Browse Exhibits (5 total)
Manuscript and Print in the 15th Century
The Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection includes the Liber Chronicarum, or the Nuremberg Chronicle, written by Hartman Schedel and printed by Anton Koeberger in Nuremberg, 1493. This exhibit highlights our hand-coloured Nuremberg Chronicle and two other 15th-century works in the collection: William Caxton's Polycronicon (1482) and a letter from Edward IV to Maximilian, Duke of Austria and Burgundy regarding a case of piracy against English subjects sent in 1479. Together these pieces present a window into manuscript and print culture in the 15th century.
James Cole's 18th-century Canterbury Cathedral Engravings
This 3D model was created for the Digital Humanities Assistantship at the W.D. Jordan Rare Books and Special Collections Library. This position was held by Abigail Berry, a fourth year art history and mathematics student at Queen's University. The model is of Canterbury Cathedral and is based on John Dart's book, The history and antiquities of the cathedral church of Canterbury. Within this book there are hundreds of engravings that were created by James Cole. The engravings show the exterior of the cathedral, the interior of the cathedral, and the elaborate tombs of royalty and bishops.
The model was created in order to show James Cole's engravings in a fun and educational manner. Each tomb in the model provides information about the creation of the tomb and the person who commissioned it. You can zoom into the tombs and see James Cole's engravings in detail. The tombs are placed where they would have been located in the cathedral. The goal of this project was to create an exciting model of John Dart's book and to digitize the engravings.
Abigail Berry held an undergraduate student summer fellowship in England during the summer of 2017. During her time in England, she visited Canterbury Cathedral and found the cathedral enchanting. Abigail was surprised with the accuracy of James Cole's engravings of the cathedral. She knew that she had to digitize the book and make the engravings available to the public.
To see the model and the engravings, please click on the tabs on the right of this page.
History 400/802: The British Discover their Past
In the Winter 2017 term, Queen's Principal, Dr. Daniel Woolf taught a combined undergraduate and graduate course, Topics in British History: The British Discover their Past , 1475-1730. The course examined the development of historical writing, political theory, natural philosophy, and antiquarianism in England. As part of their final papers, students were required to use primary materials available in W.D. Jordan Rare Books and Special Collections. Students consulted works from both our Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection and general rare book collection. They spent several hours in our reading room researching with their books. This exhibit showcases the material they examined and brief remarks on how it aided their research. To begin your tour please select one of the boxes on the right.
For more from Dr. Woolf on teaching the course, you may read his article in University Affairs published July 24, 2017.
William Caxton and his Successors
The Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection now includes a work produced by England's first printer, William Caxton. This small exhibit highlights Caxton's Polycronicon (1482) and two other early printed works in the collection: St. Albans Chronicle printed by Wynkyn de Worde (1515) and Polycronycon printed by Peter Treveris (1527).
Introducing the Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection
Our first exhibition of the Schulich-Woolf Rare Book Collection is an introduction to the wealth and breadth of materials available. The items on display are arranged topically by Travel and Exploration, Europe and the Middle East, Ancient History and Antiquities, English History and Chronicles, and English Topography and Antiquities. These are only some ways of dividing up the riches in the Schulich-Woolf Collection, and we hope our introduction whets your appetite to delve more deeply into its holdings. You will see chronologies, genealogies, biographies, books in Latin or non-English vernaculars, ecclesiastical histories, maps, and so on. Within each group, you will also see elements that relate more broadly to the history of publishing, illustration, and the book arts as represented in the collection. The Schulich-Woolf Collection includes many more examples of all these kinds of books, and some aspects of the Collection which definitely warrant attention are only hinted at: we hope this inspires you to further delve into the Collection by exploring the other items on this site.
This virtual exhibit mirrors and enhances our physical exhibit which opens November 23, 2016.
Featured Exhibit
James Cole's 18th-century Canterbury Cathedral Engravings
This 3D model was created for the Digital Humanities Assistantship at the W.D. Jordan Rare Books and Special Collections Library....