History of the Book

Columbia University's Rare Book & Manuscript Library is open to both its own students and the public. The RBML is Columbia’s principal repository for primary source collections. The range of collections in RBML span more than 4,000 years and comprise rare printed works, cylinder seals, cuneiform tablets, papyri, and Coptic ostraca; medieval and renaissance manuscripts; as well as art and realia. Some 500,000 printed books and 14 miles of manuscripts, personal papers, and records form the core of the RBML holdings. One can find literary manuscripts from the 14th century to the papers of authors Herman Wouk and Erica Jong. Archives as varied as the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Random House, NGOs such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International-USA, and the archives of Columbia University are available for research. The history of printing, graphic arts, and the performing arts are strengths of RBML.

The Morgan Library is a research collection and museum that began as the private library of Pierpont Morgan. The library's collections have as their focus the history, art, and literature of the Western world.

The New-York Historical Society’s Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, one of NYU's consortium libraries, contains more than three million books, pamphlets, maps, atlases, newspapers, broadsides, music sheets, manuscripts, prints, photographs and architectural drawings. Items in the collection will appear in the NYU Libraries' catalog. (Note: Currently closed for renovation.)

The Rare Book Division houses approximately 200,000 titles, covering five centuries of printing—from the 1450s to the present—and representing Continental Europe, England, and the Americas.

Researchers whose work requires use of Rare Book Division collections must register for access. Registration may be completed either in advance or in person. The Rare Book Division is open to researchers from all institutions.

The New York Society Library is New York City's oldest library. Still operating as a subscription library, the Library is involved in an ongoing digitization project for their early Circulation Ledgers, highlighting the early borrowing records of some of the founders of the City and the United States. The Library also hosts events and exhibitions of interest to anyone with an interest in the history of the book.