Commemorating the Dibner Library’s 25th Anniversary

In October 1976, the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology opened its doors in what was known as the National Museum of History and Technology, now the National Museum of American History, Behring Center. This event celebrated the most generous gift of collector Bern Dibner, through the Burndy Library, to the Smithsonian on the occasion of the nation’s Bicentennial. The collection of 10,000 books and 1,600 manuscript groups, which had previously traveled to Washington, D.C., from the Burndy Library in Norwalk, Connecticut, has grown in breadth and depth to form one of the cornerstones of the Smithsonian Libraries’ collections. In October 2001, the Dibner Library celebrated a quarter century of providing vital primary sources to scholars, curators, researchers, and members of the history of science community.

To mark this anniversary, on 3 October 2001, the Smithsonian Libraries held a series of lectures and an afternoon symposium at the National Museum of American History, Behring Center. In his opening remarks, the Libraries’ Head of Special Collections, Ronald Brashear, charted the development of science and technology research at the Smithsonian and detailed the transformation of Bern Dibner’s bequest into the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology. The symposium that followed, titled Exploring the Past, Shaping the Future: The Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology at 25 Years, speculated on the course of research in the new millennium and appraised the library’s continued value to this scholarship. The symposium panel comprised a cross-section of intellectuals, who have benefited directly from Bern Dibner’s gift and subsequent acquisitions that further enhanced Dibner’s collecting acumen. This group included former Dibner Library Resident Scholars, Smithsonian curators, independent scholars, and academicians.

Two distinguished speakers, whose reflections on Bern Dibner’s life and the impact of his collecting practices on his contemporaries are reproduced in the following pages, came to the Smithsonian Libraries to join in the celebrations. Eminent book dealer and scholar, Roger Gaskell, delivered a lecture titled, “From Collector to Reader: Bern Dibner andHistory of Science Collections,” which dovetailed wonderfully with the topic of the annual Dibner Library Lecture, delivered by Harvard Professor and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Senior Astronomer Emeritus, Owen Gingerich. His “Icons of Understanding: Celebrating Bern Dibner’s Heralds of Science” provides evidence of the quality and breadth of Bern Dibner’s collections and offers vital insight into comparable library histories. I hope that you enjoy the fascinating narratives that unfold within these pages.

The Smithsonian Libraries is deeply grateful to The Dibner Fund for supporting the lecture series, its publications, and the successful Resident Scholar program. We look forward to many more years of providing inspiration and intellectual support to the scholarly community.

Nancy E. Gwinn Director Smithsonian Institution Libraries October 2001