Hatcher Gallery Exhibit Room

The Hatcher Gallery Exhibit Room provides an accessible, secure, dedicated space for some of the greatest treasures from the library’s collections. While the larger exhibit rotates regularly, one display case is dedicated to ancient papyri from the Papyrology Collection and another to John James Audubon’s The Birds of America, a page of which is turned weekly. In fact, the library marks its formal beginning with the purchase in 1839 of John James Audubon’s The Birds of America (1827–1838), a collection of hand-colored prints that are as scientifically accurate as they are beautiful. The Board of Regents paid $970, an immense sum of money at the time, for the 435 plates. The gallery is open to the public.