Exhibits
All are welcome to view our rare and special collections through our onsite and digital exhibits:
Current Onsite Exhibit
Rare Musical Materials from the Graham Library & Trinity College Archives
March 17 – August 1, 2025
Music is central to human experience. It has the power to evoke emotion and to connect people with one another. As our tools, techniques, beliefs, and cultures shift over time and place, so too does our music. This exhibit explores rare musical materials at the John W. Graham Library and Trinity College Archives. These materials include medieval manuscript music, music from the early Reformation, English metrical psalms, hymns – from Isaac Watts to Catherine Winkworth, and music from the rich tradition of Trinity College. Taken together, these items provide a glimpse of the musical special collections available at the Graham Library and Trinity Archives.
Visit the exhibit whenever the library is open.
Digital Exhibits
The Early Treasures of the Graham Library exhibit highlights interesting items in our collection that were printed in Western Europe spanning the 15th to the 18th centuries. Since 1828 when Bishop John Strachan negotiated a donation to purchase books for the future divinity library of King’s College, later University of Toronto, our rare and special collections have been developed over time through the generosity of donors, bequests, acquisitions, and serendipity.
The John W. Graham Library’s rare books and special collections holds around 5000 volumes, and its focus has been primarily works from the Western European printing tradition, with the recognition that other printing technology and knowledge systems arose simultaneously across the globe. This exhibit highlights some of our earliest printed sacred, literary, and scientific works to provide insight into the history of printing in Western Europe.
Past Exhibits
Ends in Themselves: Uncovering the Stories of Endpapers
October 2024 – February 2025
Tucked inside the covers of books, endpapers often escape our notice. But these papers have their own stories to tell. Endpapers are placed at the beginning and end of books, with one half pasted to the inside cover (the pastedown) and the other half remaining free (the flyleaf). They initially developed to serve a practical purpose: to protect texts from their bindings, which were often wooden boards covered in thick skins. To prevent the rough edges of the skins from rubbing against initial illuminated letters, binders began to paste vellum or manuscript fragments to the insides of the boards. Over time endpapers became an art form and mode of communication in themselves. Binders and publishers experimented with endpapers using marbling, printed decorations, and eventually advertisements and illustrations. Owners also frequently marked their endpapers, giving us a glimpse of the books’ provenance, or history of ownership. This exhibit uncovered endpapers from the 15th through 20th centuries, revealing the rich stories they tell.
The Art of Bookbinding
January – June 2024
The Art of Bookbinding: Handpress Era Bindings at the Graham Library featured a range of beautiful European book bindings from the handpress period (ca. 1450 – 1800). At this time, books were generally sold as sheets and then taken to a bindery where they were bound according to the individual purchaser’s tastes and budget. As unique, hand-made objects, bindings from this period reveal much about the histories, uses, and readers of early printed books.
Early Printed Treasures of the Graham Library
June – December 2023
This exhibit featured interesting items in our collection that were printed in Western Europe spanning the 15th to the 18th centuries. Since 1828 when Bishop John Strachan negotiated a donation to purchase books for the future divinity library of King’s College, later University of Toronto, our rare and special collections have been developed over time through the generosity of donors, bequests, acquisitions, and serendipity.
The John W. Graham Library’s rare books and special collections holds around 5000 volumes, and its focus has been primarily works from the Western European printing tradition, with the recognition that other printing technology and knowledge systems arose simultaneously across the globe. This exhibit highlighted some of our earliest printed sacred, literary, and scientific works to provide insight into the history of printing in Western Europe.