Join us at an open house for all ages. Celebrate the opening of the Bibliomania exhibition and check out the oldest, largest, smallest, and weirdest volumes in the Athenæum’s collection! Learn how the library acquires and cares for its 180,000 volumes, and try your hand at making your own book with a craft from the Children’s Library. Drop-in for tours, craft projects, nibbles, and printing demonstrations from DWRI Letterpress.
Curator-led exhibit tours will be offered at 1:30 and 2:30pm, and a building tour will be held at 2pm.
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Bibliomania: Book Arts at the Providence Athenæum explores the library’s extensive and beautiful collections through the lens of frequently asked questions. Rarely seen treasures will be on view, ranging from illuminated medieval manuscripts to extraordinary contemporary bindings. Highlights include the Athenæum’s oldest, largest, smallest, and weirdest volumes, as well as works by Johann Gutenberg, William Morris, the Roycroft Press and the magnificent complete 25-volume set of the Description de l’Egypte. Visitors will get a glimpse of these remarkable books, while learning how the library acquires and cares for its collections.The exhibition is dedicated to the memories of two extraordinary bibliophiles and friends of the library, Dan Siegel and Isabelle Pingree.
