"Drawn from Life: Collecting Cartoons and Caricatures" is an exhibition featuring original and printed artworks from the Golden Age of Illustration. Selections from the private collection of John Francis are on view alongside highlights from the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, including published works by the artists featured in Francis's collection, works by other artists in a similar vein, and selected examples of American commercial art of the same period.

The recorded history of Flowerdew Hundred begins in 1618, when the Virginia Company of London granted George Yeardley a thousand acres on the James River, but as early as ten thousand years ago, successive groups of Virginia Indians began to occupy the site. English colonists, enslaved African Americans, Union soldiers, and countless others later followed—each group leaving behind evidence of their daily lives. Over the past several decades, a clearer picture of Virginia’s early inhabitants and their ways of life has emerged through archaeological excavations at this property.

This exhibition explores the City of Charlottesville’s 250 years of history, from the periods through the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, annexation and the industrial revolution, and racial segregation and urban development. The exhibition is a collaboration between the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library and the University of Virginia Community Relations Office.

Featuring rare and beautiful first editions from the University Library's Lillian Gary Taylor Collection of Popular American Fiction, "Bestsellers" explores American reading habits from the earliest works of popular fiction in the late 18th century to today's blockbusters. Mrs. Taylor compiled a significant collection of bestselling novels and lovingly recorded details of each book in her collecting journals. Mrs.

While the Rotunda undergoes a comprehensive, critically-needed renovation, artifacts typically on view there are on temporary display in the South Gallery of the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature, and Culture. Items on display include the bell from the Rotunda, busts of Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette, and Alexander Galt's statue of Jefferson.

From October 1–26, “Shakespeare by the Book” will become the backdrop for the visiting Folger Shakespeare 
Library exhibition featuring the celebrated First Folio of 1623. First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare is a national traveling exhibition to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. The First Folio contains 36 of Shakespeare's plays, 18 of which were never printed before.

This permanent exhibit offers highlights of the Albert H. Small Declaration of Independence Collection, the most comprehensive collection of letters, documents, and early printings of the Declaration of Independence. The exhibition sheds light on not only the writing and signing of the Declaration, but also on its first printing, distribution across the colonies, and future impact on American history.

This exhibition marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death by celebrating how his works have come to life through innovations in print technology, editorial practice, and graphic design. Books and printing artifacts drawn from Special Collections' eclectic holdings will explain the technology of printed books in the 17th century, narrate the complex editorial history of the plays, and survey the myriad forms Shakespeare's works have taken in print over the last two centuries.

In the decade following the publication of Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminine Mystique (1963), feminists resorted to other genres to communicate their message. Purchased for a few cents, handed out at meetings, or sent via mail, radical manifestos, pamphlets, and periodicals electrified the woman’s movement. They called for a change in consciousness, urging feminists to work outside the system. They shed light on discrimination in women’s health, education, and labor, as well as discrimination in the women’s movement itself.

Did you know that a small part of the Harlem Renaissance took place in a garden in Lynchburg, Virginia? This exhibition celebrates the legacy of poet, civil rights activist, and gardener Anne Spencer (1882–1975). Her home was a sacred space for the African-American community on the East coast, a space free from Jim Crow. Her garden was Spencer’s own sacred space for poetic creation. View the house and garden as they look today through the eyes of John Hall’s stunning photographs, juxtaposed with artifacts, manuscripts, and books that bring Spencer’s work and times back to life.