Rare Book Collections

Toppan Library

Some Highlights from the rare book collections of Toppan Library

Click on the links below to see images.

• a manuscript Pentateuch, written in Samaritan
• a clay cuneiform tablet from Mesopotamia
• a papyrus fragment from an Egyptian Book of the Dead
• two illuminated manuscript Korans
• several complete illuminated manuscripts from the 1400s
• ten incunabula (early examples of printing before 1500)
• early exploration books by Captain John Smith, Sir Walter Raleigh, De Bry, Lewis and Clark, Hakluyt, Mackenzie, Parry, and Captain Cook
• seventeenth-century Puritan books printed and published by London women
• numerous books illustrated by the humorist George Cruikshank
• original prints (many hand-colored) in travel, Native American, natural history, and other types of books
• fine press books from the Kelmscott Press of William Morris
• watercolor paintings hidden under the gilt fore-edges of twelve books
• early editions of the Book of Mormon and primers in the Deseret script
• books autographed by Amelia Earhart, Robert Frost, Henry Thoreau, Frederic Remington, Susan B. Anthony, Father De Smet, Mary Pickford, Thomas Edison, Izaak Walton, Admiral Byrd, Arthur Rackham, George Washington and other important politicians, artists, explorers, and literary figures

Individual Collections

Much of the library houses donated material. Large named collections are kept intact:

• Frederick W. Toppan Collection
• Charles and Paul Clay Collection
• Beatrice Beuf Collection
• William Fitzhugh Collection
• Lloyd Taggart Collection
• Joseph Roebling Collection
• Tristram and Charles Howard Colket Collection
• Owen Wister Collection
• Lewis Einstein Collection
• C.C. Kuehn Collection
• Maud Littleton Collection
• Lewis Knapp Collection
• Wilbur, Emma, and S.H. Knight Collection
• Arthur and Helen Rippey Collection
• Revilo Pendleton Oliver Collection
• Walter Levy Collection
• Ed and Shirley Cheramy Collection
• Louise Jackson Collection
• Gene Gurney Collection

Images from the Toppan Library

Manuscript Pentateuch, Written in Samaritan

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Clay Cuneiform Tablet from Mesopotamia

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Papyrus Fragment from an Egyptian Book of the Dead

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Illuminated Manuscript Korans

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Illuminated Manuscripts from the 1400s

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Incunabula (Early Examples of Printing Before 1500)

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Early Exploration Books

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17th Century Puritan Books Printed and Published by London Women

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Books Illustrated by the Humorist George Cruikshank

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Original Prints

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Fine Press Books from the Kelmscott Press of William Morris

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Watercolor Paintings Hidden Under the Gilt Fore-edges of Books

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Early Editions of the Book of Mormon and Primers in the Deseret Script

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Autographed Books

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