rare books
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives Opens “Nature of the Book”
Join us for a virtual tour on Tuesday, November 15th!
The Smithsonian Libraries and Archives presents a new exhibition, “Nature of the Book,” at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History November 11. “Nature of the Book” will be on display through March 17, 2024.
When Middle East Met West
The Smithsonian Libraries and Archives exhibition, Nature of the Book, looks at the natural materials and evolving techniques in bookbinding from 1450-1850 as illustrated by our collections.
California Rare Books School Comes to Smithsonian Libraries and Archives
Interested in exploring books and archives dating back to the 13th century? Join our summer rare book school!
In Search of the Perfect Blue
The color blue has had a long history in the Western world. The ever-changing role of blue has been used in bookbinding and the book arts to color manuscripts, maps, and scientific illustrations. Colorants used in inks, paints, and dyes have come from a variety of natural sources, including clays, gems, plants, and insects. Blue pigments were first made from imported minerals from Central Asia, eventually shifting to local resources within Europe.
Gather Out of Star-Dust
Gather out of Star-Dust: A Harlem Renaissance Album is a tribute to the Harlem Renaissance, a period of tremendous artistic and cultural achievement among African Americans in the 1920s and 1930s, with New York City's Harlem neighborhood at its epicenter. The book is also based on a current exhibit of the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of African American Arts and Letters in the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library of Yale University.
