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| Broadsides | Manuscripts | Maps | Newspapers | Numismatics | Pamphlets | Philatelic | Posters | Printed Ephemera | Prints & Drawings | Rare Books |
The Rare Book Collection, consisting of some 125,000 volumes, covers a broad spectrum of subjects but the strengths are: Roman Catholic Church history, liturgy, law, and theology; English and American literature; Irish studies; and more generally art, architecture, and science. Imprints range from 1460 to the present.
Personal and Institutional Libraries: Astrik L. Gabriel Collection of Early Printed Books | Olmütz Monastic Libraries | Dominican Convent of St. Raymond de Peñafort | Library of José Durand | Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Collection | Sweetman Family Library
Author-based Collections: George Berkeley Collection | Edmund Burke Collection | G. K. Chesterton Collection | Dante Collection | René Descartes Collection | Eric Gill Collection | Edward Gorey Collection | James Clarence Mangan Collection
Subject-oriented or Topical Collections: Botany Collection | Fundamentalist and Evangelical Magazines Collection | Hispanic Caribbean Literature Collection | Incunabula | Inquisition Collection | Latin American, Spanish, and Spanish Colonial Collections | O'Neill Collection of Traditional Irish Music | Pope Paul VI Collection | Southern Cone Literature Collection | Joyce Sports Research Collection
Private Press Collections: Cuala Press | Golden Cockerel Press | Kelmscott Press | Limited Editions Club | Overbrook Press | Perishable Press | St. Dominic's Press | Stanbrook Abbey Press
Paperback Collections: Armed Services Editions | Penguin Editions
While the strength of our collections lies mainly in printed materials, our holdings also include significant manuscript items in several areas:
|| Ancient | Oriental and Middle Eastern ||
|| Medieval and Renaissance | Early Modern European | Modern European ||
|| Spanish and Spanish Colonial | Latin American ||
|| Colonial
and Revolutionary America | Early
National and Antebellum America ||
|| American Civil War Era
| Modern American
||
|| Autographs ||
The department has strong holdings in the coins and currency of colonial America, Washington tokens, 19th century US Hard Times, Merchant and Civil War tokens, Confederate currency, and a fairly complete type set of regular issue US coins. There is also an extensive collection of 17th-19th century world coins and several smaller collections containing 18th century British Conder tokens, 19th century Canadian tokens, 20th century world paper currency, Franklin mint issues and modern commemorative issues.
Please follow the links below for further discussion of those collections which are currently represented online:
Coins of Colonial America | American Colonial Currency | Washington Tokens
The department holds two significant collections of maps. The collection of Irish maps and sea charts includes items from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. More recently, the department has acquired a substantial collection of maps of the Great Lakes Region of North America containing maps from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries.
The department holds over two thousand issues of British and American newspapers of historical importance from the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries, with some extended runs of 18th century British newspapers. The department also has runs of Catholic newspapers that are not otherwise available electronically or in microfilm.
The department has a limited collection of pamphlets and broadsides with particular strengths in American Catholic history and culture.
Abbey Theatre Programs | Bookdealer Catalogs | Catholic Pamphlets | Irish Rebellion of 1798 | Modern Authors Collection | Vatican II Collection | Catholic Diocese of Würzburg Ordinances
The department's philatelic holdings include close to 200 volumes of postage stamps, first day covers and related material. Items date from the mid-19th to the late 20th centuries. Most stamp-issuing countries are well represented, with some emphasis on Western, Central, and Southern Europe.
The Department of Special Collections does not own a large collection of prints and drawings; most of the items in this area possessed by the University are housed in the Snite Museum of Art. Nevertheless, prints and original drawings and other forms of artwork constitute a portion of several rare book and private press collections, including:
In addition, there is a small collection of loose prints, mostly 18th century copperplate engravings reproducing salon paintings and landscape views, for which an inventory is in preparation.
All libraries:
Architecture | Art
Image | Business Information Center
| Chemistry & Physics
| Engineering | Hesburgh
(Main)
Kellogg/Kroc Information Center |
Life Sciences | Mathematics
| Rare
Books & Special Collections | Radiation
Lab | Kresge Law
