March 24, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Pamela Higgins
(410) 516-8337
pamela.higgins@jhu.edu

RARE OPHTHALMOLOGY BOOKS IN PEABODY LIBRARY EXHIBITION

A Perfect Vision: The Rare Book Collection of William Holland Wilmer, an exhibition of works from a collection of more than 400 books on astronomy, medicine, optics and ophthalmology that have been out of public view for nearly three-quarters of a century, runs from April 1 through June 30 at Johns Hopkins University's George Peabody Library.

The exhibition is free and open to the public.  The library is at 17 E. Mount Vernon Place in Baltimore.

 William Holland Wilmer, preeminent physician and founder of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins, was also a passionate bibliophile who amassed an exceptional collection during the 1920s and 1930s.

“We are grateful to our colleagues at the Wilmer Eye Institute for making works from this outstanding collection available for the exhibition,” said Winston Tabb, dean of university libraries at Johns Hopkins. “This is a singular opportunity to highlight yet another remarkable facet of Wilmer’s enduring contribution to Johns Hopkins and to make the public aware of the extraordinary range of the Hopkins libraries’ collections.” 

The Wilmer collection, bequeathed to the university upon Wilmer’s death in 1936, contains works tracing the medical and scientific discoveries that ultimately led to the understanding of vision and the modern era of the treatment and prevention of eye diseases.  The exhibition features works dating from the 15th through the 18th centuries, arranged into seven overarching themes–astronomy, early medical teaching, optics, theories of vision, color, ophthalmology and spectacles. 

Beautifully illustrated editions with 17th-century woodcuts and copper plate engravings and 19th-century hand-colored lithographs are among the items displayed. Spectacles and ophthalmological instruments from the 18th and 19th centuries are also included. 

“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, associate professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and curator of the exhibition. “He appreciated the connections between astronomers using telescopes to understand the heavens, medieval scholars using burning glasses and mirrors, and eye doctors using instruments to examine the eye.”

A member of the Wilmer Eye Institute faculty since 1987, Semba became aware of the Wilmer collection through his research in the history of medicine.  He is also a bibliophile and collector, and is preparing a full catalog of the William Holland Wilmer Rare Book Collection.

Semba will present a gallery talk on Monday, April 10, at 5 p.m. The Peabody exhibition gallery and library will be open until 7 p.m. that evening.  Regular hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.

The George Peabody Library is one of the Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries, and part of the research library collections that serve the university’s academic programs worldwide. 

The Sheridan Libraries encompass the Milton S. Eisenhower Library and its collections at the Hutzler Reading Room, Garrett Library and the George Peabody Library.

###

Johns Hopkins University news releases can be found on the World Wide Web at: Headlines@Hopkins