Rare Books – Cambridge University Library Special Collections

Magnus Hirschfeld & sex reform

Posted on 27 February 2023 by Special Collections

Post by Alina Wanitzek (Assistant Librarian, Department of Psychology) In October 2022, San Francisco–based queer public historian and book dealer Gerard Koskovich came to Cambridge […]

German, Rare Books, Special Collections

Simon Armitage on Ukraine: a new acquisition

Posted on 14 November 2022 by Special Collections

Private press books have been acquired by the Library since the late nineteenth century, when William Morris’s Kelmscott Press (active 1891-98) led to the flourishing […]

Acquisitions, Poetry, Rare Books, Recent acquisitions, Special Collections

Seventeenth-Century Catholic Philosophers in Cambridge University Library: guest post by Niall Dilucia

Posted on 22 August 2022 by Special Collections

In this guest post, Cambridge PhD student Niall Dilucia writes about his research into early modern intellectual history, examining the relationship between philosophy, theology, and […]

Collectors and collecting, Library history, Rare Books, Special Collections

From ‘Register of Readers’ to online requesting

Posted on 5 August 2022 by Emily Dourish

Eagle-eyed users of the Library’s iDiscover catalogue may have noticed a new feature when they log in and search for Rare Books; a small but […]

Digital Resources, Library history, Rare Books, Special Collections

Book sales catalogues now listed

Posted on 7 June 2022 by Liam Sims

In the course of our work as curators we receive hundreds of booksellers’ and auctioneers’ catalogues every year, many now in digital form, but plenty […]

Collectors and collecting, Library history, Rare Books, Special Collections

Blackout: war time school life

Posted on 7 May 2022 by Agnieszka Drabek-Prime

On 25th August 1939, the German pre-dreadnought battleship Schleswig-Holstein, under the pretext of making a courtesy visit, sailed into the Port of Gdansk, anchoring 150m from […]

Collectors and collecting, Rare Books, Recent acquisitions, Special Collections, World War Two

Conservation for a Legendary Exhibition

Posted on 20 April 2022 by CUL Conservation

Cambridge University Library is home to one of the pre-eminent collections of Japanese material outside of Japan, including one of the first Japanese books ever to reach British shores. In […]

Conservation, Exhibitions, Japanese, Manuscripts, Rare Books, Special Collections

A unique treasure: Johann Wansleben’s Ethiopic notes and letters

Posted on 9 February 2022 by Catherine Ansorge

The manuscripts written in the Ethiopic language held in Cambridge University Library number fewer than seventy volumes in all, and for the most part, these […]

Collectors and collecting, Manuscripts, Near and Middle Eastern, Rare Books, Special Collections, Travel

Harvesting Resources – Fruit Farming in the Cam Valley: sources at the UL. Guest post by Jonathan Spain

Posted on 16 December 2021 by Anne Taylor

Researchers and authors will use a variety of resources and consult items across the University Library collections and beyond. Although library and archive staff may […]

Map Department, Maps, Rare Books, Special Collections