Houghton sets sights on reception

Houghton Library will host an opening reception on Tuesday (Sept. 16) from 5 to 7 p.m. for its major fall exhibition, “To Promote, to Learn, to Teach, to Please: Scientific Images in Early Modern Books.” The exhibition examines how images in early modern European books of science (1500-1750) not only were shaped by the needs of scientific communication, but also were deeply influenced by economic, social, and cultural considerations. Through representative examples, drawn from the collections of Houghton Library and Harvard’s Collection of Historic Scientific Instruments, this exhibition examines early scientific images and the books they illustrated to show how they were intended to appeal both to men of science and to more general audiences. The exhibition is open to the public through Dec. 20 in the Edison and Newman Room of the library.