WASHINGTON, D.C.- The Library of Congress has organized a special exhibition of 84 rare books from its Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection that are illustrated with woodcuts from the late medieval and early Renaissance periods. Titled "A Heavenly Craft: The Woodcut in Early Printed Books," the exhibition will be on display from April 7 through July 9, in the South Gallery of the Great Hall of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C.

The books on display were formerly owned by British collector C.W. Dyson Perrins (1864–1958), heir to the Lea and Perrins fortune, who sold them at auction in 1946 and 1947. Lessing J. Rosenwald (1891–1979), retired chairman of Sears, Roebuck and Co. and a noted philanthropist and collector, purchased 84 titles at the sale and was its most important buyer. The books were deeded to the Library of Congress in 1943 as part of Rosenwald’s larger gift of illustrated books, a collection considered to be one of the most important private libraries formed in the 20th century.

In the early 1450s, Johannes Gutenberg mastered the art of printing with moveable type. This method of printing can be credited not only for a revolution in the production of books, but also for fostering rapid development in the sciences, arts and religion through the transmission of texts.

During the same period, the woodcut attained a significant role in the illustration and decoration of books. Carving an image into a plank or block of wood, then impressing the image on paper or vellum, was a process commonly used in Europe early in the 15th century. A decade after Gutenberg ’s invention, printers found that they could combine woodcut blocks with metal type and print both image and text at the same time. The use of woodcuts in printed books made it possible for the first time to print identical copies of illustrated books, resulting in a powerful explosion of visual information, which greatly contributed to the standardization of knowledge throughout Europe.

The exhibition, which will be on display in close proximity to the Library’s vellum copy of the Gutenberg Bible, explores how the artistic influences of Renaissance painters, illuminators and sculptors transformed the woodcut into a medium of fine art. Many of the books in the display are on religious subjects and contain mages that reflect the dominance of the Judeo-Christian tradition in Western Europe.

Exhibition Highlights - The exhibition highlights include a 1484 edition of Juan de Torquemada’s "Meditationes," printed in Rome by Stephan Plannck. This book is illustrated with 33 half-page woodcuts, the first series of woodcut images to appear in a book printed in Italy. The exhibition also includes the very rare 1495 Florentine "Epistole e Evangelii," an Italian-language edition of the gospels, illustrated with 144 woodcuts. Many scholars consider this edition to be one of the most important illustrated books printed in Florence in the 15th century, because it typifies the Renaissance style that developed in the 1490s.

Also included are books that are known in only a few copies. This group includes Johann Schönsperger’s "Passio domini Jesu Christi," printed in Ausgburg in 1491; "Dye Siben Cursz," a rare German book of hours printed in Ulm by Conrad Dinckmut, also in 1491; Johann Landen ’s Cologne edition of "Zeitlöcklein des Lebens und Ledens Christi," printed around 1498; Antoine Verard’s "L’Art de bien vivre et de bien mourir," printed in Paris, 1493-1494; Gerard Leeu’s very rare edition of "Mediationes de vita et passione Jesu Christi," printed in Antwerp in 1498; and Jacobus Wolff de Pforzheim’s well-illustrated edition of Aesop’s fables, printed in Basel in 1501.