We are pleased to invite you to a reception to celebrate a new exhibit at the Special Collections Library: "Through the Magnifying Glass: A Short History of the Microscope." Please join the exhibit curators, Pablo Alvarez and Gregg Sobocinski, to chat about this exciting display. There will be coffee, other refreshments, and plenty of old specimens to admire. Date: April 24 (Friday) 3:00 pm -5:00 pm. Place: Seventh floor of the Hatcher Library.
Exhibit poster based on the engraving of a flea from Robert Hooke's Micrographia: Or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses with Observations and Inquiries Thereupon. London: John Martin & James Allestry, 1665
This exhibit showcases a selection of books from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that contain extraordinary illustrations of animals and plants as they were originally seen through the lenses of early microscopes.
Our display also includes three eighteenth-century microscopes, one of which, the Culpeper-style English model, came to us with nine antique specimen slides. Guest curator Gregg Sobocinski has brought these historical slides to new life by capturing images with a modern microscope. These are displayed on the wall cases located on the right side of the exhibit area. Additionally visitors of this exhibit have the opportunity to view actual organic specimens by using the microscope located in the exhibit room. Both the books and the historical microscopes are part of the Special Collections Library.