University Archives
& Special Collections
The Rare Book Collection
Over the 125 year history of the Dalhousie
University Libraries, many individuals have contributed significant single
or small collections of important works to the Libraries. These volumes were
gathered together to form the general Rare Book Collection when the Special
Collections Department was established in 1970. The selection criteria used in
assembling the collection were very specific. Any works with a pre-1821 imprint
date, any titles from a limited edition of 500 or less, significant inscribed
and/or annotated editions, and any important association titles were transferred
into the general Rare Book Collection. Two major exclusions were adopted. First,
titles fitting the above criteria, but contained in pre-existing special
collections, were retained in their original collections. As well, only
non-Canadian imprints were transferred since it was intended to develop a
separate Canadiana collection. By 1996, even with the specific criteria and
major exclusions, the general Rare Book Collection had grown to approximately
9,000 titles.
Today, the collection contains works in all subject areas. Latin, English,
French, Gaelic, Russian, and Greek are the most prevalent languages. Every time
period from 1490 to 1990 is represented. Areas of strength include printing
history, exploration accounts, British history and literature, Gaelic
literature, early scientific texts, eighteenth-century editions of the classics,
and eighteenth-century intellectual history.
Collection highlights include a magnificent complete copy of the Nuremburg
Chronicle (1493); the Aldus edition of Lucanus (1502); the Hus and Pragen
first edition of Historia et Monumenta (1558); the first collected edition of
Spenser's Works (1616); a first edition of Camden's Annales (1615-1627); a fine
copy of Chabert's Voyage ... dans l'Amerique Septentrionale ... (1753); John
Rocque's 1747 atlas of London; a first edition of Johnson's Dictionary (1755);
the first edition of Clarendon's History of the Rebellion (1702-4); the 20
volume Foulis Brothers edition of Cicero (1749) from the Earl of Dalhousie's
library; and the William Shaw English-Gaelic Dictionary (1780).
The above description is woefully inadequate. It is impossible to make
general comments about a collection comprised of so many unique and history-laden works. Each volume has its own story to tell. In most cases it is the
content that is significant, in others it is the binding or printing. Some
volumes contain important inscriptions and annotations; others are central to
Dalhousie's institutional development; while still others provide invaluable
insight about their influential former owners. And the list goes on. The breadth
and diversity of the general Rare Book Collection is a constant revelation. One
learns to expect to find the unexpected.
One also develops a respect for the generosity and scholarship of the many
learned individuals who contributed their prized possessions to the Dalhousie
University Libraries. They have made the general Rare Book Collection a rich
research resource
which supports, and in turn is supported by, the other remarkable special
collections held by the Libraries.
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