Special Collections at the University of Michigan, 9.17.26
Presentation by Pablo Alvarez, PhD, Curator and Outreach Librarian,
Special Collections Research Center, UNiversity of Michigan, Hatcher Library
The Book Club of Detroit is indebted to Dr. Alvarez for welcoming us to the Hatcher Library and sharing examples of the University’s incredible rare book collection, which focuses on manuscripts and early printed books up to the year 1700.
Dr. Alvarez noted that the books on exhibit were printed manually with a focus on the humanities, and referred to an incunabula — books, pamphlets, or broadsides printed in Europe using moveable metal type during the infancy of the printing press, from the mid-1450s to Dec. 31, 1500.
An exquisite example from the University’s collection. Dr. Alvarez noted that the Hatcher Library has the largest collection of Greek and Latin manuscripts in the United States. The library also has an outstanding collection of the history of medicine. We viewed manuscripts from the year 1543, with detailed illustrations of medical dissection. Dr. Alvarez commented that dissections were performed in public and became something of a spectator sport!
Afterwards, Dr. Alvarez joined BCD members for lunch at Sava’s in Ann Arbor. Good food and good company.