Kroch exhibit tracing the evolution of the medieval book opens today

Cornell University Library's fall exhibition "From Manuscript to Print" opens today, Oct. 31, in the Carl A. Kroch Library. In celebration of the exhibition and the 10th anniversary of the Kroch Library -- which houses the library's extensive rare book and manuscript collections -- a reception will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The exhibition gallery is open Monday-Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 to 5 p.m.

The Lombard Gradual, a Latin manuscript on vellum from northern Italy, ca. 1450. Graduals are large books from which choirs of monks or nuns chanted prayers and portions of the Mass. Lines of music and text alternate on the pages, which are embellished with illustrations depicting the lives of saints or stories from the Bible. Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections

Among the many innovations that transformed Europe in the Middle Ages, perhaps none was more central than the metamorphosis of the written word. The evolution of writing in this period reached a dramatic climax in the 1450s, when Johannes Gutenberg invented moveable metal type and, in doing so, revolutionized human communication. "From Manuscript to Print" traces the history of the medieval book, including its appearance, content, audiences and forms, from the 12th to the 15th centuries. Drawn from the holdings of Cornell's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, the exhibition presents a rich variety of medieval manuscripts and printed books, from early religious manuscripts and magnificently illuminated prayer books to secular works of classical antiquity and the first books printed from metal type.

When the world of the Roman empire disintegrated, it was the centrality of the scared word, fostered by the Christian Church, that preserved the culture of writing in the West. Most of the books produced during the Middle Ages were copies of religious texts, laboriously written out by scribes in Christian monasteries. Often embellished with gold and painstaking works of art, these books vividly embody the respect that the sacred word commanded in medieval Europe. But the Christian concern with writing also served to preserve the profane texts of classical antiquity.

The rise of Western universities from the 11th century onward stimulated the market for a growing number of secular texts, a development that led to greater diversity in writing styles and a proliferation of books. When printing came on the scene in the 1450s, early printers closely imitated the look of medieval manuscripts, modeling their letterforms and page layouts after those of professional scribes. It took the rise of Italian humanism, with its revival of roman letterforms and its emphasis on scholarly presentation of classical knowledge, to transform the book into the modern format we know today.

Medieval books were among Cornell University Library's earliest acquisitions. Cornell's first president, Andrew Dickson White, and his librarian, George Lincoln Burr, personally selected these books on buying expeditions in Europe. The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to view some of the library's oldest treasures and to chart the diverse forms of the written word in medieval Europe.

"From Manuscript to Print" is made possible by support from the Arnold B. ('44) and Gloria Tofias Fund and the Robison Fund in memory of Doris B. Robison and Ellis H. Robison '18. An online version of the exhibition will be available at http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/exhibits/exhibits.htm . For more information, contact Katherine Reagan, curator of rare books, at 255-3530 or e-mail kr33@cornell.edu.