Exhibitions related to Books and Libraries

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A Jules Verne Centennial- 1905 - 2005

A Jules Verne Centennial: 1905 - 2005


The Smithsonian Institution Libraries is fortunate to have a few early editions of Verne's works with the original engraved illustrations which made his works so popular.

An Odyssey in Print- Adventures in the Smithsonian Libraries

An Odyssey in Print: Adventures in the Smithsonian Libraries


Throughout time, explorers have drawn readers to faraway places through stories and songs, maps and drawings, manuscripts and books. Their intriguing accounts of the new and unknown have brought the world closer to those left at home.

Photo of a page of an artists book depicting a stylized drawing of people, animals, and flowers.

Artists' Books and Africa


Since artists’ books are not normally associated with African art, our goal in this exhibition is to introduce the genre and survey its “African” manifestations. Opens September 16, 2015 at the National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC.

Celebrity Caricature- Selections from the Smithsonian Institution Libraries

Celebrity Caricature: Selections from the Smithsonian Institution Libraries


In the late 1990's the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery Library (AA/PG Library) made a special effort to collect materials on caricature and cartoon in conjunction with the National Portrait Gallery's 1998 exhibition "Celebrity Caricature in America", curated by Wendy Wick Reaves.

Czech Book Covers of the 1920's and 1930's in the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Library

Czech Book Covers of the 1920's and 1930's in the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Library


During the period between the two World Wars, the Czechoslovak Republic was an important and prolific center for avant-garde book design. Signed, limited editions showcased experimental design techniques, high-quality materials, and specially commissioned graphics. Book design for the general public, although mass-produced and much more affordable, was similarly innovative and attentive to questions of design.

Drawing from Life- Caricatures and Cartoons from the American Art Portrait Gallery Collection

Drawing from Life: Caricatures and Cartoons from the American Art / Portrait Gallery Collection


The Smithsonian Institution Libraries has a substantial collection of cartoon and caricature books, including rare and special collections titles which date from 1800. Numbering over 600 volumes, this growing collection has a strong focus on works by American artists - the oldest dating to the Civil War period.

Hull of a wooden ship being carried by one large balloon and many smaller balloons filled with people on the deck and dressed in 19th formal clothing.

Fantastic Worlds


Travel with us to the surface of the moon, the center of the earth, and the depths of the ocean — to the fantastic worlds of fiction inspired by 19th-century discovery and invention. Now open at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

Fold, Pull, Pop and Turn

Fold, Pull, Pop and Turn


Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop, Turn presents more than 50 examples of action-packed constructions and inspired works of art spanning 500 years. We hope exhibition visitors will experience these rarely seen treasures as their creators intended—as remarkable works that calculate, educate, entertain, and amaze.

From Smithson to Smithsonian- The Birth of an Institution

From Smithson to Smithsonian: The Birth of an Institution


This exhibition highlights the life of James Smithson, the English scientist who bequeathed his fortune to the United States to establish an institution "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge." The exhibition tells of the retrieval of the bequest from Great Britain, and describes the controversy this bequest provoked in the United States, up until the 1846 founding of the Smithsonian Institution.

Pamphlets, a schedule, and flyer for the Woodstock Festival in 1963

Igniting Artistic Consciousness


The AA/PG Library received the donation of ephemera for more than 3,000 artists from the Art Students League of New York (ASL) in January 2017. The exhibition will be on view in the AA/PG Library Reading Room from August-December, 2017.

Incunabula in the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology

Incunabula in the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology


Picturing Words- The Power of Book Illustration

Picturing Words: The Power of Book Illustration


Andreas Vesalius, an early physician and progressive scientist, wrote the book "De Humani Corporis Fabrica" (1543) with illustrations of the human body showing muscles pulled back to see what was underneath. The illustrations of Vesalius changed the way people looked at the human form and helped develop modern medicine. Through historic illustrations in books randing from children's alphabet books to medical texts we can see what inspires and drives graphic art.

Science and the Artist's Book

Science and the Artist's Book


Science and the Artist's Book takes its inspiration from the Heralds of Science (1955; rev. ed. 1980), Bern Dibner's bibliography of 200 landmark works in the history of science and technology.

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Smithsonian Libraries Artists' Books

The Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio

The Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio


llustrations of the nests and eggs of birds of Ohio was published in the small town of Circleville, Ohio, over a period of eight years (from 1879 to 1886) through the dedicated efforts of the family and friends of a young woman named Genevieve Jones. Despite being produced not just by amateurs but largely by women, far from the publishing houses and intellectual centers of 19th-century America, the book was hailed as an extraordinary achievement from the moment its first few plates were published.

Voyages- A Smithsonian Libraries Exhibition

Voyages: A Smithsonian Libraries Exhibition


Voyages of discovery can be of many kinds: a physical journey to an unknown place, a mental exploration of new or familiar territory, or a wholly new episode of creative thought. All three are explored in Voyages, an exhibition spanning five centuries of rare books, manuscripts, art, and artifacts from the Smithsonian Institution Libraries.

Whales- From Bone to Book

Whales: From Bone to Book


The Smithsonian Libraries opened its new exhibition "Whales: From Bone to Book" in the National Museum of Natural History on May 25, 2013. This exhibition is a joint production of the Libraries and the Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History. "Bone to Book" will be on display on the ground floor through April 2014.

Wonder Bound

Wonder Bound


Why are centuries-old natural history books vital to scientific research? Our scientists consult early printed materials to compare historical descriptions with modern specimens. These researchers use the rare book collection of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries' new Joseph F. Cullman, 3rd, Library of Natural History.

Your Smithsonian Libraries

Your Smithsonian Libraries


Did you know the Smithsonian has a library? Actually, the Smithsonian has 20 libraries combined into one system and supported by an online catalog of the combined collections of: Over 1.5 million books, 50,000 rare books, 10,000 historic manuscript and over 2,000 electronic journal titles