2121 books, pamphlets, programs, periodicals and plays published between 1755 and 1972. 

Learn about two broadsides recently added to our collection. 

The Margarita Philosophica (Pearl of Philosophy) (1517) of German Carthusian monk and prior Gregor Reisch (c. 1467-1525).

More than 400 Russian socialist pamphlets published mainly in the period 1900-1945, and 2 microfilm collections from Stanford and Harvard Universities of Russian revolutionary literature from 1898-1922.

3,300 books and serial issues in a range of languages relating to Asian and European literature, politics, history, religion and more. 

696 books and pamphlets relating to freshwater fishing mostly from Britain, as well as many from Australia, New Zealand and America.

A comprehensive collection of manuscript pencil scores, drafts of compositions, and fair copies of Sitsky's music dating from 1958 onwards.

About 15,500 items of sheet music and about 700 music albums from the late eighteenth century to the 1980s, as well as the personal papers of Snell.

Explore handwritten diaries that can now be read online.

About 3,000 books and pamphlets, mostly published in Britain, the majority on astronomy but also some works on geology, physics and chemistry, as well as a small group of Tanock's personal papers.

431 books, mostly Russian works published in countries other than the Soviet Union, including China, the United States, and Australia, in the years after 1917.

Topic

Since ancient times, most documents were written by hand. If multiple copies were needed, it would mean making multiple handwritten copies; even with a team of scribes, this was time consuming. It also meant that information could be difficult to read, depending how good a scribe’s handwriting was.