Virtual Lecture: Bibliophilic Delights from The Gennadius Library in Athens
Maria Georgopoulou on the latest discoveries of how the Gennadius Library came to be.
Joannes Gennadius (1844-1932), a Greek diplomat and bibliophile, wanted his magnificent personal library of 26,000 volumes to remain intact, in Greece and accessible to scholars internationally. His holdings have been preserved and expanded sixfold in a 1920s marble building on the campus of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. With highlights including early editions of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and a laurel wreath belonging to Lord Byron, the library sheds light on Hellenism, Greece, and neighboring civilizations from antiquity to modern times. Maria Georgopoulou, the library's director since 2004, will give a talk on some of the collection's important rare editions, fine bookbindings and “only known” copies that belonged to Joannes Gennadius as well as more recent acquisitions.
Maria Georgopoulou was trained as an art historian and her scholarly work explores the artistic and cultural interactions of Mediterranean peoples in the Middle Ages. Her monograph Venice’s Mediterranean Colonies: Architecture and Urbanism (Cambridge UP, 2001) examines the architecture of Venetian Crete. She holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles, and taught at Yale University (1992-2004) where she also founded the Program for Hellenic Studies. During her tenure at the Gennadius Library, it has expanded its academic offerings and developed new outreach programs to attract and educate an ever wider audience. These programs have resulted in the publication of a volume co-edited with Constantine Thanasakis, Ottoman Athens. Archaeology, Topography, History (2019) and two exhibition catalogs, Ioannis Makriyannis. Vital Expression (2018), and The Free and the Brave. American Philhellenes and the ‘Glorious Struggle of the Greeks’ (2021).
This event will be live webcast. Register for the in-person event instead.
Registration
If you are a Grolier Club member, please register yourself and your guests via the Club website. Do not register via Eventbrite.
Support
We appreciate your interest in the Grolier Club’s programming on the art and history of the book. For over 130 years we have offered our exhibitions and lectures to the public, free of charge. If you have enjoyed these offerings, and would like to support that tradition, and help ensure that it continues, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Grolier Club.
Accessibility
An ADA-compliant lift from street level to the lobby is available to anyone with mobility issues. All desk staff should be ready and able to assist you in operating the lift, with or without advance notice.
A “T-Coil” assisted listening system is available to anyone attending a lecture in the Exhibition Hall. Visitors with hearing aids should turn their devices to the “T” setting in order to access the system; visitors without hearing aids may request a “loop receiver” with earphones.
Environment
The temperature and humidity in the exhibition hall are tightly controlled for the sake of the valuable items on display, and this may cause the room to feel chilly, particularly in warmer weather, to those coming in from outside. Members and visitors are advised to bring a light wrap when visiting an exhibition, or attending an event in the hall.
Maria Georgopoulou on the latest discoveries of how the Gennadius Library came to be.
Joannes Gennadius (1844-1932), a Greek diplomat and bibliophile, wanted his magnificent personal library of 26,000 volumes to remain intact, in Greece and accessible to scholars internationally. His holdings have been preserved and expanded sixfold in a 1920s marble building on the campus of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. With highlights including early editions of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and a laurel wreath belonging to Lord Byron, the library sheds light on Hellenism, Greece, and neighboring civilizations from antiquity to modern times. Maria Georgopoulou, the library's director since 2004, will give a talk on some of the collection's important rare editions, fine bookbindings and “only known” copies that belonged to Joannes Gennadius as well as more recent acquisitions.
Maria Georgopoulou was trained as an art historian and her scholarly work explores the artistic and cultural interactions of Mediterranean peoples in the Middle Ages. Her monograph Venice’s Mediterranean Colonies: Architecture and Urbanism (Cambridge UP, 2001) examines the architecture of Venetian Crete. She holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles, and taught at Yale University (1992-2004) where she also founded the Program for Hellenic Studies. During her tenure at the Gennadius Library, it has expanded its academic offerings and developed new outreach programs to attract and educate an ever wider audience. These programs have resulted in the publication of a volume co-edited with Constantine Thanasakis, Ottoman Athens. Archaeology, Topography, History (2019) and two exhibition catalogs, Ioannis Makriyannis. Vital Expression (2018), and The Free and the Brave. American Philhellenes and the ‘Glorious Struggle of the Greeks’ (2021).
This event will be live webcast. Register for the in-person event instead.
Registration
If you are a Grolier Club member, please register yourself and your guests via the Club website. Do not register via Eventbrite.
Support
We appreciate your interest in the Grolier Club’s programming on the art and history of the book. For over 130 years we have offered our exhibitions and lectures to the public, free of charge. If you have enjoyed these offerings, and would like to support that tradition, and help ensure that it continues, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Grolier Club.
Accessibility
An ADA-compliant lift from street level to the lobby is available to anyone with mobility issues. All desk staff should be ready and able to assist you in operating the lift, with or without advance notice.
A “T-Coil” assisted listening system is available to anyone attending a lecture in the Exhibition Hall. Visitors with hearing aids should turn their devices to the “T” setting in order to access the system; visitors without hearing aids may request a “loop receiver” with earphones.
Environment
The temperature and humidity in the exhibition hall are tightly controlled for the sake of the valuable items on display, and this may cause the room to feel chilly, particularly in warmer weather, to those coming in from outside. Members and visitors are advised to bring a light wrap when visiting an exhibition, or attending an event in the hall.