Spaces: Research Libraries

Terry Belanger will be speaking at Columbia University on Monday, March 24th 2008 on the topic of research libraries and teaching the history of the book. Since the title of his forthcoming presentation is "Noli me tangere," one would imagine that access restrictions are on his mind. Notable research collections focused on the history of books, printing, and related arts frequently have imposed handling and use restrictions in order to safeguard and preserve the scarce, the fragile and the rare. Pressing one's hands flat against the text block (as the Toledan cleric Francisco de Pisa does here) while posing long hours for a portraitist is generally not acceptable, unless you own the book. Using hand lotions, post-it notes, pens or markers is also offensive.

Some notable American collections for teaching the history of the early modern book are:

The Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC

The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA

The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, NY

The Daniel Berkeley Updike Collection, The Providence Public Library, Providence, RI

The John M. Wing Collection, The Newberry Library, Chicago, IL

[Pictured above: El Greco. Portrait of Dr. Francisco de Pisa. c. 1610-14. Kimball Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX]