This illustration of the back of the Philadelphia State House was created by William Russell Birch in 1800. It is among the views of American cities featured in the new exhibition at the Beinecke Library. The exhibition brings together some 100 books, albums, drawings, maps and other materials illustrating American life that were bequeathed to Yale by alumnus and art collector Paul Mellon.

Exhibit explores transformations in American life

The changing landscape of America from the time of its earliest explorers to the late 19th century is examined in a new exhibition opening on Friday, May 3, at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library that brings together some hundred books, albums, drawings, maps, atlases and other materials bequeathed to Yale by the late Paul Mellon '29. "America Pictured to the Life: Illustrated Works from the Paul Mellon Bequest" features a selection of items from the Yale alumnus' collection that reflects and interprets the American past. Mellon, a renowned art collector and the founder of such institutions as the Yale Center for British Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., amassed large collections of sporting books, English literature and art, topography, alchemy, travel, English illustrated books and illustrated Americana. When he died in 1999, his Americana collections were distributed, according to his will, among the University of Virginia, the Virginia Historical Society, the Yale Center for British Art and the Beinecke Library. Among the highlights of the new exhibit are Theodor de Bry's 1594 illustrated German translation of Italian trader Girolamo Benzoni's account of his travels to the New World and a rare 1622 edition of Giovanni Botero's economic geography of the world, titled "Le Relationi Universali," which features woodcuts of fantastic creatures who reputedly lived beyond Europe's borders. The exhibit also includes works from four centuries later that reflect both the 19th-century revolution in printing and the cultural transformations that accompanied European expansion. The exhibit was prepared by George A. Miles, curator of the Western Americana Collection at the Beinecke, and William S. Reese, an adviser to the collection. They have divided the exhibition into four sections, as follows. * "Visual Directories" includes topographical works that depict the landscape, cultural life and built environments. Akin to city directories, visual directories offered a virtual tour of the scenes that readers might have expected to see during a visit. Nineteenth-century views of Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis, New York City and Honolulu are featured in the display, as well as scenes from Mexico, Latin America and the West Indies. * "History" includes works that depict events and personalities that shaped the world of the illustrator and his audience. These range from epic accounts of warfare to personal recollections, and include maps and atlases as well as depictions of Native American peoples. * "Utility" gathers practical illustrations, from technical manuals to scientific explanation to various forms of advertisement. These include descriptions on subjects ranging from banister designs and geologic strata to California grapes. * "Arts & Amusements," the final section of the exhibition, brings together works meant to edify and entertain or to teach the fine arts. It includes drawing manuals, satirical narratives of college life, sheet music, and religious and children's literature. The exhibit will open with an illustrated lecture on Friday, May 3, presented by Martha Sandweiss, professor of American studies at Amherst College. Her talk, titled "Picture Stories: Images as History," will take place at 5 p.m. in the Law School's Levinson Auditdorium, 121 Wall St. A reception will follow at the Beinecke Library. The event is free and open to the public. A full-color catalogue accompanies the exhibit, which will be on view through July 17. The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, located at 121 Wall St., is open for exhibition viewing Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free. 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