Browse Exhibits

The variety of tools, materials, equipment, and supplies (not to mention the knowledge, skills, training, and techniques) required for the preservation of U.Va. Library objects is impressive. Displayed here are a few of the tools found in Preservation Services in Alderman, the Audio and Film Labs in Clemons, and the Dell Conservation Lab.

In 1971 a farmer plowing a field at Flowerdew Hundred, on the James River, unearthed an unusual assemblage of stones. This touched off the first of many excavations at the property, opening a window into the world of 17th-century Virginia. Significant discoveries emerged, including a fort, a substantial manor home, and a palisaded Indian settlement. Additional finds have revealed much older stories--people started inhabiting this land over 10,000 years ago.

The archaeological investigations at Flowerdew Hundred have deepened our understanding of the past, revealing a narrative that incorporates the experiences of Virginia Indians, European settlers, and enslaved African Americans.

The story of Flowerdew Hundred is also the story of archaeology at work. Countless scholars, researchers, students, and curators have excavated and sifted through layers of dirt, carefully recorded their findings, consulted sources from many disciplines, and applied innovative technologies to interpret the past. As you enter the exhibition and the world of 17th-century Virginia, we invite you to engage in the process of archaeological discovery.

What do Americans read, and how have our reading tastes changed over the years?

Bestsellers explores American reading habits from the earliest works of popular fiction in the late 18th century to today's blockbusters. Chronicling the top-selling books reveals much about American culture over time—its preferences, preoccupations, and mores. The exhibition also considers the dramatic shifts in the way people buy, read, and own books in an increasingly digital world.

Bestsellers features rare and beautiful first editions from the University Library's Lillian Gary Taylor Collection of Popular American Fiction. Mrs. Taylor compiled a significant collection of bestselling novels and lovingly recorded details of each book in her collecting journals. Mrs. Taylor’s notebooks, authors’ manuscript materials, early bestseller lists, scripts and photos from film adaptations, and modern bestsellers complement the items from the Taylor Collection.

This exhibition is sponsored by the family of Robert Coleman Taylor and Lillian Gary Taylor.

University of Virginia Special Collections is home to the Sadleir-Black Collection, a comprehensive compilation of Gothic literature that forms the heart of Sublime Anxiety.

The gothic in general, and this exhibition in particular, explores the tension between what we most fear and what we most desire. Its extraordinary popularity today, 200 years after the publication of the first gothic novel, shows us that the concern with freedom and connection is as relevant as it has ever been.

In May 2000, the University of Virginia Library received 447 rare books, manuscripts, and maps from the estate of Paul Mellon. Celebrated as a philanthropist, art collector, and breeder of thoroughbred horses, Mellon was also a passionate book collector and amassed one of the greatest libraries of original documents of American history. Although Mellon was originally from Pittsburgh, he adopted Virginia as his home state and, through his bequest, ensured that items from his collection significant to Virginia history remained in the Commonwealth. Private Passions, Public Legacy is the first full-scale display of a collection that has been in private hands for over half a century.