Secret Lives of Books

Illustrated book spines

About the exhibit

Exhibit dates: September 18, 2018 to December 23, 2019

Rare books may seem quiet and static, yet these volumes tell stories of their makers, authors, and readers, and continue to influence scholarship, art, and the public imagination.

In the Wangensteen Historical Library's new exhibit, we turn on the lights and open the stacks to reveal the past and present secret lives of books and tell their captivating stories of health, illness, and the human experience.

In an evolving exhibit experience, guest curated exhibit vignettes will be changed each month to reveal more stories about rare books and their intersections with current events, historical experiences, and the research programs at the University of Minnesota.

Related news and events

Online exhibit

Go online to explore the Secret Lives of Books, with author spotlights, movable books, historical doodles, interviews with artists and historians, and much, much more!

Pop-up exhibit: Swords and the Secret Lives of Books

From the battlefield to the operating theater and forests to the kitchen, knives and swords were part of everyday life in premodern Europe. Join the Wangensteen Library and the Oakeshott Institute to learn about how these instruments were made and used, their meaning in society, and how we continue to learn from them today. This pop-up exhibit hosted by the Wangensteen Historical Library and the Oakeshott Institute features 15th to 18th-century swords from the collections of the Oakeshott Institute. Through June 1, 2019.

Announcement: The Secret Lives of Books

In the Wangensteen Historical Library's new exhibit, we turn on the lights and open the stacks to reveal the past and present secret lives of books and tell their captivating stories of health, illness, and the human experience. The exhibit is open September 18, 2018 through December 23, 2019 during regular library hours at the Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine, 568 Diehl Hall.