Inscribed Illuminations and Inspirations: Manuscripts at Bridwell Library:
August 8, 2016 – December 16, 2016 in The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Surveying the wide range of manuscripts in Bridwell Library Special Collections representing the Christian, Judaic, and Islamic traditions, this exhibition includes items produced between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries in numerous locations throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The array of texts, languages, letterforms, illuminations, and illustrations provides evidence of both known and unrecorded scribes, artists, readers, and owners as well as insights into the cultural, historical, bibliographical, and aesthetic contexts in which these manuscripts were created.
These works both complement and supplement printed holdings in significant collecting areas for Bridwell Library including scripture and worship, devotion, theology and church history, and religious instruction and study. Focusing on these genres, Bridwell Library continues to build a diverse and instructive collection of manuscripts, many of which demonstrate how handwritten books and documents remained essential facets of religious and intellectual life following the introduction of printing in Europe in the mid-fifteenth century.
http://www.smu.edu/Bridwell/SpecialCollectionsandArchives/Exhibitions/Manuscripts
Engraved Throughout
August 15, 2016 – December 9, 2016 in the Bridwell Library Entry Hall
This exhibition explores religious works printed entirely with copperplates: the volumes were engraved throughout. These pages could be presented side-by-side, as in prayer books and guides to the mass. Alternatively each plate would be viewed individually, often as one print in a series. Such suites of plates proved conducive for illustrating narrative accounts including biblical episodes and the biographies of religious figures. Created with various intentions, the exhibited volumes published in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries provided an appealing and engaging format for instruction, documentation, worship, and devotion.
http://www.smu.edu/Bridwell/SpecialCollectionsandArchives/Exhibitions/Engraved
