The Big Picture

Space is a particularly valuable commodity in libraries. Talk with a librarian for any length of time and you are sure to hear lamentations regarding the limits of physical space. This holds true for the mounting of exhibitions. The items visitors see in our display cases represent a painstakingly edited selection of everything we’d love to display. Due to their size, the more grandiose tomes are often left shelved in favor of a smattering of their diminutive counterparts.

From the perspective of visitors to the Lilly Library, however, there’s no doubt that size matters. One need look no further than the double elephant folio of John James Audubon’s Birds of America, which dazzles patrons as soon as they enter.

In a rare moment of minimalism, we are taking a step back to examine the substantial, monumental, even Brobdingnagian stories of some of the largest items in the Lilly Library’s collection. These objects each serve a different purpose, both for their original users and for us as modern examiners. As you spend time with each one, we invite you to consider the sizeable impact of each object. How do these objects fit together to form one Big Picture?

Jenny Mack designed the exhibition with graphic design by David Orr. The curators would like to acknowledge Coley Gillespie and Jim Canary, whose conservation work helped make this exhibition possible.