Plate from aeronautical historian Joseph Lecornu's La navigation aérienne; histoire documentaire et anecdotique (1903) in the USC Libraries' special collections.
The USC Libraries will display rare volumes by Bacon, Darwin, Diderot, Newton, and other influential scientific writers in the Hancock Museum across from Doheny Library from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 12. Sponsored by The Anton B. Burg Foundation, the exhibition is presented in conjunction with the Heather Ewing Literary Luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
The exhibition features a selection of 18 rare volumes from the USC Libraries’ special collections, ranging from well-known, foundational works like Darwin’s Origin of Species, Newton’s Principia Mathematica, and Cuvier’s Ossemens Fossiles to other influential works that may be less familiar to non-specialists. These include Nehemiah Grew’s Anatomy of Plants, Robert Hooke’s Micrographia, and Matthew Fontaine Maury’s Physical Geography of the Sea. Many of these books have highly detailed engravings and other illustrations that reveal the visual history of early modern and 19th century scientific thought.
The lecture and exhibition are free and open to the public. The luncheon is $45 for members of the Friends of the USC Libraries and $50 for non-members. Contact Toni Miller at 213-740-2328 or antoinet@usc.edu for more information.