The scholarly impact of the book is not reflected in its size.

Measuring 77 square inches and bound by wooden boards covered in blind-stamped leather, "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium" changed the way we view the universe. Written by Nicolaus Copernicus and published in 1543, the text first introduced the concept that the sun, not the Earth, is at the center of the universe.

"From this dates modern astronomy and a vast change in the theological and scientific view of the universe," says an inscription written inside by Andrew Dickson White, Cornell's first president.

This first edition of Copernicus' text is on display in the Hirshland Exhibition Gallery of the Carl A. Kroch Library. It is one of 70 items in an exhibition celebrating the collectors and donors who have helped build the rare book and manuscript collection of Cornell University Library.

On display through Sept. 23, "In the Founders' Footsteps: Builders of the Cornell University Library" features selections from the library's collection on American and European history, the history of science, women's suffrage, slavery in America, criminal justice and prison reform, food and wine, Russian fables and Victorian women authors.

Some of the exhibition's stellar items include a copy of the Gettysburg Address handwritten by Abraham Lincoln, a first-edition folio of Shakespeare's collected plays and E.B. White's first draft of "Charlotte's Web," with pencil sketches by the author of his heroine and the barn she called home.

"These materials are part of history and seeing them in person can provide insight into the past and show how previous generations perceived and interpreted text over time," said Katherine Reagan, the exhibition curator and the library's curator of rare books.

Adding new collections

The exhibition also contains a few surprises. The library has been using private endowments to build its collections in such areas as the history of games, sport and recreation, and popular fiction, according to the exhibition Web site.

"Some of these collecting areas are of fairly recent vintage," said Reagan. "Sometimes people are surprised to learn that paperbacks about American television shows are valuable research materials for today's scholars."

The exhibition is just a small sampling of the library's rare holdings, which number 300,000 rare books, 10 million manuscripts, one million photographs and hundreds of artifacts, according to Reagan.

The Copernicus book was part of White's extensive history of science collection. He became the library's founding collector when he donated his personal collection of more than 30,000 volumes in 1891.

White viewed libraries as essential to university scholarship and placed great value on the use of such original sources as Copernicus' text. He also established a tradition at Cornell of acquiring already assembled collections rather than simply expanding the library one title at a time, which explains why Cornell had the fifth largest academic library in the country only 25 years after opening its doors, according to David Corson, curator of the library's history of science collections.

A gift of gift annuals

The library's American Gift Annuals Collection, also included in the exhibition, is an example of the continuation of this tradition. Donated by Stephan Loewentheil '75 and his wife, Beth Farber '77, the collection contains hundreds of volumes of annuals that were primarily given as gifts among the middle and upper classes in the mid-19th century.

The books feature high-quality engravings by leading illustrators as well as poems, short stories and articles by Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Lydia Marie Child, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Their bindings are "among the finest commercial binding done in America in the 19th century," according to Loewentheil, who operates The 19th Century Shop, a rare books and manuscripts business in Baltimore.

Together, the "collection is better than the sum of its parts," he said. "This is a collection of American gift books, and it is a collection of American literature, art and engravings, and the trade and craft of bookbinding."

Loewentheil, who spent more than 10 years assembling the gift annuals collection about 25 years ago, said a collection this extensive would be difficult to compile today because volumes with bindings in good condition are rare, and the writings have since become recognized as significant.

He said he decided to give the collection to Cornell because he knew the books would be appreciated here and taken good care of under the stewardship of Reagan and Sarah A. Thomas, the Carl A. Kroch University.

Such repositories as Cornell offer collectors like Loewentheil the assurance that their collections are preserved for future generations, Reagan said.

"Cornell offers a state-of-the art secure and climate-controlled vault, nationally renowned preservation and conservation programs, digitization specialists who make information widely available online and an engaged community of faculty and students who make these collections the centerpiece of classroom instruction," she said.

For more about the exhibition, see http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/footsteps.

Chris Philipp is a staff writer and editor for Library Communications.