Washington University Rare Book Collections
The Collections
The largest of the University's rare book collections, now numbering nearly 43,000 printed pieces, are administered within Special Collections, which also has responsibility for manuscript collections and for the University Archives. The Art and Architecture, Music, East Asian, School of Medicine and School of Law libraries maintain their own collections.Olin Library's antiquarian rare books begin with incunabula (books printed before 1501) and range through Western European imprints produced in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries representing all the disciplines for which Olin Library collects. Included are fine copies of both the Latin and German editions of The Nuremberg Chronicle (1493) the first edition of Hakluyt's Voyages (1589), a complete set of the early years of the Royal Society of London Philosophical Transactions (1665-1780), and a hand-colored copy of Young's Night Thoughts (1797) with illustrations designed and engraved by William Blake.
British and American Literature holdings are extensive for the 19th century, as are books on the technical and aesthetic aspects of printing, especially typography. The Americana collections include core items on the early history of the St. Louis area and westward expansion.
The Modern Literature Collection is devoted to the work of 115 British and American writers and includes first editions, variant printings, translations, and a wealth of secondary materials. The holdings are particularly strong for Ezra Pound, Ford Madox Ford Vladimir Nabokov, Marianne Moore, Ted Hughes, and James Merrill. Holdings are largest for the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett. Overall, the collection is strongest in contemporary poetry.
The Philip Mills Arnold Semeiology Collection documents the history of signs and symbols, encompassing early printed books on memory, cryptography, decipherment of unknown languages, universal languages, stenography, and exploratory communication systems for blind and deaf persons. This collection is not replicated in any other library and hence is regarded as an international resource for scholarship.
The Isador Mendle Memorial Collection on the History of Printing is a distinguished collection of books and related materials on the history of printing. The main concentration of the collection is on developments in printing since the Industrial Revolution with special concentration on the last one hundred years.
The book arts collection includes artist's books and fine press books.
Because of their age, value, or physical condition, rare book collections are kept in secured areas and retrieved by staff for use in the Special Collections Reading Room. Books may be requested in advance and reserved for repeated use.
Author, title, and subject access may be found in the library's online catalog. There are also additional access points in the catalog for those who want to study the book as an historical object or as a work of art. These access points include such categories as former owner, inscriber, printer, publisher, book designer, illustrator, binder, and many others. Assistance in searching these headings can be provided by a staff member in Special Collections.
The shelf list (arranged by Library of Congress classification) is open to the public, as is a chronological file of imprints (arranged by date of publication).
Reference Sources
Special Collections maintains its own reference and bibliography collection, available for browsing in the Reading Room. Subjects covered include the history of the book as a cultural object, publishing history, printed catalogs of rare book collections formed by others and guides to the buying and selling of books. Although the staff are not permitted to conduct appraisals nor to search for price information, they can instruct a visitor on how to go about such a search.For general information about what criteria may be used to judge if a book is old, rare, scarce, or valuable, and about the terminology often used to describe the physical condition of collectible books, see Your Old Books.
Classes
Special Collections strongly encourages the use of rare books in support of teaching. Arrangements can be made for classes to be held in Special Collections. Staff are available to make presentations about the holdings or to work with faculty interested in including rare books in the curriculum.Exhibits
Library staff mount an average of four exhibits per year in the Special Collections exhibit area to highlight recent gifts and to draw attention to various strengths in the collections. Early in the Fall of 1996 we exhibited Art to Enchant: Illustrators and Shakespeare.Reproduction
Reproduction of portions of a rare book may be made if the item will not be damaged in the process. All photocopying must be performed by Special Collections staff. Copyright restrictions are strictly observed.For a selection of resources on the World Wide Web that deal with rare books and the book arts, visit the Book Arts & History of the Book page located on "Web Sites by Subject" in the Libraries' Web site.
Return to the Rare Books page.