History of Special Collections @ Colby

  • INTRO
    • Goals
    • Student Scholars Wanted
    • Acknowledgments
    • Contact Us
  • CHRONOLOGY & CONTEXT
    • What Happened (early on)
      • The First Library & Edward Hall
      • The “Rare Book” Section (early 1930s)
    • Our Chronology (1935-1975)
    • Some Context
  • THE PEOPLE
    • Curators
      • Carl Jefferson Weber (Curator 1940-1958)
      • Richard Cary (Curator 1958-1975)
    • Librarians
      • N Orwin Rush (Librarian 1936-1945)
      • Gilmore Warner (Librarian 1945-1947)
      • James Humphry III (Librarian 1947-1957)
      • John R McKenna (Librarian 1957-1964)
      • Kenneth P Blake, Jr (Librarian 1964-1973)
      • Eileen M Curran (Acting Librarian, 1973-1976)
    • Other Colby People
      • Ernest C Marriner ’13
      • Frederick A Pottle ’17
      • Carroll A Wilson ’40 LLD
      • Franklin Winslow Johnson (President 1929-1942)
      • Julius Seelye Bixler (President 1942-1960)
      • Robert Edward Lee Strider II (President 1960-1979)
    • The Colby Library Associates
    • Highlighted Donors
  • HIGHLIGHTED COLLECTIONS
    • Rare Book Collections
      • Early Books
      • Thomas Hardy
      • Book Arts
      • The Rubáiyát
    • Personal Libraries
      • Library of Edwin Arlington Robinson
      • Library of Thomas Sergeant Perry
      • Library of Harold Trowbridge Pulsifer
      • Library of James Augustine Healy
      • Library of Ben Ames Williams
    • Manuscript Collections
    • “A Recent Accession”: The Colby Library Quarterly

Some Context

“SPECIAL COLLECTIONS” – GENERALLY SPEAKING

The term “Special Collections” has been used differently over time and also interchangeably with, for instance, “Rare Book Library.” Formally, “Special Collections” designates a department or area where culturally-significant materials in various formats (including rare or fragile books) came to reside in perpetuity. A “Rare Book Library,” narrowly defined, is a collection of rare books that is purposefully accumulated so the term is format-specific in connotation. However, note that rare book libraries often contain associated, non-book materials such as manuscripts, ephemera and artifacts.

Miller under construction 1938
Miller Library on Mayflower Hill, under construction in 1938. Formation of Special Collections at Colby coincided with the move to the new campus and a new library building. Some of our peers have similar stories.

Special Collections departments often have their nucleus in rare book libraries, growing over time to include other physical formats. For instance, Special Collections at Colby began with the sequester of older or fragile volumes located in the library on the old campus, in the 1920s. Rare books came with associated unpublished materials and artifacts, helping to form a rich body of culturally significant materials. The formation of Special Collections departments in this country is a 20th century phenomenon with origins in the 19th century, when the collecting of historical items became a serious endeavor for those with means.

Contextual factors in the formation and development of Special Collections departments in America include the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th century and consequent wealth of investors who became collectors, an increasingly literate populace and cultural milestone events such as 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia and formation of elite book clubs such as the Grolier Club in New York City. Academic institutions founded in the 19th century, or before, came to acquire older books or to receive them from alumni/ae, faculty and other patrons. Librarians who administered these materials became the caretakers of “treasures.”

COMPARISON WITH OUR PEERS

Some of our comparable peer institutions benefited – as we did – from campus and/or building renovations, with these events establishing a rare book room or department as a result. Other peers established Special Collections-type units within their respective libraries due to a significant bequest or acquisition.

As each rare book has its own provenance, or history of ownership, each Special Collections department – whatever the name – has its unique story.

Works consulted:

Archer, H Richard. Rare Book Collections. ACRL Monograph Number 27. Chicago, IL: American Library Association, 1965. Print.

Berger, Sidney E. Rare Books and Special Collections. Chicago, IL: American Library Association, 2014. Print.

Cave, Roderick. Rare Book Librarianship. London: Clive Bingley, 1976. Print.

Galbraith, Steven K and Geoffrey D Smith. Rare Book Librarianship: An Introduction and Guide. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2012. Print.

Lerner, Fred. The Story of Libraries. New York: Continuum, 2001. Print.

Peters, Jean. Book Collecting. New York: R R Bowker Company, 1977. Print.

Explore Common Threads – and Student Scholarship – in our Manuscript Collections

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