From October 7 to October 13, Mita Media Center (Keio University Library), with the support of Maruzen-Yushodo Co., Ltd., held the "36th Mita Media Center (Keio University Library) Rare Book Exhibition: Slow Reading—Body and Health in Medieval and Renaissance Books" at the 4th-floor gallery of the Maruzen Marunouchi Main Store.
This exhibition, which has attracted many visitors over the years, was held for the 36th time, after a three-year break. Numerous rare books from the 15th to 17th centuries, part of the library’s prized collection, were on display, attracting over 1,550 visitors during the seven-day period. Furthermore, this year featured several new student-led initiatives involving students from the Faculty of Letters and the Graduate School of Letters, including social media promotion on Instagram, commentary videos on YouTube, and projection mapping at the venue. These efforts also embodied Keio University’s founding principle of hangaku hankyō—learning from one another through both teaching and learning.
The exhibition focused on the multi-layered worldview inscribed in rare European books from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, where the "cosmos and the body" and the "natural world and human society" harmonize and correspond with one another. It introduced the intellectual assets of the time—where people viewed everything from the movement of celestial bodies to physical health, the properties of medicinal herbs, and the stability of nations and communities as a single order—through multidisciplinary approaches including science, medical sciences, literature, and natural history. Additionally, as this year marks the 550th anniversary of the introduction of printing in England. To commemorate this milestone, the exhibition included works by William Caxton, England’s first printer, as well as representative publications from the following generation. Through the act of "Slow Reading," the exhibition provided modern people living in a sea of information an opportunity to deeply reconsider "health as harmony."
During the exhibition, gallery talks by the exhibition supervisor and lectures by researchers were held to allow visitors to enjoy the content more deeply. On October 9 and 12, Professor Satoko Tokunaga of the Faculty of Letters, who supervised the exhibition, gave gallery talks. She explained the appeal of "Slow Reading"—inspired by the "Slow Looking" initiative started at Harvard University, where taking the time to carefully observe a single image can change how one sees the world—and the medieval European thought behind the displayed books, while participants listened intently. A lecture by Professor Emeritus Arata Ide on October 10 was attended by over 90 people, filling the venue, and deepened their understanding of the unexpected connection between Robert Fludd's grand cosmic worldview and Shakespeare. On October 12, Associate Professor Mayumi Ikeda of the Faculty of Science and Technology gave a lecture on the role of herbal encyclopedias and the evolution of their illustrations during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, including comparisons with modern encyclopedias.
Photography: Fumihito Morioka, et al.