The Department of Special Collections regularly presents thematic exhibits of materials from its holdings in the Special Collections Exhibit Room, 102 Hesburgh Library, and on our Web site. Please follow the links in the menu below for more information about our exhibits and exhibition schedule.

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Currently on Display

On July 5, 2011 a fifteenth-century Book of Hours (private prayer book) was auctioned by Sotheby’s in London. Lot 113 of their Western Manuscripts and Miniatures sale sold for a modest price to an anonymous buyer.

Lot 113 found its way to Germany, where it was cut apart so its leaves could be sold individually—a practice called book breaking. By October, numerous individual leaves from the manuscript were put up for auction on eBay in several countries by a dealer in Leipzig, Germany.

Because the purchase of individual leaves encourages book breaking, the Hesburgh Library does not usually buy single leaves. In significant cases, as with Breton manuscripts, exceptions are made—this is one of those cases!

This exhibit is curated by Dr. David T. Gura (Curator of Ancient and Medieval Manuscripts, Early Imprints & History of the Book).

The exhibit opening was celebrated February 28, 2013, in the Hesburgh Library Special Collections (Room 102, Concourse West).

4:30   Doors Open
5:00   Welcome by Diane Parr Walker, University Librarian
          Lecture by Dr. David T. Gura, Curator

A reception and exhibit viewing followed the lecture.

Download the event flyer (PDF) for information.

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Thursday, March 21 at 5:00 p.m.

Lecture: Ronald G. Suny, Charles Tilly Collegiate Professor of Social and Political History, University of Michigan

Niko Nikoladze (1843-1928) and the Emergence of Modern Georgia

Man of the 1860s, Niko Nikoladze rose from humble origins to become a major figure in the movement to reform the Russian Empire and modernize his native land, Georgia. He was a friend and associate of the great Russian political activist Alexander Herzen and over time gravitated from revolutionary activity to working within the tsarist system to improve the lives of his countrymen. Nikoladze became mayor of the Black Sea port of Poti, and in small ways he worked to develop that town. He survived into the Soviet period, and despite his not being a Marxist was even honored by the Soviet state. Nikoladze's extraordinary career and his contributions to the history of Georgia are explored by Professor Ronald Suny in a lecture tying this figure to the larger picture of the emergence of modern Georgia.

This lecture is offered in conjunction with a recent exhibit, “From St. Petersburg to Notre Dame: The Miraculous Journey of the Polievktov-Nikoladze Family Papers Through a Century of War and Revolution”, held at the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, University of Notre Dame Libraries, September 15 – December 18, 2012.

For information on other exhibits currently on display in the Hesburgh Libraries, please refer to the Libraries exhibits page.