VCU offers peek into rare collections

A chance to explore collections that otherwise you might never see.

September 16, 2014; 12:35 PM • by Richard Hayes

From the press release we get the details of this unique opportunity to virtually walk the collections of VCU.

VCU Libraries Gallery will feature materials mostly held in Special Collections and Archives at James Branch Cabell Library and Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, and will include items from the libraries’ collections of book art, comic arts, manuscripts, rare books, medical artifacts and more.

“This is a virtual space where Special Collections and Archives departments will fulfill part of their outreach mission to promote our collections, and create greater awareness about our unique holdings,” said Wesley Chenault, Ph.D., head of Special Collections and Archives for Cabell Library. “This helps us reach a different audience, maybe a broader audience, by tapping into new platforms and technologies.”
VCU Libraries Gallery is launching with three exhibits, and several more are in the works.

The initial exhibits include:

“Remembering Theresa Pollak: An Exhibition on the Founder of VCUarts,” provides information on Pollak’s career, her relationship with VCU, her teaching philosophy, her art and the development of her ideas.

“Suburbia #2” – 1926

“From the Library of Dr. Herman J. Flax: Physician, Poet, Collector,” offers a glimpse of the collection’s books, such as a 1573 volume of “De Arte Gymnastica,” which was one of the earliest books to discuss the therapeutic value of gymnastics and sports.

De Arte Gymnastica, p 89 – Showing men using medicine balls.

“Through the Looking Glass,” displays microscopic images created by VCU students, faculty and staff as part of an ongoing exhibit in Tompkins-McCaw Library.