BRUNSWICK – From gilded volumes once owned by France’s King Louis XIV to a 300-year-old cookbook describing how 17th-century French chefs made ice cream and soufflés, the exhibition Le Grand Siècle presents a collection of rare 17th-century books and maps that document a significant period in the shaping of French history and culture.

The exhibition, comprising items from the Bowdoin College Library’s special collections, is on view on the second floor of Hawthorne-Longfellow Library on the Bowdoin campus through Jan. 23, 2006.

Among the exhibits highlights:

• “Medailles sur les principaux événements du règne de Louis le Grand, avec des explications historiques” (1702 and 1723 editions), commemorating events from Louis XIV’s long reign.

• “Journal des Sçavans” selections (1665-1786), the first scientific journal ever published, and a major source for understanding scientific advances of the time.

• Several texts that include maps and vivid descriptions of the exploration and colonization of North America by the French.

• A first edition of Pierre Bayle’s “Dictionnaire historique et critique” (1697), a text usually regarded as inaugurating the Enlightenment period.

• Huguenot texts testifying to the period’s continuous religious turmoil, including volumes from “Histoire de l’Édit de Nantes” (1693-95), by exiled Protestant clergyman Elie Benoist.

• “L’art de faire les glaces” (c. 1700) describes how 17th-century French cooks made many flavors of ice cream and sorbet.

For more information, including holiday hours, phone (207) 725-3280 or visit http://library.bowdoin.edu/. Admission is free.