An exhibit of more than 400 rare and valuable books on astronomy, medicine, optics and ophthalmology is now open to the public at Johns Hopkins University?s George Peabody Library.
The exhibit, “A Perfect Vision: The Rare Book Collection of William Holland Wilmer,” puts on display works that have been out of the public eye for nearly 75 years.
Dr. Wilmer, a famous Baltimore physician, avid bibliophile and founder of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins, acquired the rare books in the 1920s and 1930s. Wilmer died in 1936 and willed his collection to Johns Hopkins University.
The exhibit focuses on works from the 15th through the 19th centuries, a significant period in the history and development of science and medicine, and emphasizes seven themes: Astronomy, how medicine was taught in those centuries, optics, spectacles, ophthalmology, color and theories of vision.
On display are beautifully illustrated editions with 17th-century woodcuts and copperplate engravings, and there are hand-colored lithographs from the 19th century.
“Wilmer was from the rare generation of physician/scholars who realized that the foundation for innovation is rooted in a firm understanding of the past,” said Richard Semba, a fellow bibliophile as well as the exhibit?s curator and an associate professor of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University.
If you go
The George Peabody Library is located at 17 E. Mount Vernon Place in Baltimore. The free exhibit, which runs through June 30, is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.
