The Silk Road – the term coined in the 19th century for the network of Central Asian trade routes that flourished between roughly 200 B.C.E. and 1400 C.E. – today conjures up images of camel caravans carrying exotic luxury goods like silks, spices, porcelain, and perfumes. But the most important trade good on the Silk... Continue reading “Paper Trails on the Silk Road” ›
Just in time for Halloween, Special Collections has gone Goth! A new exhibit, Deep Into That Darkness Peering: Gothic Literature from the ZSR Rare Books Collection, opened this week in the Special Collections & Archives Reading Room (ZSR room 625). Many items from ZSR’s collection of 18th and 19th century gothic literature are on view,... Continue reading “Tales of Terror! Gothic fiction on exhibit in Special Collections” ›
A new exhibit from Asolare Art Foundation is now in the cases at the ZSR Library entrance. Sally Billman studied photography 35 years after college. My primary purpose in microphotography is to express beauty. The inspirations to photograph come solely from my relationships with people, animals, and nature. My art is a spontaneous outflow when... Continue reading “Sally Billman Photography Exhibit” ›
The invention of a practical method for printing with moveable type was a watershed event in European history. From Johannes Gutenberg’s first metal types in the mid-15th century to letterpress printing of today, printers and type designers have practiced their craft to create texts that are both legible and beautiful. Letters in Lead, the current... Continue reading “Letters in Lead: Moveable Type and the Books It Created” ›