News from the Rare Books Department of Special Collections at the J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah
The covers of a book enclose worlds constructed of text and image. To open a book is to expose the intimate details of story, experience and idea. The Book Arts Program at the J. Willard Marriott Libr...
“You’ll get to see the vast networks that connect languages, cultures, and periods of history.” — Lyuba Basin The Rare Books Department invites you to two of our most recently ...
The literature of politics is multifaceted, filled with various genres that range from poetry to pamphlets, and novels to newscasts. Today, new methods of disseminating literature allow voices from al...
Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of Heaven, who hath gendered it? The waters are hid as with a stone. And the face of the deep is frozen –Book of Job 38: 29-30 Carte de l̵...
“Research ain’t nuthin but formalized curiosity, just poking and prying with a purpose.” Sanctified Betye Saar (b. 1926) Los Angeles: The Museum of Contemporary Art, 1990 N7433.4 S22...
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
