A showcase of rare books from 5X社区's Special Collections Library titled "The Printed World: European Travel Writing in an Age of Global Encounters (1500-1850)" will take place on Friday, May 9 from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. in the 5X社区 Main Library, Read Special Collections Classroom, Room 1018, on the 10th floor. Snacks and Refreshments will be served.
The showcase is curated by undergraduate history majors Paul Boyle, Traci Hoffman, John Potwora, and Amy Vartenuk under the direction of Matthew J. Crawford, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History and Cara Gilgenbach, Director of the Special Collections Library. The showcase is part of an experiential learning component for an independent study, entitled "European Exploration, Expansion and Empire in the Early Modern World."
Included in the showcase is a one-time exhibit of travel accounts printed in Europe from the 16th century to the early 19th century; these travel accounts include descriptions of explorations and travel in Africa, the Americas, the Middle East, China and Russia. The curators will also provide a series of short presentations on the books in the exhibit and their historical significance.
Highlighted pieces include a late 16th century compilation of travel accounts edited by Richard Hakluyt (1552-1616), a major proponent of British exploration and colonization of the Americas; late eighteenth-century accounts of Captain James Cook's (1728-1779) voyages to the Pacific including images of Cook's interactions with native Hawaiians; and an early nineteenth-century edition of Mungo Park's (1771-1806) first-hand account of his explorations of the Niger River in Africa.