The Making of a Botanist: Joseph Dalton Hooker, 1817-1911

Brand New Exhibit opening at the Lloyd Library and Museum!

This is the centenary celebration year of the death of Joseph Dalton Hooker, famed 19th century botanist and explorer of India and the Himalayas, son of William Jackson Hooker (another great botanist), friend and confidant of Charles Darwin, and Director of Kew Gardens in London. His contributions to botany are immense, especially in the area of rhododendron and orchid research, but in other areas as well. Find out, through the holdings of the Lloyd Library and Museum, what it takes to make a great botanist.

Exhibit Opening on October 8, 2011, 4-7 p.m., features a lecture by noted author and professor, Gene Kritsky, who will speak on the relationship between Charles Darwin and J. D. Hooker. Lecture starts at 4:30 p.m. followed by a reception.

Concurrent art exhibit by local and regional artists will feature works on the subjects of India, the Himalayas, and the Asian region.

PLUS - SAVE THE DATE! November 30, 2011, 7-9 p.m. Micahel A. Flannery, Associate Director of Historic Collections, University of Alabama, Birmingham, will deliver a presention, show a brief film, and answer questions about his new book, Alfred Russel Wallace: A Rediscovered Life

Exhibit Dates: October 8 - December 30, 2011

The Magic and Myth of Alchemy

Check out the Lloyd's latest online exhibit, "The Magic and Myth of Alchemy." Did you know that this year, 2011, was the International Year of Chemistry? In celebration of that fact, the Lloyd Library is showcasing its many and historic volumes on alchemy, the intellectual and scientific precursor to chemistry. Alchemy laid the foundations for chemistry, establishing laboratory procedures and creating a great deal of laboratory equipment that is today still in use, in some form.

Tthe Lloyd holds books from the 16th through 20th centuries on alchemy and a wealth of resources on chemistry. Don't miss your chance to learn about this mythical science, where it got its start, and why it is still appealing today!

World Travelers: 3 Men, 3 Visions, 3 Centuries April 23 - July 29, 2011

This newest exhibit at the Lloyd Library and Museum was inspired by the joie de vivre of one of the Lloyd's dearest patrons and friends, Pierre Rene Sotteau (1925-2010). Sotteau, Professor Emeritus of Miami University (OH), French Department, was a long-time user of the Lloyd's resources, helped with exhibits, research and more. In his last years, he was researching Curtis Gates Lloyd, one of the Library's founders. The two men shared a love of travel, and Sotteau had been busily tracking down Lloyd's travels around the world. A curious connection to Lloyd, through Sotteau, was revealed in the person of photographer, Joel Quimby, an acquaintance of Pierre's. Quimby's photographs of Madagascar from a recent trip are remarkably similar to Lloyd's photographs of the Caribbean islands over 100 years ago. Pierre Sotteau connected Lloyd and Quimby in a way he perhaps never imagined. Now, the travels of all three men will be on exhibit at the Lloyd - book and memorabilia exhibit highlights some of Sotteau's favorite travel destinations, while the art gallery holds selections of Quimby's and Lloyd's travel photographs.
Don't miss this opportunity!

Lloyd on Cincinnati Magazine top 5

Lloyd Library just made one of Cincinnati Magazine's top 5 lists. Check it out at the link below. They mention the Sloane and chocolate exhibit, but remember, if you can't make it in to see the exhibit, it exists online - just visit the Lloyd's website and exhibits page to take a virtual tour! http://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/article.aspx?id=98068
http://www.lloydlibrary.org/exhibts.html

The Chocolate Connection: Hans Sloane and Jamaica

Recently, the Lloyd Library and Museum opened a new set of exhibits centered on the theme of chocolate. Now, the rare and unique books part of that exhibit is online. The Chocolate Connection: Hans Sloane and Jamaica tells the story of Hans Sloane,a British naturalist and physician, who went to Jamaica in the late 1600s and was there introduced to drinking chocolate. While he didn't much care for the beverage he was served, he modified it, added milk and a few other ingredients, and thus was born hot chocolate, a beverage that he and others sold as a medicinal agent for calming upset stomachs and the like.

You'll get to see some cool images of chocolate and related materials drawn from the Lloyd's fascinating collection, and you get to learn about the history of this food so many are obsessed with. A fun time for all. And, when you're done, there's a reading list of some of the books held by the Lloyd on Sloane, chocolate, and Jamaica, as well as a list of links to reputable sources for additional information on all three.

If you can make it into the Library, the exhibit is on until the end of January 2011.

In Search of Birds at the Lloyd

You won't have to go far to find some really fabulous volumes on Ornithology at the Lloyd Library and Museum. We have single volume treatments of birds as well as beautifully illustrated historic serials on the topic (at right, an illustration by John Gerrard Keulemans in The Ibis). And, now, some of those are the subject of a new online exhibit on lloydlibrary.org. We'll show birds from around the world, as well as those from your own backyard. There is a special focus on two notable, but now extinct (maybe) birds - the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (who may or may not be extinct) and the Passenger Pigeon, the last of which died at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. We also take a look at bird illustrators, the people who make these books so fabulous, an intriguing exploration of nests, eggs, and skeletons, and bird books for children. You might not have thought the Lloyd would have books on birds, but you'll be pleasantly surprised!
Visit the exhibit now and see what's in store!

Earth Day

http://www.nelsonearthday.net - for those interested - this will take you to an archives exhibit on Gaylord Nelson, a Wisconsin-born Senator from the 20th century who was instrumental in getting Earth Day established in the US.