FARMINGTON – Unlike most museum exhibits, the rare documents coming to Mantor Library at the University of Maine at Farmington can be touched. As a matter of fact, exhibitors encourage it.
The college will be the first in New England to display a collection of original and first-edition documents relating to liberty and human dignity. The collection of more than 40 historical documents, amassed by the Remnant Foundation of Indiana, will arrive at the college Monday. From 1 to 3 p.m. each weekday, beginning Sept. 5, the public can do more than just view the documents – people will be able to touch them.
Included in the exhibit are a circa 1350 manuscript of the Magna Carta, a 1496 first English printing of Aristotle’s “Ethics,” and a circa 1792 first edition of Mary Wollstonecraft’s “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.”
When college professors were first shown the important works and told they could hold them, “it was unbelievable to watch their body language, their facial expressions and to hear their verbiage,” Brian Bex, founder of Remnant Foundation, said in a recent written statement. The goal of sharing the documents is to prompt discussion. “These things for centuries have been locked up or hidden away in a vault, available only to the super-rich,” Bex said. “But great ideas belong to everybody.”
The college will be hosting a lecture series in connection with the exhibit, which will be on display through the fall semester. It also hopes to accommodate private groups to tour the display during times other than the scheduled public handling times. For more information, people may contact Frank Roberts, director of Mantor Library, at 778-7215.
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