“The importance of these prints derives not only from the fact that they are early witnesses to the use of printing in the Middle East, or their textual and artistic content, but also from their rarity.” - Mark Muehlhaeusler, "Eight Arabic Block Prints from the Collection of...

Join us this month to learn more about the History of Special Collections at the Marriott Library with Archiving the Archives – an exclusive community showcase – on Thursday, April 25 and Friday, April 26, from 4:00 – 6:00 PM in the Rare Books Classroom...

The Rare Books Department and Special Collections welcomes U back to school with our latest digital exhibition, A History of Special Collections.  A New Family Encylopedia Charles A. Goodrich (1790-1862) T. Belknap, 1834 AG5 G6 1834 From the John R. Park Library Collection. Co-curated by Lyuba Basin and Rachel Ernst, this digital...

When the name of Western Americana, Rare Books, and University Archives was changed to “Special Collections” in 1971, it reflected a major shift in the holdings. In addition to the growing emphasis of rare books, Special Collections Director, Everett Cooley, was also made responsible of...

What is the earliest book printed from cast-metal moveable type? Most Westerners think the earliest printed book is the 42-line Gutenberg Bible. If you are from East Asia, though, you think of Jikji. Johannes Gutenberg’s method of printing books from movable cast-metal type made a...