Exhibition - A Digital Collection of Bird Imagery


Inspired by, and to mark the completion of the recently digitized personal journals of ornithologist Charles H. Rogers, the Digital Imaging Studio at Princeton University Library created this online exhibition, focusing on bird imagery found throughout the Princeton University Library Digital Repository.

Just like the entries in bird journals detailing the timing of each sighting of a species, this selection from Princeton University Library holdings is presented on a timeline, from its creation, acquisition, cataloging, and addition to the digital repository, compiling a concise imaging journal of each digitized collection item.

Digitization projects are an integral part of the Princeton University Library's mission to offer continuing access to the world’s diverse intellectual and cultural heritage in all its forms, as this select group of content exemplifies. By clicking on each volume inserted next to a bird image depicted in this exhibition, viewers can fully experience the richness of the materials we captured one page at time, one feather at a time.

- The Digital Imaging Studio Team, Princeton University Library.


If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.


Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

Codex Aubin : manuscript, [between 1775 and 1825].

Tap cover to see the many watercolor illustrations inserted throughout this manuscript.

Garrett Mesoamerican Manuscripts, no. 1, (C0744.02), Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATED: between 1775 and 1825.

ACQUISITION: Gift of Robert Garrett (1875-1961), Princeton University Class of 1897, to the Princeton University Library in 1949.

DIGITIZATION: 2012.


Codex cuara, [16--?].

Tap cover to see 19 full-page pen-and-ink and watercolor drawings throughout this manuscript.

Garrett Mesoamerican Manuscripts, no. 14, Manuscripts Division, (C0744.02), leaf 1r, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: 1600.

ACQUISITION: Gift of Robert Garrett (1875-1961), Princeton University Class of 1897, to the Princeton University Library in 1942.

DIGITIZATION: 2012.


Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 44

Tap to see the entire parchment scroll including three additional detailed talismanic drawings.

(Detail) Garrett Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 44; Robert Garrett Collection of Ethiopic Magic Scrolls, (C0744.04), Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: between 1770 and 1830.

ACQUISITION: Gift of Robert Garrett (1875-1961), Princeton University Class of 1897, to the Princeton University Library in 1942.

DIGITIZATION: 2019.


Medicine Eagle, Pawnee

Tap to see this photograph taken, and possibly also printed by William Henry Jackson, in full detail.

Medicine Eagle, Pawnee; Photographs of North American Indians, (WC054), Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATiON: 1869.

ACQUISITION: Gift of Prof. William Libbey, Class of 1877, Department of Geology, to the Princeton University Library, ca. 1895-1897.

DIGITIZATION: 2011.


Arizona, Hopi, Pueblos : photograph album, 1901

Tap cover to explore all pages of this photo album, which contains 118 platinum print (plainotype) ethonographic photographs of Hopi Indians, Hopi pueblos, and the native lifestyle in Arizona.

Arizona, Hopi, Pueblos : photograph album, (C0938 no. 21bq), page I. 64 r. recto, Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: 1901.

ACQUISITION: Acquired with matching funds provided by the Program in Hellenic Studies with the support of the Stanley J. Seeger Hellenic Fund; 2003.

DIGITIZATION: 2011.


富嶽百景 / [前北齋為一改画狂老人卍筆]. and Fugaku hyakkei / [zen Hokusai nari ichiaratame Gakyō Rōjin Manji hitsu].

Tap cover to find additional bird imagery along with Japanese landscapes throughout this volume.

Fugaku hyakkei. Katsushika, H., Nishimuraya, Y., Eirakuya, T., & Egawa, T. (n518). Edo: Nishimura Yūzō., (ND1059.K15 A327 1834), Princeton University Marquand Library Selections, Rare Book Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: between 1834-1847.

CATALOGING: 2010.

DIGITIZED: 2012.



[Album of miniatures and specimens of calligraphy of Indian origin].

Tap cover to see the rich details on the pages of this illustrated Islamic Manuscript.

(Detail) Album of miniatures and specimens of calligraphy of Indian origin; (Garrett no. 102G), folio 6a., Princeton University Library Collection of Islamic Manuscripts, Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: ca. 17th century.

ACQUISITION: Gift of Robert Garrett (1875-1961), Princeton University Class of 1897, to the Princeton University Library in 1942.

DIGITIZATION: 2007.


Akathistos hymn and The Akathistos hymn

Tap cover to see other depictions of birds on the pages of this Byzantine Manuscript.

The Akathistos Hymn. (Garrett MS. 13), Princeton University Library Hellenica Collection, Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: Late 16th-early 17th centuries.

ACQUISITION: Gift of Robert Garrett (1875-1961), Princeton University Class of 1897, to the Princeton University Library in 1942.

DIGITIZATION: 2020.


Bible, Latin

Tap to see this complete volume of the Gutenberg Bible, Western civilization’s first large-scale typographic book.

Bible, Latin, 2 Vols. [Mainz: Johann Gutenberg & Johann Fust], (48.1), First volume, gathering 18, leaf 177, Department of Special Collections, William H. Scheide Library, Rare Book Division, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: ca. 1455.

ACQUISITION: Bequeathed by William Scheide to Princeton University in 2014.

DIGITIZATION: 2009.


Emblemata amatoria = Emblemes d'amour en quatre langue.

Tap cover to see the many detailed engravings present throughout this volume.

Emblemata amatoria = Emblemes d'amour en quatre langue, Princeton University Library Treasures of Rare Book Division Collection, (N7710 .A97 1690), p. 108, Rare Book Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: ca. 1690.

CATALOGING: 2000.

DIGITIZATION: 2018.


Kupfer-Bibel, in welcher die Physica sacra, oder, geheiligte Natur-wissenschafft derer in Heil / Schrifft natürlichen Sachen, deutlich erklärt und bewährt von Joh. Jacob Schevchzer ... ; anbey zur Erläuterung and Zierde des Wercks in künstlichen Kupfer-tafeln ausgegeben und verlegt durch Johann Andreas Pfeffel ...

Tap cover to see numerous engravings of natural history throughout a total of four volumes richly illustrated.

Physica sacra, vol. 1, (EX Oversize 5366.816q), p. 642, Princeton University Library Collection Treasures of Rare Book Division, Rare Book Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: between 1731-1735.

CATALOGING: 2000.

DIGITIZATION: 2018.


Prometheus bound

Tap to see the details of this political cartoon up close.

Prometheus bound. (E Row 1/GC063/Box 04/Normal/Gillett Griffin Gift GA 2008.01170), Princeton University Library Treasures of the Graphic Arts Collection, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: 1867.

ACQUISITION: 2008.

DIGITIZATION: 2018.


Scenes in Egypt and the Sudan, 1912-1914

Tap cover to explore these two albums containing approximately 500 photographs of traveling expeditions.

(Detail) Scenes in Egypt and the Sudan, (C0199 no. 1114q), Vol.1, p. 43, Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: between 1912-1914.

ACQUISITION: Gift of Louis C. West to the Princeton University Library in 1967.

DIGITIZATION: 2017.



Saite recension of the Book of the Dead. Chapters 67-165

Tap to see these two papyri scrolls containing Egyptian hymns, prayers, spells, magical formulae, and images for the deceased.

Saite recension of the Book of the Dead. Chapters 67-165., (C0744), scroll 1, Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: ca. 685-525 BCE

ACQUISITION: Gift of Robert Garrett (1875-1961), Princeton University Class of 1897, to the Princeton University Library in 1942.

DIGITIZATION: 2014.


British and Foreign Birds. A new game moral, instructive and amusing; designed to allure the minds of youth to an acquaintance with the wonders of Nature.

Tap on this game board to see up close the dozens of birds depicted.

British and Foreign Birds. A New Game Moral, Instructive and Amusing; Designed to Allure the Minds of Youth to an Acquaintance with the Wonders of Nature. (Eng 18 / board games 6113), Princeton University Library Treasures of the Cotsen Children's Library Collection, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: 1820.

ACQUISTION: Gift of Lloyd C. Cotsen, ’50, Charter Trustee Emeritus, to Princeton University Cotsen Children's Library in 1996.

DIGITIZATION: 2020.


Catecismo pictórico Otomí : manuscript, [between 1775 and 1825].

Tap cover to see this pictorial prayer book containing 51 illustrated pages.

Garrett Mesoamerican Manuscripts, no. 3a, (C0744.02), leaf 9r, Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: between 1775 and 1825.

ACQUISITION: Gift of Robert Garrett (1875-1961), Princeton University Class of 1897, to the Princeton University Library in 1949.

DIGITIZATION: 2017.


Copybook of arithmetic problems.

Tap cover to see all 116 ink and watercolor drawings elaborately illustrated and ornamented throughout this volume.

Copybook of Arithmetic Problems. Princeton University Library Treasures of the Cotsen Children's Library Collection, (Manuscripts Q 46473), p. 101, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: 1715.

ACQUISITION: Gift of Lloyd C. Cotsen, ’50, Charter Trustee Emeritus, to Princeton University Cotsen Children's Library in 1999.

DIGITIZATION: 2020.


Visits to the Leverian Museum : containing an account of several of its principal curiosities, both of nature and art ; intended for the instruction of young persons in the first principles of natural history

Tap to see in detail the many birds depicted om this engraving.

Visits to the Leverian Museum : Containing an Account of Several of Its Principal Curiosities, Both of Nature and Art ; Intended for the Instruction of Young Persons In the First Principles of Natural History. Princeton University Library The Cotsen Children's Library Collection, (Eng 18 34068), Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

CREATION: 1805

ACQUISITION: Gift of Lloyd C. Cotsen, ’50, Charter Trustee Emeritus, to Princeton University Cotsen Children's Library in 1997.

DIGITIZATION: 2017.