In marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we have gathered a collection of ten seminal works housed at the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library at the University of Alberta. Each of these books has played an important role in the history of the Reformation. By thinking about them individually, we can more easily recognize the multiple competing voices that contributed to this pan-national debate about belief, salvation, and the role of the institutional church. These books also remind us of the critical role new communications technologies played in sharing emerging ideas and challenging old orthodoxies. As the works in this exhibit demonstrate, print played a fundamental part in driving this international debate.

This virtual library exhibit aims to bring readers closer to events during the Reformation era through the very books that shaped its history. We in Alberta are fortunate to have such a collection of early modern printed works. Although this exhibit offers only a small selection of rare books from this period that belong to the Bruce Peel Library, each work bridges the distance separating us from the Reformation by highlighting the effort and conviction of authors from a variety of perspectives. Each voice is unique and reminds us that reformation was occurring in many ways—among groups who would become known as Protestants, as well as among Roman Catholics—and in many places throughout the sixteenth century.