PUL opens the Ellen and Leonard Milberg Gallery and its first exhibition, "Welcome Additions: Selected Acquisitions 2012-18"

The Ellen and Leonard Milberg Gallery, which recognizes the many contributions of 1953 Princeton alumnus Leonard L. Milberg and his wife Ellen Milberg, is now open in Firestone Library's lobby. Photo by Shelley Szwast, Princeton University Library

We are pleased to announce the opening of the new Ellen and Leonard Milberg Gallery and its inaugural exhibition, “Welcome Additions: Selected Acquisitions 2012-18.” 

Located in Firestone Library and open to the public, the gallery will highlight PUL’s world-renowned collections while also drawing upon complementary collections from campus partners such as the Princeton University Art Museum. “With the opening of the Ellen and Leonard Milberg Gallery in Firestone Library, we are able to share materials from our collections with a wider audience,” said Anne Jarvis, Robert H. Taylor 1930 University Librarian.

Its current and first-ever exhibition, “Welcome Additions,” is a retrospective of recent additions to PUL’s special collections within the Cotsen Children’s Library, East Asian Library, Graphic Arts, Manuscripts, Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology, Numismatics, Public Policy Papers, Rare Books, Scheide Library, University Archives, and Western Americana. The exhibition theme, as described by Curator of Rare Books Eric White, “plays on the notion that our recent acquisitions may reflect either long-awaited opportunities to enhance existing collections, or unexpected ways of moving beyond traditional collecting interests.”
 

The Ellen and Leonard Milberg Gallery's first exhibition, Welcome Additions: Selected Acquisitions 2012-18, is a retrospective of recent additions to PUL's special collections. Photo by Shelley Szwast, Princeton University Library

Upcoming exhibition plans include: "In principio: The Origins and Early Spread of European Printing," featuring 50 to 60 items including the Gutenberg Bible, and “Piranesi on the Page,” a 300th anniversary celebration of graphic artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi, featuring over 50 items, including important loans from the Vatican Library and other esteemed institutions. Other exhibitions will explore such topics as alchemy (planned for fall 2020), Native Americans and the 100th anniversary of the Association of American Indian Affairs, the origins and early spread of printing in Europe, and a tribute to 1950 Princeton alumnus Lloyd E. Cotsen. 

The gallery is named in recognition of the many contributions of 1953 Princeton alumnus Leonard L. Milberg and his wife, Ellen. At a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 5 p.m., Ellen and Leonard Milberg, joined by their granddaughter Samantha Shapiro, class of 2021; Fintan O’Toole, the Leonard L. Milberg ’53 visiting lecturer in Irish Letters; and Jarvis, celebrated the gallery’s opening.
 

From left to right: Anne Jarvis, Robert H. Taylor 1930 University Librarian, Samantha Shapiro '21, Ellen Milberg, Leonard Milberg, and Fintan O'Toole, Leonard L. Milberg '53 visiting lecturer in Irish Letters. Photo by Kevin Birch

The gallery will be free and open to the public daily from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, visit the Ellen and Leonard Milberg Gallery page. 

Visit the Welcome Additions online exhibition.

Written by Library Communications Office

Media contact: Barbara Valenza, Library Communications Manager