'A Heavenly Craft': Exhibition Features Woodcut in Early Printed Books

摘要

The Library of Congress has organized a special exhibition of 84 rare books from its Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection that are illustrated with woodcuts from the late medieval and early Renaissance period. Titled "A Heavenly Craft: The Woodcut in Early Printed Books." The exhibition explores the development in technique, composition, perspective and coloration of the woodcut as it evolved in Western Europe through examples from German, Italian, French, Spanish and Netherlandish printers, designers and woodcutters. "A Heavenly Craft" was made possible by the generous support of Arthur Ortenberg and Elisabeth Claiborne, the Long Island Community Foundation-Krasnoff Family Fund, Fred Krimendahl and Emilia Saint-Amand, and Mr. and Mrs. Henry J. "Bud" Smith. The exhibition opened at the Grolier Club in New York City on Dec. 8, 2004, for a two-month run. The final venue for the exhibition is the Bridwell Library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. A digital version of the exhibition can be viewed on the Library of Congress Web site at www.loc.gov/exhibits/. On display near the Library's vellum copy of the Gutenberg Bible—one of three perfect copies on vellum in the world—a new exhibition titled "A Heavenly Craft: The Woodcut in Early Printed Books" allows visitors from around the world to experience the evolution of the woodcut during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. In the 1450s, German printer Johannes Gutenberg (ca. 1400-1468) perfected a standardized system for printing with movable metal type. His invention can be credited for a revolution in the production of books and fostering rapid development in the sciences, arts and religion through the timely transmission of texts.