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The Howard Piper Library launches online exhibition

The Library’s latest exhibition, ‘Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century printing houses: a selection from St Hugh’s rare books collection’, has recently been published online and is available on the library’s main website page.

Organised by Assistant Librarian Holly Dowse, the exhibition draws upon Holly’s previous research into the early modern European book trade and, more specifically, into false imprints that feature on early printed Dutch works. It brings to attention a wonderful selection of the library’s finest rare books, each specifically chosen to highlight some of the most highly esteemed printing houses of the time, such as The Aldine Press and the Plantin Press, while discussing some of the key changes occurring in book production throughout sixteenth and seventeenth century Europe. It also uncovers two false imprints within the library’s rare books collection that, until now, had previously gone unnoticed; an exciting discovery that offers new insights into provenance research.

The library is extremely fortunate to have such a varied rare books collection that spans a wide range of subjects, languages and formats, and this is a great opportunity for us to view some of the finest items in the collection.