Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of English. James Joyce Ulysses Paris, 1921 These “placards” are the proofs that were sent to Joyce by his French printers. It has been estimated that Joyce wrote thirty percent of Ulysses on proofs sheets, which helps account for the hundreds of typos

Abbott Lawrence Lowell Professor of Visual and Environmental Studies and of Romance Languages and Literatures Giovanni Cimerlino Single Cordiform Map Venice, 1566 As its name suggests, the cordiform projection resembling a heart invites spectators to behold the entirety of the globe on a flat plane. Perhaps inspired by the writings

Professor of English and of African and African American Studies War Department Wanted Poster Washington, D.C., 1865 On April 20, 1865, five days after Lincoln was assassinated, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton issued what is possibly the first “wanted” poster with photographs of suspects. The second printing included empty frames

James Bryant Conant University Professor John Adams A Proclamation: The Frailty of Human Nature Watertown, 1776 One of the main arguments of my book, Our Declaration, is that John Adams deserves just as much credit as Thomas Jefferson for the argument and rhetoric of the Declaration of Independence. Adams, for

Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and History of Science Peter Appian Astronomicum Caesareum Ingolstadt, 1540 The Astronomicum Caesareum, from the private press of Petrus Apianus in Ingolstadt, is one of the greatest masterpieces of 16th-century printing. The paper instrument found its supreme realization in a series of intricate volvelles with five

Morton B. Knafel Professor of Music Antiphonary Milan, 14th century This handsome fourteenth-century manuscript, with its initial depicting Saint Maurice, contains music of the Ambrosian rite. Practiced in northern Italy in the middle ages, Ambrosian chant was is one of the few repertories able to withstand the onslaught of “Gregorian”

James O. Welch, Jr. and Virginia B. Welch Professor of Computer Science Lewis Carroll The Game of Logic London, 1886 I, like all computer scientists, owe a great debt to Alan Turing, who invented my field of scholarship by devising the first universal computing device—the “Turing machine”, with its layout

John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities Lucretius De rerum natura Amsterdam, 1620 It is easy to imagine the poet and playwright Ben Jonson carrying his handy copy of Lucretius’s philosophical poem, De rerum natura, around with him and discussing its subversive, epicurean arguments with his cronies.  On one of