Thursday, April 05, 2007

New Online Print Collection at UToronto

The University of Toronto Library has recently announced its latest online collection: The Wenceslas Hollar Digital Collection includes more than 2500 prints of Wenceslaus
Hollar (1607-1677), a Czech who settled in England but worked throughout western Europe. The biographical description calls Hollar "one of the most skilled etchers of his or any other time, which is all the more remarkable given that he was almost blind in one eye."

Digital collections, when done well, can be spectacular. This one has been done very well. Easily navigable and browsable, the images are crisp and clean. Even beyond the prints, a selection of books which contain Hollar etchings have been made available full-text, providing a nice context for some of the illustrations.

Stop by and check this out when you get a chance, but be careful - it's easy to get sucked in!