COLLECTIONS A-Z

• 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
  
  
• Anne Seddon Kinsolving Brown Papers
  Personal papers of the Baltimore-born wife of John Nicholas Brown (1900-1979) who was one of the world's foremost authorities on military iconography. The collection includes her professional, family and personal correspondence, along with household records and materials that document her professional activities as a journalist, writer, and collector of military books, prints and museum objects. ...more information
  
  
• Annmary Brown Memorial
  In 1948, Brown University assumed ownership of the Annmary Brown Memorial. The Memorial, built by Civil War General Rush C. Hawkins and named in honor of his wife, contained an internationally know incunabula collection as well as old master paintings and drawings, Revolutionary and Civil War manuscripts and documents, plus the personal correspondence of its founder. These incunabula along with others in Special Collections make up one of the largest collections of 15th century printed books owned by an American university In addition to incunables, the collection contains sizeable manuscript holdings relating to the American Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and to the 17th-century New England witchcraft phenomenon. ...more information
  
  
• Books from the Adolf Hitler Library
  Approximately 80 books retrieved from Hitler's bunker by Colonel Albert Aronson in May of 1945. Colonel Aronson bequeathed the books to his nephew, who donated them to Brown in 1979. The bulk of Hitler's library (approximately 1,200 titles) is in the Third Reich Collection at the Library of Congress. ...more information
  
  
• Bradford Swan Antarctic Collection
  
  Collection of materials, primarily books in English, relating to the exploration of Antarctica. The collection is concentrated on the period from the turn of the 20th century to the early 1960s. It includes more than 200 books, all but a handful in English, on the expeditions of Scott, Shackleton, Amundsen, and others, as well as later exploratory and scientific expeditions and facilities. Also included are a small number of minor manuscripts (uncataloged as of May 2002) as well as 2 boxes of press releases of the National Science Foundation and U.S. Naval Support Force, Antarctica, and Operation Deep Freeze, and 2 boxes of U.S. Navy official Antarctic photographs, and a souvenir photo book that belonged to Swan.
  
  The title list can be viewed by doing a "word" search in JOSIAH for "Swan Antarctic"
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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
  
  
• Davenport Collection
  The Davenport Collection, an endowed gift from Dr. James Henry Davenport, containing "books on medical history, medical biography and extra-curricular writings of physicians." It is these extra-curricular writings that give the collection its eclectic flavor. Included are books by physician authors in the fields of history, biography, travel narratives,fiction, poetry and drama, as well as many other works from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (London, 1892) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to Oliver Wendell Holmes's The Poet at the Breakfast-Table(Boston,1872). Part of the Rhode Island Medical Society Collection. ...more information
  
  
• Dexter (Robert Cloutman) and Elisabeth Anthony Dexter papers
  Records and personal papers of sociologist and Unitarian minister Robert Cloutman Dexter (Class of 1912) and his wife, the noted historian Elisabeth Anthony Dexter. An important focus within the collection is the significant role played by the Dexters -- co-founders of the Unitarian Service Committee with Rev. Waitstill and Martha Sharp in 1937 -- in working to expedite the release of war refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe between 1938 and 1944. The collection also includes personal writings by the Dexters, as well as much information on the history of the Anthony family. ...more information
  
  
• Dreyfus Affair periodicals collection, 1891-1906
  The weekend supplements of these popular English, French, and Italian newspapers feature large, usually colored illustrations accompanied by short commentaries of the events surrounding the trials and imprisonment of Alfred Dreyfus and Émile Zola's involvement in his cause. ...more information
  
  
• Grotius Collection
  One of the best collections in this country of Grotius' De Jure Belli ac Pacis (1625), a foundation work in the science of international law. Most of the 79 complete editions of the work known to have been published between 1625 and 1939 are held in the collection. Interfiled with Hay Star and Cutter. ...more information
  
  
• Hamilton (Mary) letters, 1905-1926
  The Mary Hamilton letters contain fourteen letters to or about Mary Hamilton, covering a period of two decades, from 1905 to 1926. Within this group are letters from George Bernard Shaw, Harley Granville-Barker, J.E. Vedrenne, John Galsworthy, Algernon Blackwood, Lena Ashwell, and David Belasco. The seven letters from G.B. Shaw provide great insight into Shaw’s own philosophies and the workings of early 20th century American and British theatre. Associated with the November 2, 1908 letter from G.B. Shaw is a photograph of him with his signature on the back. Letters from the others also offer much information about how theatres were managed and directed, actresses were chosen and playwrights collaborated. ...more information
  
  
• Henry Wheaton Papers, 1786-1899
  Henry Wheaton, Class of 1802, jurist, served as United States Chargé d'Affaires to Denmark, and Minister to Prussia. This collection of 275 letters and manuscripts consists chiefly of the correspondence of Wheaton and his family in Europe and America and concerns personal, diplomatic, legal, and political affairs, especially during the War of 1812. Wheatons's diaries, 1827-1835, an 1835 diary kept by his daughter Abby, and biographical notes about Wheaton and his uncle, Dr. Levi Wheaton, Professor of Medicine at Brown, are also among these papers. ...more information
  
  
• Herlihy (David) papers, 1951-2000
  These papers represent the intellectual and professional corpus of medieval historian, and Brown University professor, David Herlihy. Herlihy is considered a pioneer in the use of computers to analyze historical data to extrapolate socioeconomic trends and their impact on life during the middle ages. The collection includes Herlihy's research notebooks, notes, computer code books, pre-published and un-published drafts of articles and monographs, his Ph.D. dissertation, reviews of his publications, lecture notes and teaching materials, professional correspondence, papers documenting professional activities, speeches and addresses, photographs, and miscellaneous personal ephemera and papers. ...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
  
  
• Jonathan Russell papers, 1795-1832
  The papers of merchant, diplomat, and Massachusetts Congressman Jonathan Russell, Class of 1791, provide information on an early critical period of American politics and diplomacy. Included are records, notes, and correspondence for the period 1795-1830, during which Russell was a member of the United States Commission to draw up the Treaty of Ghent following the War of 1812, and later, Minister to Sweden and Norway. There are also several hundred letters from Russell to President James Monroe, and 22 from Monroe concerning commercial and diplomatic relations between the United States and Europe. Some 120 letters which Russell exchanged with John Quincy Adams span the years 1798 to 1823. ...more information
  
  
• Korff (Rabbi Baruch) papers, 1914-1995
  Personal papers of Providence rabbi and Jewish communal activist who became known as "Nixon's Rabbi" for his defense of the President during the Watergate affair. The collection includes materials pertaining to Korff's efforts on behalf of European Jewry during World War II, through the creation of the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, as well as his post-war advocacy for the State of Israel. ...more information
  
  
• Lord (Augustus Mendon) collection of letters and autographs of famous personages, 1778-1908 (bulk 1876-1908)
  The Augustus Mendon Lord Papers includes correspondence, documents, and autographs of prominent figures from the period 1778 through 1908. The bulk of the correspondence pertains to American politicians, particularly members of Congress, and dates from 1876 through 1908. However, the collection also contains autographs and documents from American and European military, scientific, literary, and artistic figures. ...more information
  
  
• Metcalf Collection
  An extraordinarily diverse collection of pamphlets donated by the Hon. Theron Metcalf, Class of 1805. It is the Library's principal collection of American, English and Irish pamphlet literature of the 17th through the 19th centuries.
  
  A distinguished jurist and author on legal subjects, Metcalf was an avid collector of pamphlet literature. He added periodically to the collection after giving it to Brown and, at his death in 1875, it included well over 10,000 items.
  
  The collection includes ordination, election-day and dedicatory sermons, Fourth of July orations, plus pamphlets on the Civil War and slavery, the Irish question, Mormonism, agriculture, medicine and women's suffrage to name but a few categories. Pamphlets were bound into thematic volumes, and the call numbers represent the individual volumes. ...more information
  
  
• Niccolo Machiavelli Collection
  The Niccolo Machiavelli Collection is a major collection of first and early editions, dating from 1523, with an emphasis upon his political and historical works. Acquired by purchase in 1990. Interfiled with LC Starred Books. ...more information
  
  
• Orkney Collection
  A collection of more than 150 volumes on the history, culture, archaeology, and literature of the Orkney Islands (Scotland), compiled and donated to the Brown University Library by W. Easton Louttit, jr. A title list may be viewed by doing an "author" search for "Orkney Collection" in JOSIAH. ...more information
  
  
• Paul R. Dupee Jr. '65 Collection on Fireworks
  Through the generosity of Paul Dupee, the library acquiredthe premier collection of books and manuscripts devoted to the history of recreational fireworks. The collection was assembled by Chris A. Philip, one of Great Britain's foremost pyrotechnists and author of the standard reference work on the subject -- A Bibliography of Firework Books (Winchester, 1985).John Babington's Pyrotechnia, or a discourse of Artificiall Fire-works: In which the true Grounds of that Art are plainly and perspiciously laid downe (London, 1635) was chosen from among the wealth of material in the Dupee Collection to be the Brown University Library's ceremonial Three Millionth Volume. ...more information
  
  
• 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
  
  
• Rodney (Thomas) papers, ca. 1774-1810
  Personal papers and records of Thomas Rodney, including letters, essays, notes on court cases in Mississippi and Delaware (1791 to 1810), a journal about personal matters and Delaware politics (1792-1800), and manuscript poetry. ...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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• The Cyril and Harriet Mazansky British Sword Collection
  The Cyril and Harriet Mazansky British Sword Collection was given to Brown University in 1999. The Collection consists of approximately 100 British swords as well as a sizeable group of miniature military figures, a collection of books on arms and armor, and a series of watercolors by the Scottish-South African artist Andy May. ...more information
  
  
• Turner (William Mason) papers, 1857-1877
  Contains personal correspondence, legal documents, poetry, photographs, and sketches of William Mason Turner, a graduate of Brown University (1855), physician, Confederate surgeon, traveler and author. ...more information
  
  
• Wheaton Collection on International Law
  The Wheaton Collection on International Law, established and developed by William V. Kellen, Class of 1872 and George Grafton Wilson, a faculty member at Brown.. The collection, named in honor of Henry Wheaton, Class of 1802, a major figure in the field of international law, and author of Elements of International law. The collection, now including over 4,000 volumes holds many important books, particularly early editions of Grotius and Pufendorf. It also includes an unusually complete collection of general treatises on international law in English and foreign languages; fairly complete documentations for international arbitrations, the League of Nations, and the Permanent Court of International Justice; complete files of the more important international law periodicals for the 19th and early 20th centuries; a large collection of diplomatic pamphlets, and manuy volumes of diplomatic law and diplomatic correspondence.
  List available ...more information
  
  

Image Source: "New consular waltz", Bullard Collection of Napoleonic Caricatures. View Image and Description

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