MONSTERS ON DISPLAY: AN EXHIBITION AT THE THOMAS FISHER RARE BOOK LIBRARY

Special Feature | Selin Kahramanoglu

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Interested in unicorns? Giant sea creatures attacking sailing ships? The tales of world travels and scientific discoveries? The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library has a new exhibition open, called De Monstris: An Exhibition of Monsters and the Wonders of Human Imagination. This month's post will be a featured article about this exciting new exhibition, including some of my insights as an intern with the project!

Photo courtesy of Selin Kahramanoglu.

Curated by Fisher librarian, David Fernandez, this exhibition explores how the West came to understand monsters and ideas of monstrosity throughout history and varying disciplines. The exhibition utilizes literature and illustrations from areas such as science, religion, philosophy, and arts. The exhibition incorporates texts from the classical period, up until the modern age.

Through physical displays and interactive iPads, the exhibition highlights five main themes:

1. On Monstrous People: Classical and medieval texts explore the creation of monsters through topics like divine rejection and prodigies. 
2. On Monstrous Encounters: Journals of exploration and geographies tell the tales of finding monsters while discovering the world. 
3. On Monstrous Nature: Philosophers and natural historians ponder the origins of monsters, and how society understands them.
4. On Monstrous Bodies: Medical theorists debate whether human deformities and diseases are elements of monstrosity. 
5. On Monstrous Stories: Items such as children's storybooks and illustrative pamphlets reveal artists' creations of monsters in recent popular culture.

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Is it starting to catch your interest? Let me tell you how much I enjoyed working on this project...

As a summer intern, I had the privilege of assisting the curator with this project by preparing the digital exhibition content. The goal of my work was to digitize images for the online catalogue, some of which are used in the iPads. With these devices, visitors can "flip through" the iPad and see more hidden illustrations from the books behind the glass cases. Here is how I helped with this component of the exhibition:

Research & Curation: David already had a preliminary list of items he wanted to include in the exhibition, so I started from there. I searched the catalogues of the University of Toronto and other institutions to find items that suited David's criteria. Then, I would request the items, and sift through every page to find suitable imagery to display. I created a list of items that didn't have the appropriate exhibition requirements, so that I wouldn't repeat myself and search for them again.

• This was the exhibition phase that took the longest to complete. However, as a book nerd, I often admired the large stack of 18th century books with intricate bindings and cover art on my desk. 

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Data Documentation: All illustrations and texts have data associated with them, and I needed to record this information accurately and efficiently. It was important for library visitors to clearly understand the labels, and for future scholars to be able to retrieve all necessary information. I made two metadata documents with differing levels of detail - one document had only the necessary "tombstone" information for the labels, while the other document had all the detailed data for all researched items.

• This phase was very rewarding, because it allowed me to apply all the knowledge that I gained from my Archives & Records Management courses up to that point. 

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Digitizing: I can tell you first hand that all of the illustrations that I scanned have stunning artistry. By consulting my metadata document with the tombstone information, I digitized all the illustrations that were meant for the iPad displays. I also did some basic editing like cropping the image, resizing it to a standard measurement, and changing the file format.

• This phase was the most enjoyable for me, because I got to work with beautiful illustrations and bindings. My favourite item is a map of a sea voyage, where a sailor documented an encounter with a female marine creature (and it's on display, so go see it)!

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Uploading: Once all the items were selected, with their data collected, and then digitized, all of this information was finally uploaded to the library's server. I met with other colleagues involved with the project and we discussed the iPad interface, and how to best organize the data so that it makes sense to visitors and is visually appealing.

• This phase was finished last, and it was also the quickest to complete. I really felt like a true library professional, especially by contributing to staff discussions and by utilizing modern library technologies.

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Even though I'm biased, this exhibition is not only interesting, but is also easy to access and has free admission! The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library also showcases some of their rarest and most famous items, like the illustrations of Ulisse Aldrovandi. Visiting the exhibition is a great way to discover the library, if you haven't already visited it.

Lucky for iSchool students and visitors to Toronto, the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library is located in the middle of the University of Toronto's St. George campus. If you need to take a class on a field trip, you have an hour until your lunch meeting, or if you're excited about the topic, stop by the exhibition! Grab a friend and go to the main Robarts Library building, head up to the second floor's south wing and see for yourself.

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Let me know what you think about the exhibition in the comments below! Stay tuned for the return of my column, Conservation Tips & Tricks, starting up next month.