Bibliotheque

Thursday morning, my Capstone class went to a special lecture in the Rare Book Room, hidden away in a mezzanine level at the Central Library. I found this room by myself once, about three years ago while doing research on the artist John Doyle (illustrator of many original Charles Dickens' works and contributor to the 19th century magazine "Puck"). This time, as my class walked into the cold, climate -controlled haven for book lovers, we were greeted by a Gutenberg Bible facsimile. It was quite impressive laying there on its foam stand, surrounded by awed students (who were probably not quite as used to looking at really old, famous books, or visiting libraries that hold actual copies of the Gutenberg Bible, as I).
Throughout the hour we were treated to a Commentary on the Psalms by St Augustine, the Digest of Justinian (dated to the 1470s), a 1473 manuscript of St Augustine's City of God, and a 1493 publication of the Nuremberg chronicles, complete with woodcut illustrations, some of which are likely to have been created by the publishers god son Albrecht Durer.
It was quite a fantastic start to an English and Art History major's birthday. The rest of the day kept up the pace, too, with hugs from friends, text messages, coffee with my sister (and free cookies from Costello's!), relaxing with Josh, dinner with the parents, and a movie with Mike and Lisa.
It was a lovely start to being 24.