[SOA] new exhibits at the Lloyd Library

[Anna Heran]

Please Excuse Cross Postings

For Immediate Release-October 20, 2010

Lloyd Library and Museum Partners with the Art Academy of Cincinnati to Announce
The CHOCOLATE CONNECTION: Hans Sloane & Jamaica
November 6, 2010 through January 31, 2011

The Lloyd Library and Museum proudly announces its Fall/Winter exhibits.  The CHOCOLATE CONNECTION: Hans Sloane & Jamaica, a rare and unique books exhibit from the library's collection, is paired with an art exhibit by students of the Art Academy of Cincinnati from its class Illustration I, taught by Mark A. Thomas, Chair of Communication Arts Department, and Professor Troy Brown.  Thomas explains, "Students were given the task of producing an illustration that creatively employed chocolate as the central theme while utilizing basic design principles in their compositions.  The process involved several levels of exploration beginning with a series of thumbnail sketches, leading to comprehensive visual studies before arriving at a final direction.  Students, upon approval of the final direction, made choices of style, medium and even scale before executing their final piece."  The result was 24 unique artworks in a variety of media, such as sculptures, paintings, prints, collages, and graphite illustrations.  A few artworks are interspersed throughout the book exhibit, including a fanciful sculpture of a cocoa tree sprouting from a chocolate bar and an image of Hans Sloane printed in chocolate syrup.  The opening reception, Saturday, November 6, 2010 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Lloyd Library and Museum, is open to the public and will feature an abundance of chocolate treats.  Both exhibits will run through January 31, 2011.

The book exhibit pulls together three seemingly unconnected topics, 17th century physician Hans Sloane, chocolate, and Jamaica.  2010 marks the 350th anniversary of the birth of Sloane (1660-1753), a British physician and naturalist who popularized drinking chocolate and advocated the use of liquid milk chocolate in Britain as a medicinal beverage.  Cadbury, the chocolate manufacturer, briefly used Sloane's recipe in marketing its own version of the liquid chocolate.  Sloane learned about drinking chocolate when he traveled to Jamaica in the late 17th century, but chocolate had been known to the native peoples of South and Central America for centuries, long before Sloane's introduction to it, and the Spanish were the first to bring chocolate to Europe as a result of their early encounters with these peoples.  Because Sloane and chocolate collided on Jamaica, we take this opportunity to showcase some works from Lloyd's collection on these topics and demonstrate how they interact with each other.

The book exhibit features Sloane's 1696 publication on the botany of Jamaica, which includes, of course, an illustration of the cacao tree.  The exhibit also contains several exquisite botanical illustrations of cacao by some of history's master artists, as well as historical information on chocolate before Sloane's introduction to it; and, books on the history of chocolate production and manufacturing.  Nineteenth-century photographs by Curtis Gates Lloyd, one of the library's founders, of his trip to Jamaica and the West Indies illustrating chocolate plantations and life for imported laborers will also be on display.  For more information, call 513-721-3707; or, visit Lloyd's website at www.lloydlibrary.org.

The Lloyd Library and Museum, located at 917 Plum Street, downtown Cincinnati, is a local and regional treasure.  The library was developed in the nineteenth century by the Lloyd brothers-John Uri, Curtis Gates, and Nelson Ashley to provide reference sources for Lloyd Brothers Pharmacists, Inc., one of the leading pharmaceutical companies of the period.  Today the library is recognized worldwide by the scientific community as a vital research center. The library holds, acquires, and provides access to both historic and current materials on the subjects of pharmacy, botany, horticulture, herbal and alternative medicine, pharmacognosy, and related topics.  Although our collections have a scientific focus, they also have relevance to humanities topics, such as visual arts and foreign languages through resources that feature botanical and natural history illustrations, original artworks, and travel literature, thereby revealing the convergence of science and art.  The Lloyd is open to anyone with an interest in these topics.  Free parking is available for patrons and visitors behind the library building.  For more information, visit the Lloyd website at www.lloydlibrary.org.

Lloyd Library and Museum
917 Plum Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
513-721-3707
www.lloydlibrary.org 
Open Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Open the third Saturday of the month, September through May, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Bringing Science, Art, and History to Life

Anna K Heran
Archivist/IT Specialist
Lloyd Library and Museum
917 Plum Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
513/721-3707
archivist at lloydlibrary.org
Bringing Science, Art, and History to Life/
Because the Past is the Path to the Future