Lots of Luther this summer! It’s 2017 and this year marks the 500 years since the start of the Protestant Reformation. Here’s a PBS story about it. You may recall the big art exhibit at MIA last year. They drew bigger crowds than expected and extended the show. That show is over but the University of Minnesota Libraries has some cool exhibits about Martin Luther and the Reformation this summer! Two of these are archival in nature – one is in Elmer L. Andersen Library and one in the T.R. Anderson Gallery (near Bell) on the fourth floor of Wilson Library. These offer views of some incredible items from our Special Collections, Rare Books, & Manuscripts. The third, in Wilson basement, features circulating resources about both the historical context and the effect that Luther’s ideas, the invention of moveable type, and the Reformation had on publishing. Finally, if you’re up for a road trip, the Newberry in Chicago has an exhibit on Religious Change and Print, 1450-170.
Luther and the World Turned Upside Down: Prophecy, Revolution, and the End of Time
Above: The impressive entrance to the exhibit in Andersen this summer!
Below: The equally cool entrance to the related exhibit in Wilson on 4th floor.
The third exhibit, Martin Luther: From Protest to Publishing, is focused on general resources primarily in English about Martin Luther, the Reformation, and how communication was revolutionized within the church and beyond, as a result of Luther’s theology, his translation of the New Testament to German, the illustrations in books and the introduction of moveable type printing press. It’s on display in the basement of Wilson Library. The infographic posters are available from Here I Stand.
There’s also a handy research guide with useful databases, and a general bibliography and two shorter topical lists.
Martin Luther – list of links
Library Research Guide and Bibliographies related to Martin Luther
Quick link: https://z.umn.edu/LutherLinksWilson
Newberry Finally if you’re up for a road trip to Chicago, check out the Newberry’s exhibit:
Religious Change and Print, 1450-1700
Religious Studies Librarian 