Why are the Jesup's facade and rotunda adorned with a three-masted ship, a rose surrounded by a belt, a crab catching a butterfly, a dolphin entwined around an anchor, a pelican feeding three chicks, and other mysterious symbols accompanied by cryptic phrases? Join Carl Little, an art historian; Véronique Plesch, Professor of Art History at Colby College; and Kat Stefko, Associate Librarian for Discovery, Digitization, and Special Collections at Bowdoin College Library; for a discussion about the Jesup and the history of the medallions on the Jesup’s facade.

It seems the Jesup's architect, William Delano - presumably under direction from Maria Jesup and possibly George Dorr - embedded in the Jesup's architecture a series of what seem to be tributes to renaissance book-printing. These symbols from the marks of 15th, 16th and 17th century printers may even reference books that held some significance to the library's founders.