Rare books available for class use

Imagine leafing through the pages of a 1640 edition of Niccolo Machiavelli's "The Prince," or a 1548 English translation of Martin Luther's "Obedience of a Christian Man."\nSome faculty and students are doing just that.\nA traveling rare book exhibit at IU's Main Library showcases more than 30 titles about liberty. "The Wisdom of the Ages," is on loan from The Remnant Trust, a private organization based in Hagerstown, Ind., and will run through the end of the semester.\nBut unlike most rare book displays, these classics come out of their glass-enclosed cases. Faculty members are encouraged to use the books creatively in classrooms and let students touch and examine first and early edition texts dating back to the 15th century.\nKris Bex, president of the Remnant Trust, said the primary purpose of the exhibit is for the books to be used.\n"I want them to be handled, read and studied," Bex said. "The main emphasis we have is to give some perspective on the timeline and history of the ideas of liberty."\nFounded about a decade ago by Bex's father, the Remnant Trust said it is dedicated to preserving the principles of freedom, liberty and human dignity. Since 1997, the group has been going to colleges and universities to display selections of its collection of more than 400 rare books and manuscripts. Bex said the exhibition is meant to bring the ideas of liberty, freedom and dignity "back into the dialogue in classrooms" by providing hands-on access to original works that espouse these values.\n"We feel that there are things missing, not being taught, understood and thought about," Bex said. "A lot of times when documents are reprinted, changed, adjusted, politically corrected, modernized, they're not the originals. We want to put the originals out there without making commentary. Read them yourself. Read the originals and think about them."\nJames Brogan, a visiting professor in the Honors College, brought four of the books to one of his classes, including a frail 1762 copy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "The Social Contract." Brogan said his students enjoyed paging through the early editions and asked questions about how the papers were folded and printed. \nAssociate history professor Arthur Field used a 1549 edition of Erasmus' "Praise of Follly" and a pocket-sized English translation of Luther's "Obedience of A Christian Man" in his class on early Modern Europe. Field said the books were interesting, and he was particularly impressed by a woodcut illustration he had never seen before near the end of "Praise of Folly." The picture depicted a court jester looking out over an audience of court jesters that is supposed to represent contemporary Europe. It was an unexpected discovery for Field,, who has worked with early texts and manuscripts for most of his career. \n"It's a heavily loaded and clever illustration," Field said. "To see that volume meant something to me in that it was an eye-opener. I may use it in a certain lecture and in that sense the collection had a good solid influence."\nBut Field, a Renaissance scholar, found some of the books on exhibit peculiar for their reference to liberty, including a copy of the "Magna Carta" from 1542 and a 1651 edition of Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan."\n"The principles of the 'Magna Carta' are good, solid, old-fashioned feudal principles," Field said. "You have to get rid of the principles of the Magna Carta before you get the modern principles of liberty ... and Hobbes' 'Leviathan' demonstrating individual liberty is just bizarre."\nA standard interpretation of Hobbes, Field noted, is that he is never associated with liberty. \nAccording to the Remnant Trust, using the books is meant to stimulate such discussion, and in that way it is succeeding. \n"These books allow you to get in touch with the ideas of the authors ... and come to conclusions yourself about the text," Bex said. \nAmong the many other treasures are a 1610 edition of St. Augustine's "Of the City of God;" a 1644 copy of John Milton's "Areopagitica," an early plea for unlicensed printing; a copy of St. Thomas Aquinas' "Summa Theologiae" from 1475, a scholastic compendium of theology and a first edition of Frederick Douglass' "My Bondage and My Freedom" from 1855. Numerous classics relating to press freedom including "The Trial of John Peter Zenger," an immigrant printer in New York who was tried and acquitted of seditious libel in the 1730s; even a "First Pamphlet Printing of the United States Constitution" is also on display.\nJoel Silver, head librarian at the Lilly Library, selected the books along with Brian Bex, Kris Bex's father and a frequent visitor to the Lilly Library over the years. Silver said he chose books he thought would be interesting to see in an exhibition, likely to be used in a classroom situation and those that are landmarks in their fields. Silver also noted how unusual it is letting such rare works be checked out. \n"I don't know of other special collection libraries that have this kind of public use," he said.\nSilver said the Lilly Library, which has large collections of 18th century British and Continental philosophy and Martin Luther tracts in its holdings, also carries a majority of the works in the display. But there are some surprises, including a 1721 copy of "Cato's Political Letters," published pseudonymously by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon in England in the 1720s. \n"It's extremely rare to find on the market, and one book the Lilly doesn't have," Silver said. \nBeverly Byl, executive director of IU libraries, said one reason for bringing the collection to IU is to highlight rare books and manuscripts and create awareness of larger collections such as those at the Lilly Library. In early November, a dinner will be held for the Remnant Trust inviting faculty and students to share their experiences with the books.\nTo look at the list of titles, go to www.indiana.edu/~libweb/news/titles.html.