Special Collections Libraries

Special Collections libraries collect, preserve, archive, and provide guarded access to rare, valuable, and unique materials. These materials can range widely and can include first or unusual editions of monographs; manuscripts; incunabulae (books printed in the 15th century); photographs; maps; realia (objects rather than printed or photographic material); materials focusing on a particular subject or historical era; or archival documents for an institution, organization, or individual. This category is for the web sites of Special Collections libraries.

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• The deGrummond Children's Literature Collection - American and British children's books dating from 1530 to the present housed at the University of Southern Mississippi McCain Library.
  
• The Morrison Collection - A collection held at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) containing Chinese books, manuscripts, and operas collected by Dr. Robert Morrison between 1807 and 1824.
  
• Simon Fraser University Library Special Collections - Located in Burnaby, British Columbia, the library houses several types of collections including one on children's literature.
  
• King's College London, Foyle Special Collections Library - Collection has particular strengths in modern Greek and Byzantine studies, Portuguese studies, voyages and travels, theology, literature, medicine and science. Some materials have restricted access.
  
• Burton Library Special Collections - Books, maps, and genealogies, most of which is specific to the Detroit area. Library card required for access.
  
• University of California, Irvine - Special Collections and Archives - Collections of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, works distinguished for their illustrations, bindings, or fine printing, several distinguished subject collections, and University Archives. Restrictions on access apply.
  
• Children's Literature Research Collections - Contains children's literature collections available for research use at the University of Minnesota Elmer L. Anderson Library, including Kerlan, Hess, Treasure Island, Oz, and Paul Bunyan.
  
• leadhills miners library - Official site of the oldest subscription library in Great Britain. Details of the library and history etc.
  
• University of Michigan Special Collections Library - A variety of collections including an assortment of ancient papyri dating to 300 BC. Papyri topics include Biblical fragments, religious writings, public and private documents, private letters, astronomical, astrological, mathematical, and magical texts.
  
• Bucknell University - Sheary Project - Selected histories, genealogical data, newspapers, and civil war manuscripts from central Pennsylvania at the Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library.
  
• SFSU J. Paul Leonard Library -- Special Collections & Archives - Archive of San Francisco State University, the library also contains source materials relating San Francisco Bay area history, and the Marguerite Archer Collection of Historic Children's Materials.
  
• The Rothschild Archive - Located in London, England, the archive was established to preserve the record of a family that was widely recognized for contributions to the economic, political, and social history of many countries throughout the world.
  
• University of Southern California Special Collections - Collections include Los Angeles regional history, American literature, Lion Feuchtwanger and the German emigre experience, natural history, and university history.
  
• The British Cartoon Archive - Catalogue database of over 85,000 cartoons covering British social and political history. Based at the University of Kent.
  
• Balson Holdings Family Trust - Historical collections including politics, maps, coins, bank notes, and African artifacts.
  
• University of Alberta Bruce Peel Special Collections Library - Collection includes many rare and fragile works including pre-18th John Bunyan, 18th century English poetry and plays, and Victorian and Edwardian Children's Fiction. Access restrictions apply.
  
• UC Riverside Libraries Special Collections - Including media in a wide range of subject areas, including science fiction and fantasy, Native American history, citrus history and California history.
  
• Bibliotheca Alexandrina - Includes materials in a variety of languages plus a special collection of United Nations resources.
  
• The Thomas B Mack Florida Citrus Archives - Collection includes documents, labels, photographs, maps, ledgers of Florida citrus history.
  
• Monash University Rare Books Collection - Rare editions of literary and artistic works dating from 1476 to present.
  
• Vanderbilt University Special Collections and University Archives - Collection contains manuscripts, photographs, performing arts materials, and rare books in divinity, history of religion and Methodism, history of fine paper and printing, significant Mark Twain editions, a collection of 18th and 19th-century accounts by
  
• Civil War Newspapers - Contains readable, searchable Harper's Weekly Civil War newspapers from 1861-1865.
  
• Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library - Features one of the few original, remaining Gutenberg Bibles, a sunken sculpture garden and translucent marble "windows." Located on the campus of Yale University.
  
• UBC Library - Special Collections and University Archives - Collection houses rare research materials, children's literature, historic maps and photographs, a special section on the history of Chinese immigrants to Canada.
  
• Haverford College Quaker and Special Collections - A collection of rare books, maps, newspapers, and photos, especially those relating to the Society of Friends.
  
• The Great White Fleet - Presents the history and a collection of rare items related to the 1908 fleet of battleships called the Great White Fleet.
  
• University of North Dakota Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections - All materials relate to the heritage of North Dakota.
  
• Sacred-Magick: The Esoteric Library - Collection of esoteric, occult, and magick writings. Monthly membership fees required.
  
• Munchausen - Library - Private library for research concerning the phenomenon of Munchausen.
  
• National First Ladies Library - Located in the home of Ida McKinley in Canton, Ohio, this library includes biographies, photos, oral histories, and other materials about U.S. First Ladies.
  
• Josep Bosch Historical Newspapers Collection - A project to recover, restore, preserve and exhibit historical newspapers from all over the world. The emphasis is to collect newspapers published in the city or country where the event took place.
  
• Eli Siegel Collection - Collection includes books on literature, philosophy, history, art, economics, and science, many of which contain handwritten annotations by Mr. Siegel (1902-1978). The Collection is open by appointment to persons seriously studying Aesthetic Realism.
  
• 18th Century Reading Room - Collection of letters, maps, documents, books, music, engravings, and other materials from Europe and the Americas ranging from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries.
  
• National Air Photo Library - [English, French] Collection containing millions of aerial photographs of Canada from the 1920s to present.
  
• The Yale Map Collection - Houses rare sheet maps (pre-1850) and other map and reference collections.
  
• Kent State University Special Collections - Contains works of literature, performing arts, and histories of crime, labor, and printing dating back to the 1800's.
  
• Los Angeles Public Library - Rare Books Department - Over 16,000 volumes predominantly in English and Spanish, dating from the fifteenth century. The majority of materials were published in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Catalog available online. Collection may be consulted by appointment only at
  
• David Rumsey Historical Map Collection - Collection focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North and South American maps and other historic materials.
  
• Jackson Davis Collection of African-American Educational Photographs - Part of the special collections library at the University of Virginia.
  
• L. Tom Perry Special Collections - Collection specializes in the Renaissance and Reformation time periods.
  
• University of California, Santa Barbara Department of Special Collections - Special collections department houses several unique collections ranging from religion to politics. Works date from the 13th-20th centuries.
  
• Pitcairn Islands Study Center - A museum-research facility at Pacific Union College containing materials on Pitcairn and the Mutiny on the Bounty.
  
• Mirror of the World - Rare books and manuscripts from the State Library of Victoria's collection of precious and historically significant books.
  
• University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives - Houses rare books and manuscripts including the papers of Sen. Wayne Morse, children's literature, documentation of women in society, missionaries, feminist and lesbian periodicals, Oregon trail diaries, and architectural materials.
  
• Indiana State University Rare Books and Special Collections - Rare research collections including those specific to Indiana. Some materials are for display purposes only.
  
• University of Arizona Library Special Collections - Includes four core collections: the History of Science Collection, The Fine and Theater Arts Collection, the British and American Authors Collection, and The Art of the Book. Located at the University of Arizona Library in Phoenix, Arizona.
  
• Misericords of the World - Photographs of misericords found in British and European churches, Cathedrals, Hospitals and Courts.
  
• Illuminated Books - Illuminated and illustrated books scanned for online viewing. Collection consists of books from the 1800's to the 1920's.
  
• Vanderbilt University: Divinity Library - Religious collections including an Jewish history collection.
  
• Canberra Bushfires - Photo galleries and information documenting the Canberra Bushfires of 2003.
  
• Guelph Public Library (GPL) Local History Archives - Public and private records on the history of Guelph, Ontario, Canada featuring a guide for genealogists, finding aids, and a searchable photograph database.
  
• Research World History - Research articles and historic photographs.
  
• The Jacob M. Lowy Collection - [English, French] Hebraica and Judaica, Rare Bibles, and Hebrew Incunables spanning several centuries.
  
• Mayview Manor, Blowing Rock NC - Brief history and an assortment of photos taken of the famous Mayview Manor, Blowing Rock, NC in the 1930s.
  
• IK Foundation & Company: Collections: Library - Contains rare works on archaeology, history, art, geography, Quaternary geology, Carl Linnaeus and cartography.
  
• Getty Research Library - Collection emphasizes the history of architecture. Contains rare books, prints, maps, photographs, optical devices, and manuscripts located in Los Angeles, CA.
  
• Filipinas Heritage Library - Electronic research center on the Philippines.
  
• ASU Special Collections - Collection of rare books, manuscripts, and numerous special-interest collections centered around particular persons or topics of interest to scholars. Located at Arizona State University.
  
• The Islamic Foundation Library - Collection of Islamic Literature in Leicestershire England. Search the catalogue in various languages.
  
• An Gorta Mor: The Great Hunger Archive - Collection of books and art about the Irish famine, including digitized handwritten pages from the Board of Guardians meetings in Killarney.
  
• University of Virginia Special Collections Library - Historical collection including a collection of letters, documents, and early printings of the Declaration of Independence.
  
• The Toppan Rare Books Library - Housed at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, the collection specializes in the history and literature of America (particularly the West), the history and literature of the British Isles and Europe, world-wide travel and exploration, fishing, hunting, and
  
• University of Florida - Department of Special and Area Studies Collections - Contains sections on children's literature, performing arts, Florida history, rare books, and university archives.
  
• Literature for Children - A collection of digitized children's literature titles from the 17th through 20th centuries.
  
  

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