Education — Lenhardt Library

Stories from the Rare Book Collection

Rare books are living entities, windows into long-forgotten ideas, pursuits, and relationships. Join us as we explore intellectual paths that have long been hidden.

	Defining the Renaissance: Hagecius, Liberale, Mattioli, and Paracelsus Pietro Andrea Mattioli's (1500–77) Herbarz (1562) was one of the most significant editions of Mattioli's commentary on Dioscorides (circa A.D. 40–90). It was a reference herbal for Renaissance physicians. It is also one of scarcest herbals, with less than a handful of copies extant in North America. [CONTINUE READING]
	Mungo Park and the kindness of strangers Scottish physician and explorer Mungo Park (1771–1806) is best remembered for his plain-spoken descriptions of Africa at the end of the eighteenth century. [CONTINUE READING]
	Training library patrons to return what they've borrowed Hidden in the 181-year-old-pages of the weekly New England Farmer is a brief list of books in the library of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. [CONTINUE READING]
	Sebastien Vaillant, precursor to Linnaeus Sebastien Vaillant (1669–1722) was one of the most important scientists of his time in the early eighteenth century. He systematically described the flora of Paris and its environs, communicated with colleagues and students across Europe, and organized the King's garden in Paris. [CONTINUE READING]
	The importance of reproductions: Dioscorides's Codex Vindobonenis The most ponderous work in the rare book collection? Without a doubt, it is Dioscorides's Codex Vindobenis, released in 1905 by Leiden publisher Albertus Willem Sijthoff. This magnificent publication represents the first full-sized photographic reproduction of the most famous Byzantine manuscript of all time. [CONTINUE READING]
	Letters from an eighteenth-century traveler and a botanical inventory Imagine visiting the middle of the North American continent two hundred and fifty years ago. What would a visit to New Orleans be like? Who lived in Illinois? [CONTINUE READING]
	Redwoods, photography, and the birth of conservation On March 15, 1897, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society acquired for a mere $1.50 a little promotional book from a now-extinct bookstore at 56 Cornhill in Boston. Little did they know how invaluable their acquisition would become more than a century later. [CONTINUE READING]
	Hortus Eystettensis, Basilius Besler, gardens, and cabinets Once upon a time, long before football, baseball, basketball, and hockey, science was a sport, an intellectual adventure between collectors and their cabinets (imagine a miniature natural history museum in your rec room). Individuals would pursue exotic plants, animals, fossils, minerals, and archaeolotical artifacts to illustrate in a very tangible way their wealth and intelligence. [CONTINUE READING]
	Dr. Boerhaave "discovered" in Glencoe Rare books surprise you, appearing in the most unexpected places. Take the latest acquisition of the Lenhardt Library. It is entitled A Treatise on the Powers of Medicines, by the Late Learned Herman Boerhaave. Translated from the Most Correct Latin by John Martyn. This book was published in London in 1740. [CONTINUE READING]