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Laminated illustrated wrappers with flaps, 4to, 29 cm, 360 pp, profusely illustrated, chiefly in colour. Published to accompany an exhibition held at the Morgan Library and Museum, New York, 6 June - 14 Sept. 2014, and the Bodleian Library, Oxford, 21 Mar. - 20 Sept. 2015. From the blurb:- "Genius is the mysterious pinnacle of human creativity, a gift that cannot be acquired through dedication and hard work. And while genius is difficult to define, we all recognize that elusive quality when we encounter it. This book, and the exhibition it accompanies, examines the various meanings of genius, from its ancient origins to its modern meaning. The Bodleian s unparalleled collection contains many manifestations of genius, whether the creative brilliance of Shakespeare or Mendelssohn, or the scientific innovation of Robert Hooke or Dorothy Hodgkin. Books and manuscripts which are works of art in their own right are a reminder that genius is not necessarily solitary and self-sufficient; it can equally be collaborative, and is always embedded in the tastes and traditions of its time. Marks of Genius also considers the relationship between genius and learning, and in particular explores ways in which the works of genius found in a university library can be acquired, collected and read. The re-founding of the University Library in Oxford by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1602 was itself an act of genius that had a profound effect on the world of scholarship. Four hundred years on, the Bodleian Library is an institution through which traces of genius run like a golden thread. If the various forms the character of genius has taken over the centuries have anything in common, it is that they celebrate the variety and creativity of human beings. From Euclid, Dante, Kafka and Handel to Einstein, Austen and Gandhi - and including such iconic pieces as Magna Carta and the Gutenberg Bible - Marks of Genius pays tribute to some of the most remarkable testimonies of genius in human history." Principal contents comprise: Preface, by Richard Ovenden; Foreword, by Toby Blackwell; Blackwell's and the Bodleian, by Reg Carr; The genius of Sir Thomas Bodley : the Bodleian LIbrary, by Richard Ovenden; The character of genius, by Stephen Hebron; Catalogue: Part 1. Marks of genius; What is genius?; Written in their own hands; The most ingenious books; Standing on the shoulders of giants; The child of patronage. Part 2. Genius and learning; Genius is from Heaven, learning from man; Gathering in books; Books of their owne stoare; For the use and ease of students; The gigantic genius of Shakespeare. Bibliography; Index, Concordance of shelfmarks. As new.
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