News from the Rare Books Department of Special Collections at the J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah
A frequent task here in the Rare Book office at the Marriott Library is cataloging and archiving new books that have been donated or acquired. It is common for me to see all the new books before they ...
“Let’s have a civil conversation! We agree to respect one another as we talk and listen. No eye-rolling. No attitude…” Civil Dis-course: A Holiday Tool Kit Bryce McCloud Penlan...
“Where there is no imagination, there is no horror.” ― Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet (1887) The Case for Spirit Photography Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) New York, NY: George H. Doran,...
“To dress was to be invested with a public identity, according to a system of fixed codes. In a largely pre-literate society, people learned to read the value of textiles and the meaning of thei...
“The art of printing, with its necessary tools — paper, ink, and type — has been of supreme importance in the advance of civilization. It has preserved for future generations the culture, litera...
“This book is addressed to those who love mushrooms, who love the whole rich world of wild mushrooms in the same way that many love the flowers of the field and the birds in the air.” Mush...
Search for material in the rare book collections in Usearch. Access the rare book collections by visiting the Special Collections Reference and Reading Rooms, level 4.
The Rare Books Division of Special Collections holds more than 80,000 books, maps and ephemera documenting the record of human communication from clay tablet to artists’ book. Collection strengths include illuminated manuscript facsimiles; Mesoamerican codex facsimiles; Arabic papyrus, parchment and paper fragments; Middle Eastern manuscript and print material; published works on science, travel and exploration; the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; fine press and artists’ books; and the works of twentieth century authors such as Robinson Jeffers, Ernest Hemingway, Wallace Stegner and others. Smaller but equally important collections include material on European politics, law, literature, philosophy, medicine, and performance arts; United States constitutional history and much more. The rare book collections preserve a heritage of thought, artistic endeavor, and innovation that inspires the human spirit today. By actively collecting, preserving, and digitizing material of historical and aesthetic importance, the Rare Books Division provides reference, research and educational access to local, regional and international communities – strengthening the ability of faculty to teach, students to learn, and communities to find common denominators.
– Novum Organum, 1620