Special Collections

Mr. Tom, director of the special collections department, and I are seen here with the first written history of the world. Liber Chronicarum or The Nuremburg Chronicle was published in 1493. It is in Latin, which Flat Stanley cannot read. The paper is about three times thicker than me and with all the pages stacked one on top of the other the book is about as thick as I am tall. The book according to Mr. Tom was created Incunable or before the Gutenberg printing press. Mr. Tom also said the book is based on the book of Genesis in the Bible, but a lot more was added. The Liber Chronicarum was later written in German and printed. Some of the books, there were about 2500 printed, were colored in with watercolors. The book owned by the Library of Virginia does not have watercolor illustrations.
For more information about the Nuremburg Chronicle you might want to visit this website by the University of Maryland http://www.lib.umd.edu/RARE/Exhibits/Nuremberg/index.html

Another book Mr. Tom showed me was a bit more my size. Lincoln is a book of Abraham Lincoln's speeches. You can see how the book is shelved to keep it safe from being damaged or lost among all the other books.