The University of Delaware Library will present a lecture by noted collector and antiquarian bookseller Jeremy Norman titled "A Collector's Evolution: My Experience with the Books and Manuscripts of Charles Darwin and His Contemporaries," on Tuesday, Feb. 14.

Norman's talk will serve as the second keynote in the University's International Darwin Day 2017 celebration and as the opening event connected with the library's exhibition, "Victorian Passions: Stories from the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection," on view in the Special Collections Gallery from Feb. 14 through June 3.

Norman's lecture will take place at 4:30 p.m. in the Class of 1941 Lecture Room, located on the first floor of Morris Library. Light refreshments will be available. RSVPs are encouraged via email at rsvp-library@winsor.lib.udel.edu, and walk-ins are welcome.

The Special Collections Gallery will remain open until 6:30 p.m. that evening so that attendees can visit the "Victorian Passions" exhibition.

The lecture, free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection, the University of Delaware Library and the Delaware Bibliophiles.

Norman is an antiquarian bookseller, bibliographer, appraiser, writer and collector specializing in the history of science, medicine, technology, and the history of media. He is the creator of four websites: HistoryofScience.com, HistoryofMedicineandBiology.com, HistoryofInformation.com and BookHistory.net.

He is also the author of Scientist, Scholar and Scoundrel: A Bibliographical Investigation of the Life and Exploits of Count Guglielmo Libri (2013) and also the co-author, with Diana H. Hook, of The Haskell F. Norman Library of Science and Medicine (1991) and Origins of Cyberspace: A Library on the History of Computing, Networking and Telecommunications (2002). Norman is the editor of From Gutenberg to the Internet: A Sourcebook on the History of Information Technology (2005).

His main personal collecting interests focus on the discovery of human origins and on the development of mass media in the 19th century.

All visitors to the Morris Library need to have photo identification to enter the building, e.g., a UD ONEcard, a U.S. driver’s license or a government-issued or school-issued photo ID.

Darwin Day

Charles Darwin was born on Feb. 12, 1809. Annual Darwin Day programs are organized around the world to celebrate his contributions to humanity, science and rational thought.

This year the event at the University of Delaware will take place over two days, Feb. 13-14. A symposium featuring nine UD faculty and keynote speaker Karen Strier will take place from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday, Feb. 13, in the Harker Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Laboratory.

The hosts are the University of Delaware’s Chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Society, the Interdisciplinary Science Learning Center and the Department of Anthropology.

Norman's lecture follows on Feb. 14. For more information, visit this website.

‘Victorian Passions’

Materials related to Charles Darwin are included in this exhibition, curated by Margaret D. Stetz, Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and professor of humanities, and on view in the Special Collections Gallery of Morris Library from Feb. 14 through June 3.

The Mark Samuels Lasner Collection, a recent gift to the University of Delaware Library, focuses on British literature and art of the period 1850 to 1900. For more information, visit this website.

Exhibitions

Exhibitions are offered in the Special Collections Gallery in the Morris Library, Old College Gallery, Mechanical Hall Gallery and in the Mineralogical Museum in Penny Hall.

All exhibitions and accompanying programs are offered to the UD community and general public without charge.

Collaborative initiatives and programming with students, faculty and departments across campus foster diversity and enhance interdisciplinary research and teaching.

For information about Special Collections and Museums, as well as current and past exhibitions, see the websites.