Toppan Library Rare Book Collections
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
- 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 famous politicians, artists, explorers and literary figures, including 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
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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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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