NEW U.VA. BOOK EXHIBITION SPACE IN ROTUNDA
WILL OPEN WITH SHOW OF PERSONAL PAPERS 
OF PUBLISHER DAVID MELCHER

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Jan. 21 -- The University of Virginia
has created a major new book exhibition space in a distinguished old
building. The building is the Rotunda, the circular landmark
designed by Thomas Jefferson that dominates the historic Central
Grounds of the University, and the new book exhibition space is in
the Rotunda's Dome Room. 
	"We think that this new use for the Dome Room is one that
Mr. Jefferson would have approved of," said Terry Belanger,
University Professor and Honorary Curator of Special Collections at
U.Va., who is responsible for the ongoing series of exhibitions it
will house in bookcases that line its walls.
	The exhibition space will be inaugurated on Sunday, Jan. 22,
with a show celebrating the recent gift to U.Va. of the personal
papers of Daniel Melcher (1912-1985), former president of the R. R.
Bowker publishing company in New York City, and the developer of
such essential book-trade reference tools as ÒBooks In PrintÓ and
the International Standard Book Number (ISBN).  Almost all new books
now carry an ISBN on the back of their title pages or covers. 
	The Melcher papers are the gift of Margaret Saul Melcher and
Frederic G. Melcher II, Daniel Melcher's widow and son. The Dome
Room exhibition opening Sunday, titled "Melcher on Melcher:  From
Boyhood to Bowker and Beyond," was curated by C. Jared Loewenstein,
Ibero-American bibliographer in the University Library, and an old
family friend of the Melchers, who had a home in Albemarle County
for many years. Loewenstein and his wife, Jacqueline Rice, are
writing a biography of Daniel Melcher.
	"We're delighted to receive Daniel Melcher's papers," said
University Librarian Karin Wittenborg.  "We're proud to exhibit them
in such a splendid location, and weÕre pleased to have some of the
library's materials back in the University's original library
building." The Rotunda served as the main library of the University
until 1938, when Alderman Library opened.
	The Melcher show is the first in an ongoing series of
exhibitions scheduled to change about every three months, said
Belanger, who came to U.Va. in 1992 from Columbia University,
bringing with him the Book Arts Press, a laboratory supporting the
study of the history of books and printing.  The Book Arts Press's
extensive collections will form the basis of many of the exhibitions
being planned for the Dome Rome, including a show scheduled to open
this summer featuring more than 200 editions of a single book, Owen
Meredith's ÒLucile,Ó a long story in verse first published in London
in 1860.
	Now forgotten, ÒLucileÓ was immensely popular in the United
States a hundred years ago, and its many different editions are
useful for showing the changes that happened in book design and
illustration between about 1870 and 1910. 
	Other forthcoming Rotunda book shows will deal with such
subjects as the development of dust jackets, the history of bad
ideas in publishing, the relation between the size and dimensions of
a book and its contents, and the books Americans gave each other for
Christmas in 1896.
	ÒThese are going to be very unusual shows,Ó predicted
Kathryn Morgan, Curator of Rare Books in the U.Va. Library. ÒThe
Book Arts Press collections are unique, and Belanger's purpose in
mounting exhibitions is different from those of most institutions.Ó
Belanger agreed:  ÒThe Book Arts Press's primary purpose is to
study, teach, and illustrate the history of the book,Ó he said. "Not
many libraries, for instance, would want to do a show on changing
fashions in the choice of author's photographs for use on the back
of dust jackets--one of the shows we're going to be putting on next
year." 
	The next Rotunda book show is scheduled to coincide with the
first annual Virginia Festival of the Book, to be held in
Charlottesville at the end of March. The theme of both this year's
Festival and the exhibition will be "Charlottesville as a Book
Town," and the show will feature books by local authors from Peter
Jefferson (Thomas's father) to some recent best-sellers. 
	The Rotunda is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
seven days a week.
###
January 20, 1995