This online exhibition was first published in 2015 by Cornell University Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. It accompanied and featured content from a physical exhibition of rare materials displayed in Cornell University’s Carl A. Kroch Library from October 15, 2015 to March 7, 2016. Cornell University Library archived the original version of the online exhibition in 2024 to preserve its earlier design. This version maintains access to the original images and text within an updated website.
From its founding in 1865, Cornell University has been firmly nonsectarian, welcoming students and faculty of any religion, or no religion. This approach — controversial for its time — did not exclude religion from campus life; on the contrary, as its library collections rapidly grew, the new university sought out religious works of all types and eras. By the time the first incoming class arrived in 1868, instructors and students could access a vast array of sacred works. These materials supported courses on topics from philology, art, and architecture, to anthropology, world history, and the history of printing. This exhibition highlights some of the most significant religious texts owned by Cornell, including manuscripts from the Witchcraft Collection, an Egyptian funerary papyrus, Native American prayer books, illuminated Qurans, the Book of Mormon, and Buddhist palm-leaf manuscripts.