Location and Hours
The Rare Books collection is housed in the Center for Archival Collections located in the William T. Jerome Library on the 5th floor.
The collection is closed stacks. Please check the Center for Archival Collections website for hours.
About the Collection
The Rare Books Collection covers virtually the entire spectrum of academic fields represented in the University’s curriculum. University curriculum is the primary consideration in the inclusion or exclusion of material. Prominent in the collection are early imprints, private and small press books, and first editions.
The Rare Books Collections is divided into 3 sub-groups: rare, special collections A and special collections B. The oldest pieces within the "rare" collection are two leaves from two Book of Hours. One leaf was produced circa 1440 in Belgium. The other leaf is from the 15th century and was produced in France. The youngest item in the "rare" collection is an artist book by Christine Kermaire, produced in 2017.
More information about each sub-group can be found under its tab.
To schedule an instruction session or research appointment, please contact Libby Hertenstein.
Information about the manuscript collections previously housed in the Rare Books collection, can be found on the manuscripts web page. If you are interested in learning more about these manuscripts or using the collections in your research or classroom, please contact Curator of Manuscripts/Coordinator of Strategic Digital Partnerships, Nick Pavlik.
