LSU Libraries Special Collections presents, “A Special Collections Sampling,” an exhibition now on display in Hill Memorial Library at LSU. Featured items include photographs, letters, documents, and books from all major collections, spanning over 500 years. The selections provide visitors with an eclectic introduction to our diverse holdings. The exhibition will run through Monday, August 2nd.

Highlighted items include a broad range of new acquisitions: Annotationes in libri II de captivis, et postliminio reversis by Lazare de Baïf, an illustrated work on classical naval science (1536, Rare Book Collection, donated by Tom Taylor); Neue Wirbelthiere Zu Der Fauna Von Abyssinien Gehörig by Eduard Rüppell, an illustrated examination of the natural history of Ethiopia (1839, E. A. McIlhenny Natural History Collection, donated by Dr. James M. Bishop); the novel Song of Solomon by celebrated author Toni Morrison (1977, Rare Book Collection, purchase); Civil War-era Descriptive Book of the 25th United States Colored Infantry Regiment, Company H (1864, Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, purchase); the papers of Charles Shropshire, Louisiana’s first African-American district attorney (1990s, Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, donated by Evelyn Wilson Shropshire), and LSU Faculty Art Show ephemera (1970s, LSU Union Art Gallery Records, University Archives).

Two cases are dedicated to books published in recent years by scholars who made significant use of our holdings, writing on topics such as antebellum agricultural practices, literary culture and spiritualism in 19th century New Orleans, LSU history, modern politics, and coastal wetland loss.

The exhibition offers just a taste of the vast and ever-expanding holdings that make up LSU Libraries Special Collections, and is free and open to the public. Check online for hours and location.