News from the Rare Books Department of Special Collections at the J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah
“… Outside the leaves were falling and they cried Too soon! Too soon!” — Lawrence Ferlinghetti, from “A Coney Island of the Mind” Lawrence Ferlinghetti died Monday at t...
The Ages of Peonies Ellen Sheffield Gambler, OH: Unit IV Arts, 2018 N7433.4 S5418 A54 2018 Black American contralto Marian Anderson, like other Black artists, sought opportunities overseas, performing...
Maple Leaf Rag Ellen Banks (1938-2017) Atlanta, GA: E. Banks, 1988 N7433.4 B36 M3 1988 oversize Black artist Ellen Banks is known for her geometric abstract painting entirely inspired by musical notat...
“What is Africa to me…/Not yet has my heart or head/in the least way realized/They and I are civilized.” — Countee Cullen, “Heritage” Caroling Dusk: An Anthology of...
The Rare Books Department invites you to view its virtual lecture, Invisible Mother: Science and the Fair Sex. Women have been both subjects and practitioners of science for centuries, although...
The Lake of Beauty Stephanie Wolff Norwich, VT: Stephanie Wolff, 2015 Edward Carpenter (1844-1929) was born in England. His philosophical writings reflected his interests in social and sexual reform a...
Search for material in the rare book collections in Usearch. Access the rare book collections by visiting the Special Collections Reference and Reading Rooms, level 4.
The Rare Books Division of Special Collections holds more than 80,000 books, maps and ephemera documenting the record of human communication from clay tablet to artists’ book. Collection strengths include illuminated manuscript facsimiles; Mesoamerican codex facsimiles; Arabic papyrus, parchment and paper fragments; Middle Eastern manuscript and print material; published works on science, travel and exploration; the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; fine press and artists’ books; and the works of twentieth century authors such as Robinson Jeffers, Ernest Hemingway, Wallace Stegner and others. Smaller but equally important collections include material on European politics, law, literature, philosophy, medicine, and performance arts; United States constitutional history and much more. The rare book collections preserve a heritage of thought, artistic endeavor, and innovation that inspires the human spirit today. By actively collecting, preserving, and digitizing material of historical and aesthetic importance, the Rare Books Division provides reference, research and educational access to local, regional and international communities – strengthening the ability of faculty to teach, students to learn, and communities to find common denominators.
– Novum Organum, 1620
