[BKARTS] Exhibition announcement: Treasures of the John Wilson Special Collections

[CARMIN Jim <jimc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

One more time: this should be clearer...


"Treasures of the John Wilson Special Collections"

June 24-August 20, 2006

The John Wilson Special Collections is the repository of Multnomah County Library's rare books, manuscripts, photographs, prints, and other fine materials.  The library has been collecting important historical materials since it was founded in 1864.  The origins of the rare book collection began in earnest in 1899 with the bequest of 8000 books by local merchant John Wilson, including some of the finest antiquarian books still in the collection.  The collection has grown to 10,000 volumes, thanks largely to gifts from the community of books and funds devoted to maintaining the collection.

The exhibition will feature masterworks drawn from six core collections which includes some of the finest books ever published.  On exhibit will be The Birds of America (1827-38) by John James Audubon (a page will be turned daily); Pierre Joseph Redouté's Les roses (1817-24); Atlas Major (1662), by Joan Blaeu; Beatrix Potter's first book, A Happy Pair (1890), one of a dozen in public collections worldwide; original engravings and etchings by Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn; original early photographs of Portland by Carleton Watkins and Minor White; manuscripts from the 13th century; the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493) and other incunabula (books printed before 1501); William Morris's remarkable Kelmscott Press The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (1896); important early maps and documents of Oregon; original correspondence and important first editions by Charles Dickens and D. H. Lawrence; highlights of the Native American literature collection; innovative contemporary artist's books; and many more spectacular materials.


Opening Reception 
Saturday, June 24, 2:00-3:30 PM.

Please join us for the exhibition and refreshments, and comments by exhibition curator Jim Carmin, John Wilson Special Collections Librarian, and chamber music by members of Portland Baroque Orchestra: Susan Jensen, harpsichord; Victoria Gunn Pich; violin and Lori Presthus, violoncello.

Collins Gallery/ 3rd floor, Central Library/Multnomah County Library
801 S.W. 10th Ave. / Portland, Oregon


Collins Gallery Hours

Mon. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. / Tue. and Wed. 10 a.m-8 p.m./Thu.-Sat.  10 a.m.-6 p.m / Sun. noon-5 p.m.


ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMS


Lecture and Reading: Susan Power
U.S. Bank Room, Saturday July 8, 2006 2:00-3:30 PM 
Sponsored in part by the Spirit Mountain Community Fund of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde

SUSAN POWER is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. She is a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and the Iowa Writer's Workshop, and the recipient of many fellowships. Her first novel, The Grass Dancer, was published in 1994 and awarded the PEN/Hemingway Prize. Her story collection, Roofwalker, was published in 2002 by Milkweed Editions and awarded their National Fiction Prize. Her short fiction has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Paris Review, Ploughshares, Story, and The Best American Short Stories. She lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.



"The Book Lover's Road Show": Book Appraisals by Jack Walsdorf 
U.S. Bank Room, Saturday July 22, 2006 2:00-4:30

JACK WALSDORF was trained as a professional librarian and spent most of career as a bookseller.  He received his MLS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a BS in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.  He is the author of numerous books and essays, and is also one of Portland's most prolific and knowledgeable book collectors on all topics, with several specialties including the Kelmscott, Doves, Roycroft, Yellow Barn, and Prairie presses, and contemporary modern first editions.  Each audience member may bring two books for Mr. Walsdorf to appraise and he will discuss them with the audience along with the joys and pleasures of book collecting.



Lecture: Betty Bright
U.S. Bank Room, Saturday August 12, 2006 2:00-3:30 PM 

BETTY BRIGHT is an independent scholar, curator, and teacher. She received her Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Minnesota.  She is the author of an important critical work, No Longer Innocent: Book Art in America, 1960-1980 (Granary Books, 2005), the first history to trace the emergence of the artist's book in the U.S. during the 1960s and 1970s.  She co-founded the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, working there for nine years as Program Director, and curated more than fifty exhibitions.  She lives near Minneapolis, Minnesota.

For more information on the exhibition and programs, contact Jim Carmin at 503.988.6287 or jimc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx


   Jim Carmin
   John Wilson Special Collections Librarian
   Multnomah County Library
   Room 2M-C
   801 SW 10th Ave.
   Portland, OR 97205
   503-988-6287 (phone)
   503-988-5226 (fax)
   jimc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

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