Bullitt, a UofL law school alumnus, Louisville native and former solicitor general, also was a collector of rare mathematics and astronomy books. Now part of the libraries鈥 rare book collections, Bullitt鈥檚 collection spans the 15th through early 20th centuries. Among the 300 works by key figures in the history of science are first editions of Euclid, Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes and Newton (with annotation in the author鈥檚 own hand).
Davis included a chapter on the collection in his biography 鈥淪olicitor General Bullitt: the Life of William Marshall Bullitt鈥 and conducted some of his research for the work in Special Collections.
Special Collections will display some of the books from the Bullitt collection at the event, along with other gifts from the Bullitt family collection: engravings from the rare, multi-volume work 鈥淒escription de l鈥橢gypte,鈥 which was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte.
The celebration will run from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the ground floor of Ekstrom Library on Belknap Campus. The exhibit will continue through Dec. 23. Both events are free and open to the public.
