We have all been taught how to read books, but have we learned how to look at them closely? What can be gleaned from analyzing an original specimen of ancient papyrus, or by studying rubbings of a Chinese book engraved on stone, or by feeling the heft of a piece of beech once used in a European medieval bookbinding? "Building the Book from the Ancient World to the Present Day: Five Decades of Rare Book School & the Book Arts Press" examines how books have been produced throughout history and across various regions of the globe. Drawn from the unique collections of Rare Book School at the University of Virginia, the exhibition celebrates this international institute – founded by MacArthur Fellow Terry Belanger – that brings together leading curators, librarians, book historians, conservators, and collectors from around the world to teach and learn about books as physical objects.

Curated by Barbara Heritage (Associate Director & Curator of Collections, Rare Book School) and Ruth- Ellen St. Onge (Associate Curator & Special Collections Librarian, Rare Book School), the exhibition features more than 200 items that illustrate the changing form of the book over more than two millennia. Highlights include a papyrus fragment from 300 BCE; a Buddhist sūtra fragment from ninth- century Japan; an untrimmed illuminated medieval Book of Hours containing six original full-page paintings; a full eighteenth-century reindeer skin, tanned and diced for bookbinding, that was salvaged from a shipwreck; a deluxe miniature almanac concealed within a wooden case designed to resemble a Viennese bread roll; original woodblocks, printing plates, and lithographic stones; and digital devices, such as the Rocket E-Book, the first portable e-reader.

The full exhibition is also available to view online.

Image Credits: Detail from art deco binding made by C. Grandgeorge for Salammbô; Activity for RBS Online course “Descriptive Bibliography: The Fundamentals”; ex libris seal: Shoushan stone cut by Yu Weiguo; Megillat Ester MS scroll, Central Europe, ca. 1850; Detail from Ge’ez MS scroll, [Ethiopia], ca. 1950; RBS typesetting and printing demonstration; Detail from the cover of The Moss Rose, Hartford, CT, 1847; Rare Book School (RBS) papermaking demonstration; Diamond-Cutter Sutra MS. [Mongolia], ca. 1920. Photo by Will Kerner, 2022.