Greg Prickman describes the Folger Shakespeare Library’s newest exhibit as a “choose your own adventure.” The diverse collection of books — ranging from the earliest Bible and the first printed Haggadah with a commentary to an annotated copy of “Lord of the Rings” — span genres and are not organized by time, theme or any other category.
Instead, visitors to the “Imprints in Time” exhibit view a book or manuscript through a glass case, and a corresponding label suggests two books the visitor can see next in the exhibit: “There’s no sort of imposed order to anything,” Prickman said.
On June 13, the Folger Shakespeare Library in Southeast D.C. announced details of “Imprints in Time,” a curated display of books and manuscripts that intends to document some of the greatest achievements in writing and creativity across centuries, according to its website.
The exhibit draws from the collection of Stuart and Mimi Rose, collectors from Dayton, Ohio. Stuart Rose collects rare books and manuscripts — the 52 written works displayed in the exhibit cover science, religion, philosophy, literature and history.
Prickman, interim director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, curated “Imprints in Time,” which has been open to the public since June 21 and will remain open until Jan. 5.
“What I wanted was to be able to show the breadth and the depth of what Stuart collects,” said Prickman, who met Stuart Rose through the Folger in 2018. “Rather than focusing on very specific areas, it meant trying to draw from across the range of collections.”
Stuart Rose’s collection is housed in two wood-paneled rooms in his Dayton home, which Prickman has visited.
“[Rose] has essentially two library rooms and they’re both circular, so you’re always surrounded by the collection that he has amassed when you’re looking at material,” Prickman said. “In curating the exhibition and in arranging the layout of the pieces in the exhibition, I tried to evoke that feeling a little bit — the cases kind of surround you no matter where you are on the floor of the exhibition.”
“Imprints in Time” features a 13th-century illuminated manuscript thought to be the earliest Bible in private hands, the first Haggadah printed with a commentary, a woodblock-printed Japanese Buddhist text and the first European printing of the works of Confucius. Prickman said he wanted to showcase many different faiths and cultural expressions because Rose’s collection is so wide-ranging.
The Haggadah — which translates to “telling” in Hebrew — is a Jewish text that describes the Passover Seder and telling of the exodus from Egypt. The Zevach Pesach Haggadah, which includes commentary by Don Isaac Abrabanel, was first printed in 1505 and now resides in “Imprints in Time.”
This version of the Zevach Pesach Haggadah was the third book printed in Constantinople and the first Haggadah printed outside of Europe. The Haggadah is written in Hebrew in a small folio containing 40 leaves. The manuscript has roughly the same dimensions as a standard piece of printer paper: 8.3 by 10.8 inches.
Prickman, who has a degree in library science, said he is fascinated by early typography, especially the fact that early metalworkers had to create an entirely new set of characters to print text in Hebrew.
“The era in which printing emerged in Europe, the 15th century, is also one of tremendous upheaval, and among that upheaval is the expulsion of the Jewish people from Spain,” Prickman said. “And the Haggadah that we have on display is connected to that period of exile that results after the expulsion. What we have for people to see is a piece that not only is important in the development of printed Hebrew, but it connects you with this moment of historical trauma and upheaval in a way that is really meaningful.”
He added that another reason to represent Judaism in the exhibit was to counterbalance the many Christian texts — Christianity is the world’s largest religion and is the predominant religion in many regions.
“One of the objects that we have on display is a Bible that was printed in Germany in 1462. This is an early printed Bible, so that’s the kind of thing that is a little bit more common,” Prickman said. “Christian religious texts were among those that were printed heavily in the early days of printing, so for me, part of it was I want to make sure we balance that out with some other kinds of [texts] because there were other faiths that very quickly become represented in the material that’s circulating and being printed.”
The exhibit also features a large, heavily decorated Koran from the 19th century, according to Prickman.
“The ability to be able to see these different pieces together and see the different sensibilities in design and how the materials were created, to see these side by side is an opportunity to make an experience a lot deeper and more meaningful, I think, than just only showing one faith tradition,” he said.
“Imprints in Time” includes the earliest known presentation copy of “The Catcher in the Rye” (1951) by J. D. Salinger, who was the son of a Jewish father. Before Salinger wrote what many consider the “Great American Novel,” he was a World War II soldier who helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp. Salinger, one of the first Americans to witness a concentration camp, went undercover as part of the mission.
Since the exhibit opened on June 21, Prickman said he has seen visitors of all ages explore what he describes as a “very visually engaging” exhibit. Visitors typically spend about an hour in “Imprints in Time,” where Prickman has seen positive responses.
“We wanted to be able to cover a variety of languages, a variety of cultures, a variety of perspectives to show the breadth of these materials and what it feels like to see them side by side that may have initially existed in much different circumstances,” Prickman said.
