Johann Rudolf Schellenberg’s Dance of Death is the perfect visual metaphor for the craze of bibliomania in England at the turn of the 19th century, during which collectors fervently sought and acquired rare books to add to their collections. We chose this central identifying image and distinctive cascading typography to embody the impractical spirit behind the founding of the George Peabody Library amid the turmoil of America’s Civil War. We designed the exhibition logo graphic, invitation package, interior/exterior banners, wall panels, and case labels for the more than 80 displayed pieces.

Over the past 150 years the Peabody Library has captured America’s ambition to bring the history of the world and ideas to the City of Baltimore. Bibliomania presents many of the richest and rarest fruits of George Peabody’s early intellectual and bibliophilic aspirations, from the collection the library opened with in 1866 to the massive cast-iron expansion in 1878, which transformed the library into the glorious “Cathedral of Books” that it is today.