistant librarian, Special Collections Department, with exhibition preparation by Anita Wellner, library assistant III, Manuscripts and Archives Department, and Timothy English, library assistant III, Special Collections Department.

The exhibition will be available online.

Holdings of the Special Collections Department of the University of Delaware Library include books, manuscripts, maps, prints, photographs, broadsides, periodicals, pamphlets, ephemera and realia from the 15th to the 21st century. The collections complement the library's general collections with particular strengths in the subject areas of the arts; English, Irish and American literature; history and Delawareana; horticulture; and history of science and technology.