{"id":167,"date":"2019-08-19T16:50:02","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T16:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/distinctive-collections\/?page_id=167"},"modified":"2023-09-15T16:43:55","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T16:43:55","slug":"rare-books","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/distinctive-collections\/collections\/rare-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare books"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>MIT\u2019s Department of Distinctive Collections is home to thousands of rare books and manuscripts with an expansive range. Many texts represent foundational and fundamental scientific discovery and achievement. Works by prominent figures such as Georgius Agricola, Robert Boyle, Marie Curie, Michael Faraday, Otto von Guericke, Caroline Herschel, Ada Lovelace, Isaac Newton, Mary Somerville, Alessandro Volta are included, as are less universally recognizable scientists.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_499\" style=\"width: 263px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-499\" class=\"wp-image-499\" src=\"http:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2019\/08\/PR4057.B16-B35-1883-636x1024.jpg\" alt=\"The Battery and the Boiler\" width=\"253\" height=\"407\" srcset=\"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2019\/08\/PR4057.B16-B35-1883-636x1024.jpg 636w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2019\/08\/PR4057.B16-B35-1883-186x300.jpg 186w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2019\/08\/PR4057.B16-B35-1883-624x1004.jpg 624w, https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2019\/08\/PR4057.B16-B35-1883.jpg 709w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 253px) 100vw, 253px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-499\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Battery and the Boiler: An Electrical Story. Distinctive Collections, MIT Libraries.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Topically, the collection is rich in materials on<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>electricity, electrical engineering, magnetism (including animal magnetism),<\/li>\n<li>lighter-than-air travel, telegraphy, and popular science.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It delves into some perhaps unexpected areas as well, covering such topics as<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>witchcraft and mesmerism,<\/li>\n<li>horology (study and measurement of time)<\/li>\n<li>gymnastics and exercise<\/li>\n<li>politics, poetry, and even dentistry<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some collection highlights include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mit.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/permalink\/01MIT_INST\/jp08pj\/alma990022120630106761\">Book of Hours<\/a> a French manuscript, lavishly illuminated, from the early 15th-century<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mit.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/permalink\/01MIT_INST\/jp08pj\/alma990027549760106761\">Book of Hours printed on vellum<\/a> a curiously elaborate example, from the early 16th-century<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The collection also includes obscure incunables &#8211; books printed before 1501 &#8211; like <a href=\"https:\/\/mit.primo.exlibrisgroup.com\/permalink\/01MIT_INST\/jp08pj\/alma990020115110106761\">Coniuratio Malignorum Spirituum<\/a>, a handbook on exorcisms, as well as some of the best documented and most recognized texts of the Middle Ages, like the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MIT\u2019s Department of Distinctive Collections is home to thousands of rare books and manuscripts with an expansive range. Many texts represent foundational and fundamental scientific discovery and achievement. Works by prominent figures such as Georgius Agricola, Robert Boyle, Marie Curie, Michael Faraday, Otto von Guericke, Caroline Herschel, Ada Lovelace, Isaac Newton, Mary Somerville, Alessandro Volta are included, as are less universally recognizable scientists. Topically, the collection is rich in materials on electricity, electrical engineering, magnetism (including animal magnetism), lighter-than-air travel, telegraphy, and popular science. It delves into some perhaps unexpected areas as well, covering such topics as witchcraft and mesmerism, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":163,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-167","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/distinctive-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/distinctive-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/distinctive-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/distinctive-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/distinctive-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/distinctive-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1186,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/distinctive-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/167\/revisions\/1186"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/distinctive-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/distinctive-collections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}