Spring 2025 Special Collections Research Center Exhibition: “The Making of the Medieval Book”
Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center’s (SCRC) Spring 2025 exhibition, titled The Making of the Medieval Book, opens January 27, 2025 on the 6th floor of Bird Library. Curated by Irina Savinetskaya, Curator of Early to Pre-20th Century, the exhibition showcases SCRC’s collection of predominantly Western European medieval manuscripts from the 13th to the 16th centuries, alongside examples of bookmaking from Persia, Japan and Ethiopia. The exhibition also features early printed and modern books inspired by the medieval book.
Medieval manuscripts have long fascinated the public with their hand-painted illuminations and decorated bindings. Often viewed as esoteric, precious works of art, they can seem largely inaccessible to all but specialists. Much more than treasures to be gazed upon, medieval manuscripts are dynamic and unique objects that hold a variety of stories, including about the natural and animal worlds, trade, religious movements and the everyday lives of their makers and owners. By examining the ways, in which medieval books were made, used and reused by various individuals and communities, as well as their place in modern imagination and book design, the exhibition explores the long history of the making of the medieval book.
The exhibition opening reception of The Making of the Medieval Book is being held on Thursday, February 6 from 4:30 – 6:00p.m. on the 6th floor of Bird Library. Those interested in attending the reception can register using this link. Communication Access Realtime Translation will be provided at the reception. Those requiring other accommodations can email mlwagh@syr.edu by January 20.
About Special Collections Research Center and Syracuse University Libraries:
Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center collects, preserves and provides access to materials that document the history of Syracuse University and our global society, including rare printed material, original manuscripts, photographs, artworks, audio and moving image recordings, University records and more. Collection areas include activism and social reform, radicalism in the arts, architecture and industrial design, photography, the history of recorded sound and more. Located on the 6th floor of Bird Library, the SCRC is a vibrant research and learning environment for Syracuse University students, faculty and the broader scholarly community, providing access to world-renowned rare and archival collections and expert guidance in their use to facilitate personal discovery and the creation of new knowledge.