LIBRARY NOTES
Library Excursion: Columbia University
Thursday, November 21, 1996 at 11:00 AM
Columbia University; $35 per person
Tower of Learning from
Gregor Reisch's Margarita Philosophica
(Freiburg, Germany, Johann Schott, 1503)
This woodcut shows a young scholar being shown into the Tower of Learning.
The hornbook in his guide's hand is the first tool of education. Then he goes through the doors of Grammar, and up the stairs through the various types of study, culminating in theology, at the top of the tower, personified by Peter Lombard.
The
Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University, at 535 West 114th Street, houses 500,000 rare books and 28,000,000 original papers, letters and documents. Its collections also include maps, paintings, drawings, and mathematical instruments. Among the many strengths of this library are: English and American history and literature; Greek and Latin classical authors; publishing; economics, business, and banking; and New York City politics. We will tour the library and view some of its particular treasures.
The Burke Library of Union Theological Seminary, at 600 West 122nd Street, contains a wide range of materials including papyri of the first century CE, manuscripts from the Middle Ages, early printed books from the Reformation, and slave narratives and hymnals of the African-American community. We will view the library and an exhibition, "Bible of the Reformation/Reformation of the Bible."
This excursion will involve walking approximately six blocks from Columbia to lunch at the rooftop
Terrace Restaurant, 400 West 119th Street, and afterwards, walking about five blocks to the Burke Library.
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