Collections A-Z @ Brown University Library

COLLECTIONS A-Z

Museum Objects Collections Collections

Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection
The Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection is the foremost American collection of material devoted to the history and iconography of soldiers and soldiering, and is one of the world's largest collections devoted to the study of military and naval uniforms. It was formed over a period of forty years by the late Mrs. John Nicholas Brown (1906-1985) of Providence and is still growing. It contains approximately 12,000 printed books, 18,000 albums, sketchbooks, scrapbooks and portfolios, (containing thousands of prints and drawings), and over 13,000 individual prints, drawings and water-colors as well as a collection of 5,000 miniature lead soldiers.

Formerly in the Brown family residence (the Nightingale-Brown House, 1791), the entire collection (which was probably the largest private military collection in the world), was presented to Brown University and transferred to Special Collections located in the John Hay Library in 1982. ...more information
Brown University Archives
The Archives collection contains copies of the official records and publications of the University, dating from 1763, along with the papers of many of its faculty, departments, and officers. A vital part of the collection are the records student groups and organizations. The Archives also encompass papers of Brown and Pembroke alumni/ae. The collections include Brown theses and dissertations, as well as printed, manuscript, graphic, and audiovisual material about the history of Brown University. ...more information
Gorham Company Records

Archival records (approximately 3,000 linear feet, dating from 1831 to 2005) of the company founded in 1831 by silversmith Jabez Gorham in Providence, Rhode Island, and expanded under the leadership of his son John in the 1840s. At various times the company was the largest manufacturer of silver products, producer and distributor of ecclesiastical wares, and art bronze foundry in the United States.

The collection features many thousands of drawings and photographs of Gorham products, reflecting American taste from Victorian times to the present. It also contains corporate, personnel, costing, sales, and advertising records, as well as blueprints, plaster casts, and copper printing plates. Incorporated into the collection are the records of fourteen companies acquired by Gorham prior to its acquisition by larger companies, first by Textron Inc., then by Dansk International, and finally by Brown-Forman Corporation in 1991.

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Harry Lyman Koopman Collection
Harry Lyman Koopman (1860-1937 ) was librarian from 1893 to 1930. In honor of Koopman at his retirement, Philip D. Sherman, class of 1902, who had been his student, presented his collection of literature, book arts, and the history of the book to the Library. "This collection contains over 5,000 first editions and rare books, manuscripts and association items, plus prints, drawings, and broadsides. It is a rich source for the study of English literature and the growth of fine printing from the works of Caxton and Chaucer in the 15th century to William Morris and William Butler Yeats in the 19th and 20th centuries." The Koopman Collection is notable its prose fiction by Cooper, Irving, Holmes, and Melville, and for the collection of the works of Thackeray and Dickens issued in parts. Intended as a laboratory collection for the study of the art and history of the book, it includes the production of many late 19th century private presses, books issued in parts, and literary relics. Prints, Photographs, Museum objects, Specimen leaves listed in Koopman Accession book (in Archives). ...more information
Hoffman (William Henry) collection on Napoleon I, 1651-1913
The William Henry Hoffman collection on Napoleon I, donated in 1924 by Hoffman's widow, contains over 100 manuscripts pertaining to the First French Republic and the Napoleonic era, many of which are signed by the Emperor, and 400 rare books, prints, art objects and examples of fine bindings. It still occupies its own room on the John Hay Library's top floor.
Annotated guide to collection in RS filing cabinet ...more information
Ladd Observatory records, circa 1875-1971
Correspondences, articles, scrapbooks, course material, photographs, offprints, newspaper clippings, etc. Includes correspondence, professional papers and photographs of and relating to the research and teaching of Brown University astronomers Winslow Upton (founding director of Ladd Observatory), Charles Hugh Smiley, and Clinton Harvey Currier.

The collection includes a number of historic astronomical instruments, including sextants, octants, and an azimuth.

The Papers of Charles H. Smiley, located in the Brown University Archives, form a closely related collection. ...more information
Lownes (Albert Edgar) collection on Henry David Thoreau, 1837-1965
The Albert E. Lownes Collection on Henry David Thoreau was received in 1967 as a gift from Albert E. Lownes, Class of 1920. It consists of over 1,000 items, and includes books by Thoreau, later editions of his writing, biographical and critical works, and books from his personal library. It contains first editions for each of Thoreau's separately published books and pamphlets as well as a virtually complete selection of his contrib utions to periodicals. Of particular note are a number of annotated volumes from Thoreau's personal library and original manuscript fragments from his Journals, The Maine Woods, and A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.

There are also periodicals, engravings, photographs, a striking original sketch of Thoreau, maps, broadsides, museum objects, and other memorabilia. The Collection includes a number of Thoreau letters, college papers and journal excerpts.

Especially noteworthy is an album entitled "Concordia", a collection of autograph letters, portraits, and original sketches of Concord personalities, compiled by Rev. Moncure Daniel Conway. ...more information
Patent Medicine Bottle Collection
Consists of over two hundred patent medicine bottles from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, a collection assembled by Dr. David S. Greer, Dean of Medicine at Brown University from 1981-1992 and professor emeritus in the Community Health Department in the Division of Biology and Medicine.

Researchers are required to view the inventory and color slides of the bottles before requesting to see specific bottles. The binder of the inventory and color slides is located in the Manuscripts processing area. ...more information
Paterson (William) papers, 1919-2003
The William Paterson Papers, dating from 1919-2003, includes photographs, plays in manuscript, an autobiography in manuscript, a pen and ink drawing, clippings, military decorations, acting awards, pamphlets, and other documents. Paterson, a Brown University graduate (Class of 1941) and a World War II veteran, was an actor by profession. He joined the Cleveland Playhouse in 1947 and worked there for the next 20 years. In 1967 he joined the American Conservatory Theatre where he remained for over 30 years. He also occasionally performed in television and film productions. ...more information
Slides (John Hay Library)
Collection of slides of covers, bindings, pages, illustrations, manuscripts, museum objects, and other materials in the collections. Slides have been made at user request, to illustrate lectures/presentations relating to specific subject areas or collection, or for a variety of publication purposes. ...more information
Stamp Collections
Webster Knight Collection
W. L. L. Peltz Collection
Irene Heneghan Stamp Collection
George S. Champlin Memorial Stamp Collection
United States First Day Covers
Robert T. Galkin Collection

In 1933 Colonel Webster Knight, Class of 1876, bequeathed an almost complete collection of mint United States postage stamps, in blocks of four, along with mint and used singles and blocks of revenue stamps plus an endowment for supporting the collection. The Knight Collection served as a magnet to attract the Peltz and Morriss Collections of Special Delivery stamps, in 1947 and 1960, as well as the George S. Champlin Memorial Stamp Collection of international issues, which began arriving in 1960. The Robert T. Galkin Collection of Frist Day Covers was presented to the Library in 1976. The Irene Heneghan Stamp Collection, given in 2002, includes 93 mounted stamp albums and several hundred early 20th century U.S. postcards with cancelled one-cent stamps. ...more information
Thatcher (Henry Knox) papers
The Henry Knox Thatcher papers comprise three journals kept by Thatcher while he was on active duty as an officer of the U.S. Navy between 1839 and 1863, and cover his service on board the U.S.S. Brandywine (1839-1841), the U.S.S. Jamestown (1847-1849), the U.S.S. Shore Ship Relief (1851-1852) and the U.S.S. Constellation (1862-1863). The collection also includes Thatcher's naval commissions, a pamphlet that details his naval service, Thatcher's military insignia (including dress sword, admiral's hat and epaulets), and an 1862 painting of the Constellation by Italian artist Tomaso de Simone.
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Image Source: Clay tablet written in month twelve of the first year of the reign of Ibbi-Sin, 2028 BCE. See transcription.

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