cleaning and deacidification, and new period bindings. The oldest book in the library is the Chronicarum cum figuris et ymaginigus ab incipio mundi, commonly called the Nuremberg Chronicle. Published in 1493 in a Latin edition for the wider European market and a German edition for local readers, the 600-page book is an illustrated encyclopedia of world history and geography. The text of this enormous book was written by Dr. Hartmann Schedel, a German humanist and physician trained at the University of Padua. Schedel divided his work into the seven ages of man, beginning with Adam and Eve and ending with the Apocalypse and the appearance of the Antichrist. Events in 1493 are included, such as the conquest of Constantinople and the maritime explorations the Portuguese, though there is no mention of Columbus' voyage of 1492. Schedel left two blank pages at the end for recording the rest of history. The Chronicle, which contains the first printed map of Europe, is the Library's only piece of incunabula, the Latin word for books published with moveable type before 1501 (including Gutenberg's Bible, published in 1455). Theodore Dwight, then the Department Librarian, purchased the Chronicle in 1880 or 1881 from a London bookseller for "a few pounds" according to a note inserted into the book. The Library's special collections also include historical works and travel commentaries about foreign lands, including the Historia General del Peru of 1722 and a collection of nineteenth century travels throughout Persia transferred to the library from the former US Embassy in Tehran. Honoring Dr. Ralph J. Bunche On May 7, 1997, the Department named the library in honor of Dr. Ralph J. Bunche in recognition of his political and humanitarian contributions to the Department of State and the United Nations, and of his contributions to the world of learning. Bunche graduated at the top of his class at the University of California at Los Angeles. At Harvard University he was the first African-American to receive a doctorate in political science, and he later became chairman of the Department of Political Science at Howard University. Active in the Civil Rights Movement, Bunche was also a leading expert on European colonialism in Africa. Bunche served in the State Department as the Director of the African Section of the Office of Strategic Services. He was involved with the United Nations from its beginning, serving as the principal author of two chapters