Previous exhibition

This exhibition of books and manuscripts celebrates the accomplishments of Darwin’s rare and inquisitive mind. Besides the Fisher’s own collections, several items come from the private libraries of the curator, Richard Landon, and of Toronto financier, Garrett Herman. On display are the many editions and issues of Darwin’s books that illustrate the significant textual changes made by him as his ideas developed. Important works on evolution by Darwin's predecessors, works by his scientific colleagues and many of the books resulting from the controversies surrounding the publication of Origin of Species (1859) broaden the appeal of the exhibition.

The Fisher Library's outstanding collection of prints and book illustrations by printmaker Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677) is highlighted in this exhibit, curated by Anne Thackeray. Printmaking reached new technical and artistic levels in the seventeeth century, and Hollar was among its most admired practitioners. His exceptionally wide range of subject matter reflects the political and religious conflicts of his times, changes in book and print culture, and the expansion of European knowledge during his lifetime.

The Mu Collection, a major and significant Chinese rare book collection in North America, contains about 2,300 titles and 40,000 volumes, spanning the period from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It originally belonged to the personal library of a Chinese scholar, Mu Xuexun (1880-1929). In 1933, it was purchased by the Canadian missionary, Bishop William Charles White (1873-1960) and then shipped to Toronto in 1935. The exhibition highlighted the finest part of the collection with a broad coverage of subject areas. The long and rich history of Chinese writing and book culture was illustrated vividly with artifacts from the ROM on display at the same exhibition. This exhibition was curated by Stephen Qiao, China Studies Librarian, and the accompanying catalogue is prepared by Stephen Qiao and George Zhao of the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library.

The year 2010 held special significance for Ukrainian studies worldwide and for here at the University. It marked the 300th anniversary of the Constitution of Bendery - the first constitutional document in Ukrainian history, which was adopted in 1710 by émigré followers of Hetman Ivan Mazepa. The year also is the 30th anniversary of the appointment of the first Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto, and 22 October marks the date when the inaugural lecture of the Chair was delivered. Emigres from the territory of present-day Ukraine have made important contributions to Ukrainian political thought and national consciousness for the past three hundred years. The exhibition, curated by Ksenya Kiebuzinski, Head, Petro Jacyk Central and East European Resource Centre, drew upon the Fisher Library's collections of Ucrainica - books, maps, documents, photographs, etc. - to situate Ukraine, to illustrate the diversity of its peoples, and to show the depth of Ukrainian political activity abroad.

Widely recognized as one of the finest poets working in the English language today, Derek Walcott received the 1992 Nobel Prize for Literature for his entire body of work, and specifically for his epic poem, Omeros. The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library first acquired a significant portion of the literary papers of Derek Walcott in 1997, comprised of his poetry, plays, storyboards, drawings, sketches and prose primarily from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s. This exhibition highlights a broad selection of original archival material, from O Babylon! to Omeros, as well as other aspects of his life and work, including his painting and drawing. The exhibition and catalogue were prepared by Fisher Librarian, Jennifer Toews.

Ralph Stanton was a professor of mathematics at several Canadian universities. He was also an avid book collector, and without question he has been the single most prolific donor to the Fisher Library. Beginning with his first donation, a two-volume set of the 1587 edition of Holinshed's Chronicles in 1986, hundreds of volumes have been arriving annually from Winnipeg right up to the time of his passing in 2010. His collection of French literature, particularly seventeenth- and eighteenth-century drama, is especially strong, and the Fisher now boasts comprehensive collections of most of the significant French playwrights of the Classical period. Professor Stanton has also donated a number of incunables and early printed books, many of which were exhibited. This exhibit was curated by Philip Oldfield, Pearce Carefoote and Luba Frastacky.

The year 2016 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, a social and political movement launched in May of 1966 by Mao Zedong (1893-1976), then Chairman of the Communist Party of China, which lasted until Mao’s death in 1976. The Cultural Revolution sought to implement “true” Communist thought and to make dominant Maoist ideology. Taking this milestone as an occasion on which better to understand the Cultural Revolution, the Fisher Library will host an exhibition on the relation of this movement to visual art and literacy. Specifically, the exhibition will explore the importance of reading during this period, examining how propaganda posters and other artifacts of the Cultural Revolution represented the writings of Chairman Mao, how these posters and artifacts popularized a culture of Mao’s books, and how, in turn, text-heavy propaganda posters, artifacts representing books, and the large-scale printing of books of Mao Zedong Thought (Mao Zedong sixiang) created a context for increased literacy.

Highlights will include a selection of rare propaganda posters from the seminal phase of the Cultural Revolution (1966-69). From posters illustrating quotations from Chairman Mao to those encouraging the masses to read, these works reveal a distinct aesthetic in this early phase of the Cultural Revolution. In addition, the exhibition will feature contemporaneous books such as The Selected Works of Mao Zedong (Mao Zedong xuanji, 1951-1960) and The Quotations of Chairman Mao (Mao Zhuxi yulu, 1964), as well as translations of Mao’s works into multiple foreign languages. The exhibition and accompanying catalogue will also feature artifacts from the Cultural Revolution related to literacy and the practice of reading, including Mao badges, paper cuts, archival photographs, pamphlets, postcards, and children’s toys.

This exhibition is curated by Jennifer Purtle, Associate Professor of Chinese and East Asian Art Department of Art, Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto, with assistance from Stephen Qiao of the East Asian Library at the University of Toronto and Liz Ridolo, Special Projects Librarian at the Fisher Library.

The year 2016 marks four hundred years since the death of William Shakespeare. To honour this milestone, the Fisher Library opens the year with a new exhibition that explores how Shakespeare's works shaped ideas of the world beyond England, how his plays imagined self and other through language, geography and mythology and how, in turn, the production of atlases, dictionaries, and histories influenced Shakespeare's world-making art. Highlights of the exhibition include a selection of Shakespeare's printed plays and poems, from the First Folio of 1623 through to recent craft productions, including the sumptuous Play of Pericles (2009-2010) from British Columbia's Barbarian Press. In addition, the exhibition features early source material such as Holinshed's Chronicles (1587) and Plutarch's Lives (1579) along with a range of Renaissance genres and forms, from maps to bibles to works of poetry, anatomy and heraldry. Later editions of Shakespeare and experiments with his works are also prominently featured in the exhibition and accompanying catalogue.

Lead Curator, Scott Schofield, Huron University College at Western University, has collaborated with Peter Blayney, Alan Galey and Marjorie Rubright (all from the University of Toronto) on the exhibition. To view a video narrated by Scott Schofield on the genesis of the exhibition, and how the curators approached their research, click on the video below.

Coming to view the exhibition? Why not download the free audio tour, narrated by the curators. You can stream it from your mobile device while viewing the exhibition, or download it prior to your visit. It's available on SoundCloud (please click on this link to go directly to the tour). It's also available on iTunes by subscribing to the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library podcast in the iTunes store.

Exhibition hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Please note that the Fisher will be open on May 28 for the annual Doors Open festival. It will be the last day of the exhibition.

There are two separate catalogues for this exhibition: a standard soft cover, and a deluxe hardcover edition.

In conjuction with the exhibition, we will be running a screening series featuring film adaptions of Shakespeare's work at the Media Commons Theatre (3rd floor of Robarts Library). The third and last film in the series is the Stratford Festival's 1989 production of The Comedy of Errors. It will be screened on Monday April 18 at 5:30 pm.

Maximum Imaginativeness: Modern Czech Book Design (1900-1950) featured books and journals published in Czech from the turn of the nineteenth century to the late 1940s. Examples ranged from the beautiful bibliophile movement, to works by avant-garde artists and writers centered around the literary association Devětsil. The exhibition, curated by Ksenya Kiebuzinski, Head, Petro Jacyk Central & East European Resource Centre, ran from Sept. 28 to Dec. 18, 2015.

ISBN: 978-0-7727-6116-3 (paperback) | 120 pages | $25.00 | Ref. 7072

Canada's Great War aviators are famous for being gallant fighter pilots. Their legacy derives as much from their skills as airmen as their victory scores. Whether because of Canada's harsh climate, its clean air, or its sweeping wilderness, these airmen - men like Billy Bishop and William Barker - seemed destined to become 'aces'. The perpetuation of this narrative comes at the expense of less gallant, but more germane topics such as army co-operation, flight training, and post-war aviation. Yet, this static historical canon notwithstanding, Canadian museums, libraries, and archives possess an impressively broad array of sources that challenge these entrenched notions of Canada's first air war. This exhibit examines the origin of this material, the evolution of institutions responsible for its custody, and the ways that historians have navigated the topic - with or without the help of this diverse wealth of documents, artefacts, images and art.

This exhibition is curated by Jonathan Scotland and Edward Soye.