COLLECTIONS A-Z
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Archive of Burning Deck Press
Burning Deck is the small press operated by Keith and Rosmarie Waldrop. Since 1961 it has published limited editions of the works of contemporary poets and fiction writers. The archive of Burning Deck consists of financial records, correspondence with contributors, galleys, typescripts, and art work representing forty years of literary publication. The Library also holds a complete collection of Burning Deck imprints, mostly in the Harris Collection. ...more information
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Audubon's Birds of America
The double elephant folio edition of Audubon's The Birds of America was published between 1827 and 1838. Subscribers received 87 parts of 5 prints each (one large, one medium and three small prints). The series contains 435 hand colored plates of 1065 birds. "Double elephant" refers to the size of the sheet of paper, which is the largest size that can be made by hand. Each sheet measures more than two by three feet.
There were 308 original subscribers, who paid approximately 00 for a complete set. While there were 308 original subscribers, only 161 subscribers purchased all parts. It is not possible to locate all of the complete sets. Some have been broken up and sold as individual images.
Albert E. Lownes, Class of 1920, presented his copy (bound in six volumes) to the University on the occasion of his 50th Class Reunion in 1970. Mr. Lownes received his copy as a wedding gift.
In addition, to the Double Elephant Folio edition, the library owns several uncolored proofs and an original printing plate, as well as other published editions of Audubon's work. ...more information
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Broadsides Collection
The Broadsides Collection houses broadsides (single-sheet imprints), posters, bookplates, prints, valentines, greeting cards, postcards, and photographs. From a nucleus of 8,000 pieces in 1928, holdings have increased to over 40,000 items. Largely ephemeral by nature, broadsides are collected by only a few major libraries and historical societies in the United States. Originally issued primarily by governmental, religious, and political bodies, broadsides were later used for advertisements, programs, notices, ballad verses, elegies, and comments on contemporary events. More recently, they have become popular as exemplars of fine printing. Includes holdings of the Harris, Rider, Lincoln, Koopman, Military and general library collections. Notable areas within Harris include slip ballads and carriers' addresses. ...more information
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Bullard Collection of Napoleonic Caricatures
This collection, given by Paul Revere Bullard (Brown Class of 1897), constitutes one of the largest collections of caricatures of Napoleon in the United States, and represents the work of English, French, German Russian, and Spanish artists; almost all the cartoons are hostile to their subject. The Bullard Collection complements similar holdings in the Anne S. K. Brown Collection, and is rivalled only by collections in the British Museum and the Bibliotheque Nationale. ...more information
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Carriers' Addresses
Carriers' addresses were published by newspapers, usually on January 1, and distributed in the United States for more than two centuries. The custom originated in England and was introduced here during colonial times. The newsboys delivered these greetings in verse each New Year's Day and the customers understood that a tip was expected. The poems, often anonymous, describe the events of the past year, locally, regionally, and nationally, and end with a request for a gratuity for the faithful carrier. Often the poem referred to the carrier's diligence and hardships during winter weather. Illustrated with wood-engravings and decorative borders, carriers' addresses are distinctive examples of popular publishing in nineteenth century America. Brown University Library holds one of the largest collections of these charming works, in the Broadsides Collection and the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays. ...more information
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Crosby (Harry) papers, ca. 1919-1955
Harry Crosby (born 1898) was an American poet and publisher also known as Henry Sturgis Crosby or Henry Grew Crosby. An American expatriate in Paris in the 1920s, his work expresses his disapproval of Puritan hypocrisy and his fascination for the cult of the sun. His Black Sun Press published special editions of James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, and other contemporaries. Crosby committed suicide in New York on 10 December 1929.The collection includes 19 letters to Constance Atherton, Comtesse de Jumilhac; letters from Atherton and related correspondence; two notebooks with letter and unpublished aphorisms addressed to Atherton; book belonging to Harry and Caresse Crosby; ten manuscript notebooks; page proofs (bound) for Shadows of the Sun and for Chariot of the Sun; other writings; two albums of photographs; and Caresse Crosby's correspondence with several writers/editors/publishers. The collection also includes Crosby's last will and testament; typescript (carbon) of his The De Geetere Maldoror; and a biographical sketch of him written by his wife, Caresse Crosby. ...more information
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Damon Blake Collection
Blake scholar S. Foster Damon's collection of ca. 300 editions of William Blake's works, and critical and historical works about Blake. The collection contains original editions of some of Blake's source materials, a few of his own works, and works on which Blake collaborated. There are also such items as an excellent collection of sheet music for Blake's poems, a wide variety of prints, and a Blake Bible. The collection also has value for its marginalia by Foster Damon, along with his Blake notebooks, correspondence, and unpublished manuscripts. The Blake collection has been supplemented by modern editions of Blake, Trianon Press editions, and other fine printing. 1972 bequest of S. Foster Damon. ...more information
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Dard Hunter Collection
The Dard Hunter Collection was formed by W. Easton Louttit, Jr., Class of 1925, and came to Brown in 1969. It contains most of the works printed or written by papermaker, printer and paper historian, Dard Hunter, as well as works by his associates in the Roycroft shop of East Aurora, New York. The collection includes Hunter's greatest book, Papermaking by Hand in America, which traces the hsitory of papermaking in this country from its beginnings at William Rittenhouse's paper mill outside Philadelphia in 1691 through 1811, when the first paper mill in Tennessee began operation. Ongoing additions to the collection concentrate on the revival and continuation of hand papermaking in the 20th century. Approximately 75 volumes. ...more information
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Dealers' Catalogs
Back files of antiquarian book dealers' catalogs, organized by dealer. Not cataloged or listed. ...more information
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Dr. Arlene Pillar Collection of Children's Literature
The Dr. Arlene Pillar Collection of Children's Literature consists of over 3,000 volumes of children's literature primarily form the 1970s and 1980s, including many illustrated works and fiction for young adults. Dr. Pillar was a panelist for the Newbury and Caldecott awards for children's literature and illustration, and her collection reflects the range of work submitted for those awards over two decades. ...more information
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Eichenberg (Fritz)
Engravings (25 total) acquired from the estate of book illustrator and graphic artist Fritz Eichenberg, who is primarily known for his work in wood engraving. ...more information
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Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays
The Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays is composed of approximately 250,000 volumes of American and Canadian poetry, plays, and vocal music dating from 1609 to the present day. It is perhaps the largest and most comprehensive collection of its kind in any research library. The works of most well-known (and many thousands of little-known) American and Canadian poets and playwrights, from the 18th century to the present day, are held comprehensively. There are significant holdings of early American literature, hymnals, songsters, little magazines, contemporary fine printing, extensive collections on Walt Whitman and Edgar Allan Poe, women's writings, gay and lesbian literature, modern first editions, Yiddish-American literature, and French-Canadian literature. The Collection is fully cataloged, with records available in Josiah, the Library's online catalog.. Includes periodicals, broadsides, recordings, films, electronic resources, manuscripts, prints and photographs. ...more information
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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
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Linton (William James) papers, ca. 1848-1896
The William James Linton Papers of Brown University contains material reflecting the three major spheres of activity--literary, artistic, and political--to which Linton chiefly devoted himself during the course of his long life. The literary manuscripts, correspondence to and from Linton, sketchbooks, drawings, and photographs, which comprise the chief part of this collection, are materials which will serve the researcher in good stead in attempting to understand Linton's various achievements. When considered in conjunction with the large holdings of printed Linton materials in various collections elsewhere within the Brown University Library, the papers comprising the Linton Papers described here take on added significance, insofar as they serve well to complement those printed holdings. Special interest may attach to some of the literary manuscripts in this collection, "Love's Diary", "Mr. Joseph", and "Blue-Beard", which are as yet unpublished. The researcher may also be especially interested in the correspondence involving noteworthy personalities, such as Winslow Homer, Christina Rossetti, Algernon Charles Swinburne, et al. ...more information
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Lucy Truman Aldrich Collection of Rare Illustrated Children's Books
Collection of American, British, and some European (primarily French) illustrated children's books, donated to Brown University in June 1990. The appraiser's catalog included with the collection lists: Chapbooks 1780-1840 (31 items); English 1840-1952 (213 items); Pre-1835 American (11 items); American gift and miniature (5 items); American primers and prayer books (6 items); American 1835-1954 (115 items); European 1850-1940 (35 items); Reference (6 items). The total, 423 items, reflects a slightly different way of counting sets of Kate Greenaway ephemera. The collection was donated to the Library by Aldrich's nephew, Mr. David Rockefeller. ...more information
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Margaret Bingham Stillwell papers, ca. 1925-1984
The papers of Margaret Bingham Stillwell, librarian of the Annmary Brown Memorial, 1917 - 1953, and professor of bibliography, 1948 - 1953. Includes personal correspondence, incunabula census correspondence, Annmary Brown Memorial correspondence, manuscripts, notes, poetry, talks, subject files, personal papers, Hroswitha Club Papers, specimen pages and galley proofs of Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke. ...more information
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Palm Leaf Manuscripts
The Rev. Dr. J.N. Cushing, Class of 1862, was a missionary to the Shan people of British-occupied Burma and a noted linguist who translated the Bible into the Shan dialect and compiled a Shan-English dictionary. In 1881 he presented a complete set of the Tipitaka, the canonical text of Buddhism and many manuscripts written on painted and lacquered palm leaves. ...more information
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Persian, Mughal, and Indian Miniature Paintings from the Minassian Collection
Miniature paintings from the estate of Mrs. Adrienne Minassian. The paintings often include text from Persian and Indian tales. ...more information
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Posters
The Poster Collection, a part of the Broadsides Collection, contains over 800 items, focusing mainly on American war posters from World War I and II. Other collections include some labor posters, book-related items, and posters designed to be displayed on buses. Other named collections within special collections also contain posters, including the Sidney Albert-George Bernard Shaw Collection, the Robert J. Tierney Jr. Entertainment Memorabilia Collection, the Chester H. Kirk Collection on Alcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous, the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, the William Chauncey Langdon Collection of Pageants, the H. Adrian Smith Collection of Conjuring and Magicana, the Paul R. Dupee Jr. '65 Collection on Fireworks, the Sidney S. Rider Collection, among others. ...more information
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Prints
Prints in special collections include those that are part of the Broadsides Collection and the general rare book collections. There are a wide variety of subject represented, including views, portraits, and historical subjects. Rhode Island views are a specialty. It is estimated that there are approximately 10,000 prints in the collections, exclusive of the large named collections noted below.
Other named collections include significant holdings of prints, notably including the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, the Bullard Napoleon Collection, the Hoffman Napoleon Collection, and the Harry L. Koopman Collection. The illustrated covers of many thousands of 19th century pieces of sheet music are also of interest for the print collection. ...more information
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Rare Books Collection
A general rare book collection within special collections, consisting of approximately 700 titles from the fifteenth to the 20th centuries. It represents an early Library effort to identify rare materials within its collections. ...more information
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Robert S. and Margaret A. Ames Collection of Illustrated Books
The Robert S. and Margaret A. Ames Collection was assembled over a thirty year period and built around three distinct but related ideas; the history of illustration, particularly nineteenth century books illustrated with woodcuts, wood or steel engravings or by lithography; the literature of travel and exploration, with a preference given to the North American continent; and pictorial representations of areas in which the Ames family lived before their arrival in Providence in 1970. The Ames Collection is notable for the degree to which it adds new titles to the Brown Library, the extent to which it complements other Brown holdings both in the John Hay Library and in Government Documents, and for its superb physical condition. ...more information
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Rollo G. Silver Collection of Printing and Publishing History
The working library of Rollo Silver, Class of 1931, historian of early American printing, publishing, and typography; includes ca. 3,000 volumes, as well as 45 linear feet of notebooks containing transcriptions or reproductions of primary and secondary source materials.Records the historical development of the printing and publishing industries, particularly in the United States.
The collection includes 64 volumes of notebooks containing the source materials for all of Silver's writings in the history of American printing; include ms. transcriptions, photographs, photostats, and photocopies from published and archival sources; some pamphlets; and typed drafts of some of Silver's own articles and addresses. ...more information
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Small Books
Collection of books on all topics with a height of less than X cm. The Harris Collection also has a section of Small Books. ...more information
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Sonia Lustig Bookplate Collection
The Collection includes over 5,500 bookplates of interest for the study of heraldry, symbolism, and design, as well as bibliophilia. Many printing and illustration techniques are represented in this collection, such as copperplate and wood engraving, hand-colored Japanes block printing on rice paper, and linoleum block printing. Among the collection's rarer plates are those designed by Albrecht Durer and Paul Revere. Part of the Broadsides Collection. ...more information
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Third & Elm Press
The archive of Alexander and Ilse Nesbitt's private press in Newport, Rhode Island. The Library also owns an extensive collection of the publications of the Third & Elm Press. ...more information
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Wegelin (Oscar) papers
Oscar Wegelin, bookseller and author, was one of the leading bibliographers in the field of early American writings. The Oscar Wegelin papers (1899-1966) contain correspondence with important scholars, litterateurs, and bibliographers. In addition, the papers contain poems, plays, and prose written by Wegelin. ...more information