Browse Exhibits (72 total)
The First Four Centuries of Printed Bible Illustration
Originally exhibited January 28–May 18, 2013
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Introduction
This exhibition of fifty Bibles from Bridwell Library’s Special Collections examines the historical context, artistic development, and cultural impact of the use of illustration in printed editions of the scriptures. Beginning with the pictorial woodcut initials of fifteenth-century German Bibles, highlights of the exhibition include vernacular Bible translations of the Reformation period that used striking and sometimes controversial imagery to enhance their impact, outstanding engraved Bible illustrations from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and examples of illustrated editions from nineteenth-century America.
The First Helen Warren DeGolyer Competition for American Bookbinding 1997
Bridwell Library’s triennial bookbinding competition is named for Helen Warren DeGolyer (1926–1995), a well-known supporter of the arts and education in Dallas, as well as a skilled devotee of design bookbinding. Following her testamentary wishes, her brother, Joseph Warren, and her children, Everett Lee DeGolyer and Edith DeGolyer, established in 1996 an endowment to support a triennial bookbinding competition, exhibition, and conference on the contemporary book arts to be held at Bridwell Library.
The competition challenges bookbinders to submit their proposals for a specific book held by Bridwell Library, as well as a recent example of their work. While the DeGolyer Award winner receives a commission to bind the book according to his or her proposal, the jury also selects award winners for excellence in fine binding and artistic design. The judges for this year’s competition include
Decherd Turner, Chair, Former Director of Bridwell Library and the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas Austin
Valerie R. Hotchkiss, J.S. Bridwell Foundation Endowed Librarian and Associate Professor of Medieval Studies, Southern Methodist University
Edith DeGolyer, DeGolyer Estate
Jan B. Sobota, Director of Conservation Laboratory, Bridwell Library, Southern Methodist University
Catherine Burkhard, Craft Guild of Dallas
Raoul Bollin, Swiss-American design bookbinder
The Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacrament and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church According to the Use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Together with the Psalter or Psalms of David [Boston]: Printed for the Commission, 1928 [issued 1930]. xli, 611 pp. ; 36 cm. Five hundred paper copies and twelve vellum copies printed by Daniel Berkeley Updike. Vellum. Bridwell Library Special Collections.
In 1927 the Episcopal Church in America sponsored a competition to design this book. Bruce Rogers, Daniel Berkeley Updike, Oxford University Press, and Cambridge University Press competed, and Updike was awarded the commission. He printed the work at his Merrymount Press in Boston. Coordination of the project was the responsibility of the Commission for the Textual Revision of the Standard Book of Prayer, but the details of the work, including the choice of printer and editorial tasks, were carried out by the librarian of the Pierpont Morgan Library, Bella da Costa Green. J.P. Morgan, Jr., whose father had supported the revision of the Prayer Book of 1892, agreed to subvent all publication costs and arrange distribution.
The Fourth Helen Warren DeGolyer Competition for American Bookbinding 2006
Bridwell Library’s triennial bookbinding competition is named for Helen Warren DeGolyer (1926–1995), a well-known supporter of the arts and education in Dallas, as well as a skilled devotee of design bookbinding. Following her testamentary wishes, her brother, Joseph Warren, and her children, Everett Lee DeGolyer and Edith DeGolyer, established in 1996 an endowment to support a triennial bookbinding competition, exhibition, and conference on the contemporary book arts to be held at Bridwell Library.
The competition challenges bookbinders to submit their proposals for a specific book held by Bridwell Library, as well as a recent example of their work. While the DeGolyer Award winner receives a commission to bind the book according to his or her proposal, the jury also selects award winners for excellence in fine binding and artistic design. The judges for this year’s competition include
Stuart Brockman, Design Bookbinder, Brockman Bookbinders, Oxford England
Valerie Hotchkiss, PhD, Head of Rare Books and Special Collections Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, Former J. S. Bridwell Endowed Librarian
Jamie Kamph, Bookbinder, 2003 Winner of the DeGolyer Prize Competition, Lambertville, New Jersey
Steven A. Nash, Director of the Nasher Sculpture Garden, Dallas, Texas
Peter David Verheyen, Conservator, Syracuse University Library, Founder of the Book Arts Web, Syracuse, New York
Eric Marshall White, PhD, Curator of Special Collections, Bridwell Library, Dallas, Texas
Joseph Warren, Representative of the DeGolyer Family, Dallas, Texas
We also owe much to the DeGolyer Advisory Board. Over the past three years board members Mirjam Foot, Colin Franklin, Jamie Kamph, Pamela Leutz, J. Franklin Mowery, and Jan Sobota have provided invaluable expertise, advise, and assistance. Ms. Leutz has been especially helpful in promoting the events on local, state, and national levels.
Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986). Ficciones. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ediciones Dos Amigos, 1987. Illustrated by Gabriela Aberastury, Julio Pagnao, Mirta Ripoll, Raúl Russo, and Alicia Scavino. 26 x 33.5 cm, 184 pp., Bridwell Library Special Collections.
The book for the fourth triennial competition is Jorge Luis Borges's Ficciones, printed in a limited edition of forty-two at the Argentine fine press Ediciones Dos Amigos. First published in 1944, Ficciones includes seventeen short prose pieces designed to challenge a reader's presuppositions and complacency. Largely because of this work, Borges is considered one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.
The Imitation of Christ Through Six Centuries
Originally exhibited May 9–August 29, 2012
Entry Hall
Introduction
For six centuries, the Imitatio Christi (“Imitation of Christ”) has been the most widely read Christian book after the Bible. It consists of four Books: the first two counsel the reader on the spiritual life; the third deals with the inward consolation of the soul; and the fourth concerns the virtues of Communion. Written ca. 1418 by Thomas à Kempis (ca. 1380–1471), the Latin text has been translated into hundreds of languages and printed in some ten thousand editions. Its spirit of personal devotion patterned on the life of Christ helped sow the seeds of the Protestant Reformation as well as the Counter-Reformation, and it profoundly influenced such diverse figures as St. Ignatius Loyola and John Wesley.
Bridwell Library holds twenty-six fifteenth-century editions of the Imitatio Christi and scores of editions dating from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. These include many vernacular translations into English, German, French, Italian, Arabic, and Croatian, as well as fine modern editions. The books selected for this exhibition highlight the history of this perennially popular text from ca. 1473 to 1905.
The Kate Warnick Awards
Originally exhibited December 12, 2014 – April 24, 2015
Entry Hall
Introduction
The Texas United Methodist Historical Society established the Kate Warnick Awards in 1978 to honor Marion Katherine (“Kate”) Warnick’s long career of dedicated service to Southern Methodist University and her keen interest in documenting United Methodist history. This annual awards competition encourages the publication of exemplary local church histories within the eight Annual Conferences of the United Methodist Church that constitute the Texas United Methodist Historical Society: Central Texas, New Mexico, North Texas, Northwest Texas, Oklahoma Indian Mission, Rio Grande, Southwest Texas, and Texas. On exhibition are fourteen winning entries representing the competition’s five decades.
The King James Bible of 1611
Originally exhibited August 17–December 5, 2011
Entry Hall
Introduction
The King James Bible of 1611 was the dominant English translation of the scriptures from the time of its publication through the late nineteenth century, and it is one of the few seventeenth-century texts widely owned and read today. This exhibition, marking the Bible’s four-hundredth anniversary, focuses on the earliest King James Bibles as evidence of the zeal with which the new translation was produced, printed, marketed, read, and cherished.
The Ninth Helen Warren DeGolyer Competition for American Bookbinding
Exhibit dates: May 19, 2022—July 15, 2022
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
In 2020 a national invitation went out to bookbinders for designs to bind Bridwell Library’s copy of Five Poems by Toni Morrison with silhouettes by Kara Walker. Ten remarkable proposals were received, along with completed books showing related techniques. The submissions were reviewed in February 2022 by the competition jury—
Karen Baker-Fletcher, Professor of Systematic Theology
Perkins School of Theology
Jane Elder, Head of Reference, Research, and the Theological Writing Center
at Bridwell Library, and entrant to the Fifth Competition, 2009
Elyan Hill, Assistant Professor of African and African Diaspora Art History
Meadows School of the Arts
James Reid-Cunningham, bookbinder and conservator
Commission winner of the Eighth Helen Warren DeGolyer Competition, 2018
Nishiki Sugawara-Beda, Visual Artist, Assistant Professor of Art–
Painting and Drawing, Meadows School of the Arts
The jury selected one entry for special distinction on the strength of the binding proposed for Five Poems. Another was distinguished for the skill and artistry evident in the completed binding. A third, owing to the integrity of design and craft to the printed expressions of Toni Morrison and Kara Walker, was named winning entry of the Helen Warren DeGolyer Award for American Bookbinding. The creator of that submission will be offered the commission to bind Five Poems.
Helen Warren DeGolyer (1926–1995) Dallas bibliophile and supporter of the arts, studied bookbinding with Mariana Roach, Dorothy Westapher, and noted Swiss binder Hugo Peller. Married to Everette DeGolyer Jr. who was the founding director of SMU’s DeGolyer Library, she established a fund that has supported a triennial bookbinding competition, exhibition, and conference at Bridwell Library since 1997.
For the 2021 competition, American bookbinders were invited to propose a design binding for Five Poems by Toni Morrison, and to submit a completed binding of any work as an example of techniques they propose to use.
Five Poems
Five Poems represents Toni Morrison's only published verse, and each poem is accompanied by a silhouette by artist Kara Walker. The partnership of Morrison and Walker represents a unique collaboration between two extraordinary African American artists. The two artists never actually met; Walker simply responded to Morrison's words through the illustrations.
Five Poems is published in a signed edition of 399 numbered and 26 lettered copies. This is copy number 79. The book was designed by Peter Rutledge Koch. It was printed letterpress from digital imaging and photo-polymer plates at Peter Koch, Printers in Berkeley, California. The typeface is Rialto Piccolo designed by Giovanni de Faccio and Lui Karner. The text paper is Rives BFK, tan. The copyright is held by Rainmaker Editions, 2002.
Toni Morrison
Nobel Prize winner in Literature Toni Morrison (1931–2019), authored eleven novels including Beloved, Pulitzer Prize winner in 1988, and Song of Solomon, National Book Critics Circle Award winner in 1977. She was known for her prose and her exploration of the black experience, in particular black women. In addition to her novels, Morrison also published children's literature, essays, song lyrics, a play, and a libretto for the American opera, Margaret Garner. She was a longtime faculty member at Princeton before retiring in 2006, and lectured around the world. Toni Morrison was a champion for the arts, and spoke often about the power of the written word and the importance of fighting censorship.
Kara Walker
Kara Walker (born 1969) is well-known for her cut-paper silhouettes depicting the tragic legacy of slavery. Walker utilizes drawing, painting, text, shadow puppetry, film, and sculpture to develop her historical narrative work. She was born in Stockton, California, and received her B.F.A. at the Atlanta College of Art and an M.F.A. at Rhode Island School of Design. Walker made her debut in New York in 1994 with her silhouettes cut from black paper, adhering them directly to the gallery wall. In 1997, Kara Walker was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship, making her one of the youngest-ever recipients at twenty-eight.
The Pietists
Originally exhibited August 20–December 14, 2018
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Introduction
“It is by no means enough to have knowledge of the Christian faith, for Christianity consists rather of practice." - Philipp Jakob Spener. Pia Desideria, 1675.
The name of the Pietists is now known all over town.
Who is a Pietist? He who studies the Word of God
And accordingly leads a holy life.
This is well done, good for every Christian.
For this amounts to nothing if after the manner of rhetoricians
And disputants one puts on airs in the pulpit
And does not live holy as one ought according to the teaching.
Piety above all must rest in the heart.
- Joachim Feller, 1689 (tr. Dale W. Brown, Understanding Pietism, 1978)
Pietism was a reform movement within seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Dutch and German Protestantism that expanded to Great Britain, North America, and around the world. The context for the development and growth of Pietism can be traced to a war of words and one of the most devastating wars in European history.
Following the deaths of Martin Luther (1483–1546) and Jean Calvin (1509–1564), the focus of Protestantism shifted from fomenting change to consolidating gains. The early reformers had championed the message of salvation by faith through grace. The next generation pursued an acrimonious quest to define this saving faith. By the early seventeenth century it seemed to some that Christianity was becoming more an intellectual exercise than a lived reality. Others wondered why the changes brought on by the Reformation had done little to improve the morality of individuals and of society.
Concurrent with these developments, the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) left Europe depopulated and demoralized. An era of religious disillusionment followed. Within Protestantism some who sought a more experiential and ethical approach to faith began looking back to the teachings of Christ, the early church, and later mystics for guidance. Through their preaching, teaching, and writings, they initiated a “religion of the heart” movement called Pietism.
Pietism’s spirituality was rooted in the transformative inner experience of spiritual rebirth (conversion) through which the Holy Spirit acts to foster a godly way of living (sanctification). Pietists stressed the application of faith (love of God and neighbor) more than the quest for doctrinal purity and uniformity. They valued Bible study for guidance while seeking new inspiration from the Holy Spirit. Pietists also emphasized the concept of the priesthood of believers and applied it to both women and men. They viewed evangelism and good works as tools through which God would transform the world.
This exhibition presents works from Bridwell Library Special Collections written by precursors to and leaders of the Pietist movement in The Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These historical materials illustrate the theological and geographic diversity of the movement during its period of greatest influence, from the late seventeenth century until the early nineteenth century.
The Second Helen Warren DeGolyer Competition for American Bookbinding 2000
Bridwell Library’s triennial bookbinding competition is named for Helen Warren DeGolyer (1926–1995), a well-known supporter of the arts and education in Dallas, as well as a skilled devotee of design bookbinding. Following her testamentary wishes, her brother, Joseph Warren, and her children, Everett Lee DeGolyer and Edith DeGolyer, established in 1996 an endowment to support a triennial bookbinding competition, exhibition, and conference on the contemporary book arts to be held at Bridwell Library.
The competition challenges bookbinders to submit their proposals for a specific book held by Bridwell Library, as well as a recent example of their work. While the DeGolyer Award winner receives a commission to bind the book according to his or her proposal, the jury also selects award winners for excellence in fine binding and artistic design. The judges for this year’s competition include
Decherd Turner, Chair, Former Director of Bridwell Library (1950–1980); former Director of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin
Everett Lee DeGolyer, Helen Warren DeGolyer Estate
Don Etherington, Winner of the 1997 DeGolyer Triennial Prize Commission
Catherine Levine, Craft Guild of Dallas
Valerie R. Hotchkiss, J.S. Bridwell Foundation Endowed Librarian & Associate Professor of Medieval Studies, Southern Methodist University
Sally Key, Conservator, Bridwell Library, Southern Methodist University
Ulysses
James Joyce (1882 – 1941), Ulysses (Paris: Shakespeare and Company, 1922). Printed for Sylvia Beach by Maurice Darantière at Dijon. First edition, no. 313 of 1000 copies. 23 x 18 cm. Bridwell Library Special Collections.
Ulysses, written in 1914–1921, first appeared in parts in the avant-garde serial the Little Review. Thanks to the vision of publisher Sylvia Beach, it survived early obscenity charges (it was banned in the United States until 1933), and in 1922 it came forth—"complete as written"—amid much fanfare and controversy in a "private and limited edition of 1000 copies." Of the first edition, 100 signed and numbered copies were printed on Dutch handmade paper; 150 numbered copies were produced on Vergé d'Arches paper, and 750 copies on handmade paper were numbered from 251 to 1000. All were issued in blue paper wrappers.
In Ulysses, Joyce uses symbolism, mythology, realism, and abstraction to record a day in the life of Leopold Bloom, an advertising salesman in Dublin. Through his mundane activities, as well as his relations with his wife, Molly, his surrogate son Stephen Dedalus, and the people he encounters, Bloom reflects the modern urban Everyman in what Ezra Pound called "an impassioned meditation on life." Although the complexity of themes and the richness of motifs in Ulysses defy easy interpretation for the designers of its new binding, the challenge that comes with the opportunity to bind such a monument of English literature has engendered a lively competition full of artistic inspiration.
The Seventh Helen Warren DeGolyer Competition for American Bookbinding 2015
Bridwell Library’s triennial bookbinding competition is named for Helen Warren DeGolyer (1926–1995), a well-known supporter of the arts and education in Dallas, as well as a skilled devotee of design bookbinding. Following her testamentary wishes, her brother, Joseph Warren, and her children, Everett Lee DeGolyer and Edith DeGolyer, established in 1996 an endowment to support a triennial bookbinding competition, exhibition, and conference on the contemporary book arts to be held at Bridwell Library.
The competition challenges bookbinders to submit their proposals for a specific book held by Bridwell Library, as well as a recent example of their work. While the DeGolyer Award winner receives a commission to bind the book according to his or her proposal, the jury also selects award winners for excellence in fine binding and artistic design. The judges for this year’s competition include
Jane Elder, Bridwell Library
Jolene de Verges, Hamon Arts Library
David Lawrence, Recipient of the 2012 DeGolyer Award for American Bookbinding
Olivia Primanis, Harry Ransom Center
Roberta Schaafsma, Bridwell Library
The Restoration of Leather Bindings
Bernard C. Middleton (1924 – ). The Restoration of Leather Bindings. Chicago: American Library Association, 1976.
In honor of the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the Helen Warren DeGolyer Triennial Competition for American Bookbinding, the 2015 Award Commission will be Mrs. DeGolyer’s copy of Middleton’s classic manual of bookbinding, signed by the author. The work offers a comprehensive overview of traditional restoration techniques, tools, and materials. The volume is illustrated with numerous black and white photographs by the author and his bindery assistant, Eric Horne, and detailed drawings and diagrams by Aldren A. Watson.
Completed commissions of previous DeGolyer Award winners and all competition entries, including design proposals and sample bindings, are exhibited in The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries at Bridwell Library. In addition, a PDF containing an image of each proposal and sample binding is available here.
The Shape of Content in Christian Books, Broadsides, and Prints
Originally exhibited August 24–December 18, 2015
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Introduction
From the late Middle Ages through the twentieth century, books produced for Christian worship, study, or private devotion have taken a great variety of shapes. Their many sizes, configurations, systems of organization, and special features have varied widely according to the requirements of their contents and the needs of their owners. Shorter texts intended for ephemeral purposes often appeared as single-sheet broadsides, while certain devotional objects functioned much like books yet conveyed their meaning in innovative ways. This exhibition explores how handwritten or printed examples of Christian texts from past centuries have transcended traditional expectations, bringing new meaning and enhanced understanding to their readers.
The Sixth Helen Warren DeGolyer Competition for American Bookbinding 2012
Bridwell Library’s triennial bookbinding competition is named for Helen Warren DeGolyer (1926–1995), a well-known supporter of the arts and education in Dallas, as well as a skilled devotee of design bookbinding. Following her testamentary wishes, her brother, Joseph Warren, and her children, Everett Lee DeGolyer and Edith DeGolyer, established in 1996 an endowment to support a triennial bookbinding competition, exhibition, and conference on the contemporary book arts to be held at Bridwell Library.
The competition challenges bookbinders to submit their proposals for a specific book held by Bridwell Library, as well as a recent example of their work. While the DeGolyer Award winner receives a commission to bind the book according to his or her proposal, the jury also selects award winners for excellence in fine binding and artistic design. The judges for this year’s competition include
Roberta Schaafsma, J. S. Bridwell Foundation Endowed Librarian, Director of Bridwell Library for nearly five years. She has graduate degrees from The University of Michigan and Chicago Theological Seminary.
Eric White, PhD, has been the Curator of Special Collections at Bridwell Library since 1997. His research on Bridwell’s holdings includes an article on an inscribed copy of the Imitatio Christi donated to Basel’s Carthusian monastery in 1487, and the exhibition catalogue Six Centuries of Master Bookbinding at Bridwell Library. He has been involved in all six DeGolyer bookbinding competitions since its beginning in 1997.
Priscilla Spitler was winner of the Fifth Triennial Helen Warren DeGolyer Exhibition and Bookbinding Competition. She studied bookbinding with Alfred Brazer and John Mitchell at the London College of Printing, and design binding with James Brockman at the University of Texas at Austin. She was edition binder at Booklab for eight years before establishing in 1995 Hands On Bookbinding, now located in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
Russell Martin has been the Director of the DeGolyer Library at SMU since 2001. Previously he was a curator at the American Antiquarian Society. He holds a BA and MA from SMU, an MS from Illinois, and a PhD in English from Virginia. He has published numerous essays and reviews in the fields of American literature, folklore, history, and bibliography.
Jace Graf worked in commercial printing, typesetting, and design in Austin before attending the Graduate Book Arts Program at Mills College in Oakland, California. After earning a masters degree at Mills in 1990, he worked for five years at Booklab in Austin. In 1996 he established his own book arts business in Austin, Cloverleaf Studio, where he specializes in edition binding, boxes and portfolios of all kinds, and book design.
The Imitation of Christ
Libri quatuor De imitatione Christi, praecipuo regni administro, dicati. Paris: Ex typographia Fratris Regis natu proximi (Pierre-François Didot), 1788.
The Imitation of Christ is the most widely read Christian text after the Bible. Its spirit of personal devotion patterned on the life of Christ has been embraced by Catholics and Protestants alike and has profoundly influenced the spiritual reflections of readers from its first appearance through the present day.
The Summer Musical Celebration: An Exhibit in Honor of the Organ Historical Society Convention and the Hymn Society Conference
Originally exhibited July 23–August 31, 2019
Online Exhibition
Introduction
This exhibition celebrates two significant musical organizations meeting in Dallas and at Southern Methodist University this summer: the 2019 Organ Historical Society Convention and the 2019 Hymn Society in the United States and Canada Conference. The twenty-two selections from Bridwell Library Special Collections comprise manuscripts and rare books produced between the twelfth and the late eighteenth centuries. Among those are four hybrid works that combine manuscript and printed materials in a variety of ways within each individual volume. In highlighting these musical items, Bridwell Library hopes that society members will be informed, engaged, and inspired by this selection of musical offerings.
The Third Helen Warren DeGolyer Competition for American Bookbinding 2003
Bridwell Library’s triennial bookbinding competition is named for Helen Warren DeGolyer (1926–1995), a well-known supporter of the arts and education in Dallas, as well as a skilled devotee of design bookbinding. Following her testamentary wishes, her brother, Joseph Warren, and her children, Everett Lee DeGolyer and Edith DeGolyer, established in 1996 an endowment to support a triennial bookbinding competition, exhibition, and conference on the contemporary book arts to be held at Bridwell Library.
The competition challenges bookbinders to submit their proposals for a specific book held by Bridwell Library, as well as a recent example of their work. While the DeGolyer Award winner receives a commission to bind the book according to his or her proposal, the jury also selects award winners for excellence in fine binding and artistic design. The judges for this year’s competition include
Colin Franklin, Chair, Author, book dealer, book collector, and former publisher, Oxford, England
Catherine Burkhard, Bookbinder, calligrapher, and owner of the Books 'n Letters Studio, Dallas, Texas
Bruce Levy, Winner of the 2000 Helen Warren DeGolyer Triennial Competition, Nevada City, California
Greg Warden, Director, Meadows Museum of Art, Professor of Art History, and local bookbinder, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain (1835 – 1910). Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. West Hatfield, MA: Pennyroyal Press, 1985. Illustrated by Barry Moser. Foreword by Henry Nash Smith. 32.4 x 25.4 cm. Bridwell Library Special Collections.
The book for the third Triennial was Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This 1985 Pennyroyal Press edition is the first significant edition since 1885’s cloth-bound original publishing. Illustrated by Barry Moser and with a foreword by Henry Nash Smith, it was prepared from the extant portions of Twain’s final manuscript, correcting errors and omissions in the first edition that have crept into every subsequent printing. Moreover, this edition features forty-nine original wood engravings crafted by Barry Moser, one of America’s foremost book designers and engravers. The Bridwell copy that was bound by the 2003 competition winner was not among the numbered and bound copies. It came to Bridwell Library directly from Mr. Moser’s stock and is signed by the artist.
The Thomas J. Harrison Bible Collection
Originally exhibited February 1–May 4, 2018
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Introduction
This exhibition highlights Bibles from the collection of Thomas J. Harrison (1885–1963). Born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Harrison moved with his family to Pryor, Oklahoma, as a young boy and resided there for the remainder of his life. Active in the civic and cultural affairs of Pryor, he served as mayor as well as city treasurer. His contributions also included supporting the establishment and development of the city’s public library.
Harrison began collecting Bibles in the 1940s, eventually acquiring over three hundred works. Particularly engaged with the history of the English Bible, he gathered first editions and later printings documenting the sequence of texts culminating in the 1611 King James Version and the English-language biblical tradition that followed in the United Kingdom and the United States. Complementing these interests, he also acquired rare Bibles in biblical, Native American, and world vernacular languages produced between the thirteenth and twentieth centuries.
In the decade prior to his death, Mr. Harrison was in regular correspondence with Decherd Turner, the first Bridwell Library Director. Turner visited Harrison and expressed much admiration and interest in the collection. Through an arrangement with The Thomas J. and Bea L. Harrison Trust, Bridwell Library became the depository for the collection in 1964. The Harrison Trust generously supported the collection by funding the acquisition of rare Bibles through 1995, at which time the trust dissolved and the collection officially transferred to Bridwell Library. Harrison’s vision for the collection continues to develop with funds from an endowment created by the trust.
Harrison holdings include a remarkable seventeenth-century Chinese Torah scroll, medieval manuscripts, incunabula, early editions in biblical languages, polyglot and diglot Bibles, European and world vernacular translations, English and American imprints, and modern fine press editions. These Bibles are presented regularly to visitors and classes, engaging students and scholars interested in the dissemination of biblical texts and the continuing impact of the Bible throughout the centuries.
The Uniting Conference of 1968 and the Birth of the United Methodist Church
Originally exhibited August 24–December 7, 2018
Entry Hall
Introduction
The United Methodist Church (UMC) was created in 1968 through two unions, one internal and one external. The internal union was the joining together of Black and White Methodists into a racially integrated denomination. The external union was the merging of two Wesleyan bodies: The Methodist Church with 10,289,000 members and The Evangelical United Brethren (EUB) Church with 746,000 members. The process of negotiating integration and merger required many years. It culminated in Dallas, Texas with a Uniting Conference held between April 21 and May 4, 1968.
This exhibition commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of The United Methodist Church. A selection of publications and images document Methodist integration, the Methodist-EUB merger, and the Uniting Conference that created the second largest Protestant denomination in the United States.
The Word Embodied: Scripture as Creative Inspiration in Twentieth-Century Book Arts
Originally exhibited March 1–June 15, 2019
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Introduction
The transmission of culturally significant texts, especially Scripture, has always been a serious task. In the manuscript era, scribes paid strict attention to the precise copying of the Bible so as not to corrupt its sacred message. Scripture was thoughtfully laid out in columns and surrounded by generous margins. Vivid features including initial letters, rubrication, and decorative flourishes both aided the reader and sought to embellish and glorify the Word of God. Illustrations sometimes further magnified written works with narrative depictions of biblical stories. Away from the written page, artists portrayed people and events of Scripture in drawings, paintings, and sculptures.
Twentieth-century printers and artists developed aesthetic principles that articulated the power of the book to influence the reader’s experience of a text. They endeavored not simply to copy or illustrate Scripture but to embody it in a meaningful form. Whether austere or exuberant in design, these books were conceived to give countenance to the spirit within. Consideration of what constitutes the book arts in the twentieth century and today inevitably confronts a variety of terms, including fine press, private press, livre d’artistes, artists’ books, and others. Such terms are often misunderstood and conflated, and they may in fact overlap. The purpose of this exhibition is not to define the boundaries of these categories nor to assert an orthodoxy, which itself would merely be subjective. Rather, here we explore the book as a creative expression and the wide array of inspirations, methodologies, and realizations experienced and expressed throughout the period.
Three African American Bishops of The United Methodist Church
Originally exhibited December 15, 2017–April 27, 2018
Entry Hall
Introduction
The Methodist Studies Archive at Bridwell Library includes the personal papers of three African American United Methodist bishops: Ernest T. Dixon, Jr. (1922–1996), William Talbot Handy, Jr. (1924–1998), and Rhymes H. Moncure, Jr. (1945–2006). These collections are being highlighted as part of the Black Archives Matter at SMU Initiative in the spring of 2018.
The items in this exhibition represent the ministries of three barrier-breaking church leaders. Dixon was the first African American elected to the office of bishop in the South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church (UMC). Handy was the first African American hired in an executive capacity at The United Methodist Publishing House. He later served as the bishop of the Missouri Area of the UMC. Moncure was the first African American bishop to lead the Dallas Area of the UMC. He had previously served the Nebraska Area as bishop. All three bishops worked to dismantle the power of racism in church and society. Their ministries blended religious faith with social justice and concern for the well-being of those on the margins of society.
Follow this link to learn more about the Black Archives at SMU Initiative.
Tribute to Ian Tyson (1933–2021)
The British artist Ian Tyson (1933—2021) executed a vast body of works throughout a decades-long career, actively producing work right up until his passing in October this year.
Virtual and Real
Originally exhibited February 3 – May 17, 2014
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Introduction
Since the founding of Bridwell Library in 1951, staff members have promoted the use of special collections and archives by curating exhibitions and hosting public events. During the 1990s the Library also began providing internet access to selected exhibitions, collection inventories, and images of important volumes and artifacts. In 2010 Bridwell Library published its first set of digital images as part of the SMU Digital Collections online database. Today the Library offers numerous digital collections containing more than 4,000 high-quality images, audio files, and videos.
Providing remote access to rare and unique print, manuscript, photographic, audio, and video materials helps Bridwell Library fulfill its educational mission. Each month thousands of patrons view these virtual representations of real objects. The purpose of this exhibition is to bring the virtual and the real together in the same place at the same time so that both can be studied and enjoyed.
“Virtual and Real” presents fifty-six items representing twelve digital collections. All twelve featured collections relate to the history of the United Methodist Church or Perkins School of Theology. Throughout the exhibition visitors are encouraged to scan the Quick Response (QR) codes and explore the linked images and metadata while viewing the artifacts. To view installation photographs, follow this link.
Welcome Additions
Origially exhibited September 9 – December 12, 2014
The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries
Introduction
This exhibition highlights fifty rare books, manuscripts, broadsides, prints, and letters that were acquired by Bridwell Library Special Collections between 2008 and 2014. Produced in Europe and the Americas from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, these works include late-medieval manuscripts, early printing, devotional manuals, books for worship, biblical translations, illustrated religious texts, Methodist writings, and printed ephemera. Each selected item is an authentic witness both to the history of written or printed communication and to important aspects of religious life in the past. Exhibited here for the first time, these recent acquisitions enhance the research potential of Bridwell Library’s holdings in a variety of important collecting areas.
William B. Lawrence, Dean of Perkins School of Theology, 2002–2016
Originally exhibited April 12–May 15, 2016
Reception Hall
Introduction
William B. Lawrence studied at Duke University (B.A., 1968), Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (M.Div., 1971), and Drew University (Ph.D., 1984). In 1969 he joined the Wyoming Conference of the United Methodist Church (located in northeastern Pennsylvania and southern New York). There he served more than two decades as a pastor and district superintendent. From 1998 to 2001 he was senior minister of Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. At the denominational level, Dr. Lawrence has served on the General Commission on Religion and Race (1992–1996) and on the Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church (2008–present; President 2012–present).
Before being appointed Dean and Professor of American Church History at Perkins School of Theology in 2002, Dr. Lawrence served at Duke University Divinity School (1993–1998), Wesley Theological Seminary (2000–2001), and Candler School of Theology at Emory University (2001–2002). Under Dean Lawrence’s fourteen years of leadership, Perkins School of Theology has constructed Prothro Hall and renovated Kirby and Selecman Halls, created several new programs, restructured the Graduate Program in Religious Studies, appointed new faculty members, and strengthened the administrative staff.
This display highlights William B. Lawrence’s leadership of Perkins School of Theology and his contributions to theological education and church life.