Incunabula
Archives & Special Collections has seven Incunable volumes, date ranges 1481-1500. These works produced in the infancy of printing are by Matteo Bosso, John Duns Scotus, Niccolo Perotti, Petrus de Aquila, Giovanni Pico delia, and the Sacra Biblia.
Books of the World
For faculty interested in introducing materials from other cultures and traditions, the Archives & Special Collections Rare Book Collection includes a Ge'ez Religious Manuscript from Ethiopia, a illuminated copy of the Koran, and a Sumerian Cuneiform Tablet,c. 2046-2036 B.C.
Class Visits with Rare Books Collections
Rare books, fine print, limited editions, and facsimiles are all terms used by Special Collections researchers and professionals, but what do these terms really mean to a generation of young researchers raised in a digital age?
Archives & Special Collections can introduce undergraduate students to the history of the written and printed word and help them explore the technologies that spread literacy through out the world. Fine print publications in A&SC include:
The Kelmscott Chaucer. This large folio contains the complete works of English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. It is the crowning achievement of the Kelmscott Press, which was founded in 1890 by William Morris in response to the industrialization of book production. Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, who provided the woodcut illustrations, spent five years on the book design before it was published in 1896.
"Alice in Wonderland" illustrated by Salvador Dali. Published in 1969, by Maecenas Press, it is printed as a loose portfolio, and features 12 full-page color illustrations, as well as an original etching signed by Dali.
The Artist Bibliophile Edition of the Henley Shakespeare, limited to 15 copies, which our copy is no. 1. This edition includes 119 pen-and-ink drawings by H.C. Green and P. Valois, 262 hand-colored engraved plates, 10 black and white engraved mounted plates, numerous watercolor drawings on text leaves, with green crushed levant morocco covers with elaborately gilt borders.
The Saint John's Bible
The Saint John's Bible is a seven-volume handwritten, hand- illuminated manuscript, created by the Benedictine Monks of Saint John's College in Minnesota. Archives & Special Collections has the Heritage Edition of the Saint John's Bible, a life-size reproduction of the original Saint John's Bible that recreates the beauty of the original manuscript. Printed on 100% uncoated cotton paper, using state of the art offset lithographic technology, each volume is bound by hand, and includes hand-treated illuminations, making the Heritage Edition much more than just a fine print reproduction.