Overview
In the below list you will find a few suggestions for special collections that might have relevance to your field of study or teaching. This list is by no means exhaustive; please feel welcome to contact us with any questions or for more ideas.
Also see descriptions of many of our collections at the following links:
African and Afro-American Studies
Pearl Bailey, July 5, 1946, photographed by Carl Van Vechten.
- Online exhibit: African American Portraits by Carl Van Vechten, 1932-1964 The online exhibit highlights a selection of African American portraits of artists from various fields. Many of these artists are familiar faces today, even though some of the portraits were created more than fifty years ago.
- Digital collection: Portraits by Carl Van Vechten Portraits by Carl Van Vechten are organized by the last name of the subject. Thumbnail images are available for all portraits.
- Louis Ruchames Collection The collection consists largely of correspondence related to abolitionism in general and John Brown and William Lloyd Garrison in particular. There is also material pertaining to his work with such organizations as the American Jewish Historical Society.
American studies
"All Together! Enlist in the Navy," H. Reuterdahl, American Litho. Co., 1918; 30x44. From World War I and World War II Propaganda Posters Collection.
Other holdings include photographs, letters, documents, and ephemera from presidents and presidential hopefuls, including Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and more.
- Louis Dembitz Brandeis, 1858-1999 The Brandeis collection provides a rich resource for those interested in the personal and public life of Louis D. Brandeis, as well as American legal history in general, the Progressive and Zionist movements, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Finding aid: Hall-Hoag Collection of Extremist Literature in the United States This collection includes more than 5,000 exemplars of right- and left-wing pamphlet literature from the late 1940s through the 1980s pertaining to social, religious, and political issues.
- Spotlight: Hall-Hoag Collection of Extremist Literature in the United States See images from the collection with background information and description at Special Collections Spotlight.
- Finding aid: Radical Pamphlet Collection The Radical Pamphlet Collection contains over 4,000 left- and right-wing documents that help illuminate the history of transatlantic radicalism, especially Anglo-American labor radicalism, particularly between 1930 and 1950.
- Spotlight: Radical Pamphlet Collection See images from the collection with background information and description at Special Collections Spotlight.
- Finding aid: Michael Lally Letters and Other Material Michael Lally, an immigrant to Massachusetts from Ireland, fought for the Union in more than a dozen major battles of the Civil War. The collection at Brandeis includes 57 of Lally's letters from the front, written from 1861 to 1865.
- Spotlight: Michael Lally Letters and Other Material See images from the collection with background information and description at Special Collections Spotlight.
- Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt Collection, 1911-1970 The collection consists of letters to and from Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt, as well as officially published legal acts, assorted periodic publications, news clippings, booklets and pamphlets, and FDR memorabilia.
- Daniel Webster Collection, 1841-1843 The Daniel Webster collection contains 5 linear feet of manuscript material and is dominated by correspondence received during his appointment as Secretary of State under Presidents Harrison and Tyler from 1841 to 1843.
- Finding aid: World War I and World War II Propaganda Posters, 1908-1944 This collection includes nearly a hundred different American propaganda posters from World War I and World War I with a variety of aims. The subjects of the posters include programs such as The United War Work Campaign and Liberty and Victory Loans.
- Spotlight: World War I and World War II Propaganda Posters, 1908-1944 See images from the collection with background information and description at Special Collections Spotlight.
- Online exhibit: World War I and World War II Propaganda Posters, 1908-1944 See an online exhibit of selected posters from the collection, organized chronologically.
- Sacco and Vanzetti collections: Gardner Jackson Collection, 1896-1965 Special Collections has several collections dealing with the Sacco-Vanzetti case. This collection contains writings by and about Gardner Jackson and his involvement in the establishment of the case as a supreme example of American injustice.
- Sacco and Vanzetti collections: Mrs. Walter Frank Collection, 1927-1963 This collection correspondence by and to people who belonged to either the Sacco-Vanzetti National League (New York) or the Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Committee (Boston), including Gardner Jackson and Felix Frankfurter, as well as other letters and photos.
- Sacco and Vanzetti collections: Tom O'Connor Collection 1920-1965 Tom O'Connor was a journalist who also served as the secretary for the Vindication Committee of Sacco and Vanzetti. This collection contains newsclippings and correspondence O'Connor collected during his lifelong interest in the case.
- Sacco and Vanzetti collections: Francis Russell Collection 1921-1965 This collection includes documents related to the Citizens National Committee for Sacco and Vanzetti and the Sacco and Vanzetti National League. Also included are drafts of Russell's writings, correspondence, documents, photographs, and videotapes.
- Leo Frank Trial Collection, 1909-1961 This collection chiefly consists of correspondence from Leo Frank and his wife, Lucille Frank, as well as correspondence to and from Governor Slaton and others. Also included are miscellaneous articles, pamphlets and legal documents.
- Spotlight: Leo Frank Trial Collection See a Spotlight on the Leo Frank Trial Collection, including images of some letters and documents.
- Spotlight: Joseph Heller's Catch-22 See a Spotlight on Heller's novel, with consideration of its impact on American literature and its practitioners, written by Professor Stephen J. Whitfield of the Department of American Studies.
East Asian studies
Material relevant to East Asian Studies includes a collection of Chinese snuff bottles, illustrated erotic pillow books (two Japanese and one Chinese), a collection of nineteenth-century Japanese prints, and a nineteenth-century Japanese scroll painted on silk illustrating the peoples of the world. Please contact the department for more information.
English and American literature
The Special Collections Department includes rare book collections not yet available in LOUIS, including works of eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century English and American literature. Please contact the department for more information.
- Rare books from Special Collections in LOUIS You can do an advanced search in LOUIS (the online library catalog) for rare books. Enter your search terms, and at the bottom of the LOUIS screen, under Collection, limit by Rare Books and Special Collections.
- John Cheever Literary Manuscripts The John Cheever Literary Manuscripts Collection includes annotated typescripts to 88 short stories as well as the final draft to The Wapshot Chronicle; the early drafts, final draft, and printer's proofs to The Wapshot Scandal; and other items.
- Joseph Heller Collection, 1945-1969 This collection includes complete sets of manuscripts of several novels, plays, screenplays, correspondence, published editions, and reviews. Of chief importance is the original handwritten manuscript of Catch-22.
- Spotlight: Joseph Heller's Catch-22 See a Spotlight on Heller's novel, with consideration of its impact on American literature and its practitioners, written by Professor Stephen J. Whitfield of the Department of American Studies.
- Spotlight: Walt Whitman collection The Whitman collection includes early and rare Walt Whitman works, including early editions of Leaves of Grass, a proof sheet of "Passage to India," and a letter in Whitman's own hand.
- Charles Dickens in Special Collections See a list of rare Dickens books held in Special Collections.
- Fannie Hurst Collection, 1889-1968 The Fannie Hurst Collection, 1889-1968, includes typescripts, articles, photographs, correspondence, and other materials related to Hurst's professional and private life.
- Books about English literature in Special Collections A list of books about English literature in Special Collections, including history and criticism.
- Shakespeare in Special Collections See a list of the rare Shakespeare works held in Special Collections, including a First Folio.
- Shakespeare First Folio online See a digitized version of the First Folio held at Brandeis.
- Irving Wallace Collection The collection includes manuscript material relating to various novels, first editions, and foreign translations of the author's works as well as copies of books he used to research his novels. A finding aid is available in the department.
- Ernest Hemingway See a list of books by Ernest Hemingway in Special Collections, including translations of his works into many other languages.
- Dime Novel collection This collection consists of over 1,000 dime novels, an extensive collection of the works of Horatio Alger, Harry Castleman, Oliver Optic, and other boys' and girls' literature of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Click link for a partial list.
- E.M. Broner Collection, 1930- The collection concerns the writings, rituals and correspondence of E.M. Broner, including manuscripts, publications, reviews, correspondence, descriptions of rituals, and more.
- John Galsworthy Letters This collection contains correspondence between Galsworthy and his translator, as well as to Joseph Conrad and others; it also contains some newsclippings and memorabilia.
Fine Arts
Material relevant to Fine Arts includes, in addition to the below, illustrated fine press books; a collection of Native American watercolors; Chinese and Japanese prints and objects (see East Asian studies); illustrated American Dime Novels; the Bernice and Henry Tumen Collection of Judaica (antique Jewish religious objects); illuminated manuscripts and Books of Hours; and more. Please contact the department for more information.
Items viewable below as digital collections, online exhibits, or Spotlights are also available to see in their original forms in the department.
- The Benjamin A. and Julia M. Trustman Collection of Honoré Daumier Lithographs The Trustman Collection comprises nearly the entire oeuvre of Daumier in the lithographic medium and is one of the largest Daumier lithograph collections in the world. The collection has been digitized and is available online.
- Digital collection: Portraits by Carl Van Vechten Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) was a writer, arts critic, and photographer known for his portraits. Brandeis holds more than 1600 different prints of his photos.
- Online exhibit: Helmut Hirsch collection Hirsch was a young opponent of the Nazi regime who was executed in 1937 for plotting to bomb the Nazi headquarters in Nuremberg. The collection includes works on paper of this promising young artist.
- Online exhibit: Leonard Baskin and the Gehenna Press Leonard Baskin, a noted sculptor and illustrator, founded the Gehenna Press in 1942, and it became one of the premier 20th-century fine presses in America. This collection of books and ephemera covers the years 1951-1971.
- Audubon's Birds of America The four volumes of John James Audubon's Birds of America contain 435 plates depicting 489 species of birds, approximately life-sized. The illustrations are renowned for their detail and beauty as well as the impressive technical skill of the artist.
- Spotlight: S.M.S., William Copley, Letter Edged in Black Press, Inc., 1968 S.M.S. (Shit Must Stop) is a surrealist publication conceived by New York artist William N. Copley. The work is a series of folders, available by subscription, containing objects and artworks contributed by Marcel Duchamp, Ray Johnson, Man Ray, et al.
- Spanish Civil War poster collection This collection contains more than 250 richly illustrated propaganda posters from the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), some of which are viewable online.
- Spotlight: World War I and World War II Propaganda Posters, 1908-1944 This collection includes nearly a hundred different American propaganda posters from World War I and World War II, including work by Howard Chandler Christy, James Montgomery Flagg, Adolph Treidler, Harrison Fisher, Casper Emerson Jr., and others.
- Digital collection: Book of Hours images See images from a fifteenth-century Flemish Book of Hours held in Special Collections.
- James Abbott McNeill Whistler Collection The records in this collection were created between 1841 and 1935. Included are autographs, letters, photographs, sales and exhibition catalogues, magazine articles, portraits, news clippings, and some reprints of artworks.
History
Civil War letters, Michael Lally Letters and Other Material collection
The nature of our rare book and manuscript collections makes nearly all of them relevant to a study of history. Some collecting strengths include World War II, the Holocaust and Jewish resistance, social justice, and the Spanish Civil War, among many other subjects. A small sampling is listed below. Please see the other categories in this list, the inventories linked from the main website, and the LOUIS catalog (Advanced Search; limit Collection to Rare Books and Special Collections) for more ideas.
- Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt Collection, 1911-1970 The collection consists of letters to and from Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt, as well as officially published legal acts, assorted periodic publications, news clippings, booklets and pamphlets, and FDR memorabilia.
- Spanish Civil War Collection The collection contains more than 5,000 books and pamphlets pertaining to various aspects of the Spanish Civil War, the Spanish exiles, and the Franco regime, as well as literary works pertaining to the conflict.
- Spanish Civil War posters Click above to find a checklist of Spanish Civil War propaganda posters in our collection, some with online images. The posters are part of the Spanish Civil War collection, which contains books, pamphlets, and manuscript material.
- Daniel Webster Collection, 1841-1843 The Daniel Webster collection is dominated by correspondence received during his appointment as Secretary of State under Presidents Harrison and Tyler from 1841 to 1843.
- Benjamin Disraeli Letters, 1799-1881
This collection includes correspondence to family members, politicians, and others; visual materials including photos and caricatures; and a bound book of petition letters addressed to the Earl of Beaconsfield. - Albert Einstein Collection The materials in this collection were created from 1896 through 1952 and consist primarily of correspondence, including a large number of letters from Einstein to American Jewish leader Stephen Wise as well as letters from prominent scientists.
- Rose Jacobs Collection, 1896-1966 The Rose Jacobs collection is dominated by a manuscript and supporting documents regarding the history of Hadassah.
- Autograph Collection, 1621-1985 This collection consists of signed documents, correspondence, autograph manuscripts, photographs, and etchings. This collection includes the autographs of a number of important historical personalities.
- Finding aid: Michael Lally Letters and Other Material Michael Lally, an immigrant to Massachusetts from Ireland, fought for the Union in more than a dozen major battles of the Civil War. The collection at Brandeis includes 57 of Lally's letters from the front, written from 1861 to 1865.
- Spotlight: Michael Lally Letters and Other Material See images from the collection with background information and description at Special Collections Spotlight.
- Finding aid: World War I and World War II Propaganda Posters, 1908-1944 This collection includes nearly a hundred different American propaganda posters from World War I and World War I with a variety of aims. The subjects of the posters include programs such as The United War Work Campaign and Liberty and Victory Loans.
- Online exhibit: World War I and World War II Propaganda Posters, 1908-1944 See an online exhibit of selected posters from the collection, organized chronologically.
- Leo Frank Trial Collection, 1909-1961 This collection chiefly consists of correspondence from Leo Frank and his wife, Lucille Frank, as well as correspondence to and from Governor Slaton and others. Also included are miscellaneous articles, pamphlets and legal documents.
- Spotlight: Leo Frank Trial Collection See a Spotlight on the Leo Frank Trial Collection, including images of some letters and documents.
- Spotlight: McKew-Parr Collection on Magellan and the Age of Discovery This book collection is devoted to the era of exploration, the period from the mid-fifteenth through the mid-eighteenth centuries, with works relating to Magellan, Columbus, and other voyagers.
- Digitized book collection: McKew-Parr Collection on Magellan and the Age of Discovery Much of the McKew Parr Collection (see Spotlight in previous link) has been digitized and is available on the Internet Archive.
- Lewis S. Feuer Collection This collection contains approximately 100 feet of correspondence, published works, manuscripts, pamphlets, photographs, and other personal material from the career of noted philosopher and sociologist Lewis S. Feuer. The collection is being processed.
- Finding aid: Hall-Hoag Collection of Extremist Literature in the United States This collection includes more than 5,000 exemplars of right- and left-wing pamphlet literature from the late 1940s through the 1980s pertaining to social, religious, and political issues.
- Spotlight: Hall-Hoag Collection of Extremist Literature in the United States See images from the collection with background information and description at Special Collections Spotlight.
- Spotlight: Radical Pamphlet Collection See images from the collection with background information and description at Special Collections Spotlight.
- Spotlight: Léon Lipschutz collection of Dreyfusiana and French Judaica The majority of this collection is made up of materials specifically related to the Dreyfus Affair, including letters, newsclippings, and photos; there is also a small but notable group of documents that focus more generally on Jewish life and intellectualism in France from the late 1700s to the mid-twentieth century.
Italian studies
The rare books collection contains many works in Italian, cataloged in LOUIS (do an Advanced Search and limit Language to Italian and limit Collection to Rare Books and Special Collections). Works include a fifteenth-century incunabule; a 1564 edition of Dante's Divine Comedy with commentary crossed out by Spanish Inquisition editors (ncluding the original document, signed by one of the Inquisitors, stating that the necessary cancellations have been made); a sixteenth-century Decameron; a receipt book from the nineteenth-century Jewish community of Venice; sixteenth- and seventeenth-century music (see the Gorham Collection); the Leonardo da Vinci Collection of books and pamphlets; and much more.
- Title list: Gorham Collection of Early Music Imprints, 1501-1650 The Gorham Collection consists of the original imprints of music or books on or related to music published between 1501 and 1650, a golden age of music printing and publishing. Click the above link for a list of books with call numbers in LOUIS.
- Description: Gorham Collection of Early Music Imprints, 1501-1650 The Gorham Collection consists of the original imprints of music or books on or related to music published between 1501 and 1650, a golden age of music printing and publishing. Click the above link for a detailed description of the collection.
- Spotlight: Gorham Collection of Early Music Imprints, 1501-1650 The above link will show you the Special Collections Spotlight entry on the Gorham Collection, with information about the partbooks in the collection and early music publishing, written by Sarah Mead, music department faculty member.
- Leonardo da Vinci Collection The Leonardo da Vinci collection includes books and pamphlets dealing with all aspects of Leonardo da Vinci's life, art, and engineering feats; works date from the eighteenth century to the present.
- Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321 The link above will show you rare books by Dante Alighieri cataloged in LOUIS, including the 1564 Divine Comedy censored by the Spanish Inquisition.
- Early Florentine history Click above to see a list of books published in the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries on Florentine history.
- Decameron Click above to see a list of rare editions of Boccaccio's Decameron.
Legal studies
Collections relevant to legal studies include the personal papers of Louis Brandeis as well as materials related to specific legal cases such as that of Leo Frank or Sacco and Vanzetti. Other materials include a collection of (pre-1947) Indian legal documents as well as photographs from the Nuremberg Trials.
- Louis Dembitz Brandeis collection This collection contains personal correspondence, family photographs, publications, financial records, newsclippings, biographical material, and more.
- Leo Frank Trial Collection, 1909-1961 This collection chiefly consists of correspondence from Leo Frank and his wife, Lucille Frank, as well as correspondence to and from Governor Slaton and others. Also included are miscellaneous articles, pamphlets and legal documents.
- Spotlight: Leo Frank Trial Collection See a Spotlight on the Leo Frank Trial Collection, including images of some letters and documents.
- Sacco and Vanzetti collections: Gardner Jackson Collection, 1896-1965 Special Collections has several collections dealing with the Sacco-Vanzetti case. This collection contains writings by and about Gardner Jackson and his involvement in the establishment of the case as a supreme example of American injustice.
- Sacco and Vanzetti collections: Mrs. Walter Frank Collection, 1927-1963 This collection correspondence by and to people who belonged to either the Sacco-Vanzetti National League (New York) or the Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Committee (Boston), including Gardner Jackson and Felix Frankfurter, as well as other letters and photos.
- Sacco and Vanzetti collections: Tom O'Connor Collection 1920-1965 Tom O'Connor was a journalist who also served as the secretary for the Vindication Committee of Sacco and Vanzetti. This collection contains newsclippings and correspondence O'Connor collected during his lifelong interest in the case.
- Sacco and Vanzetti collections: Francis Russell Collection 1921-1965 This collection includes documents related to the Citizens National Committee for Sacco and Vanzetti and the Sacco and Vanzetti National League. Also included are drafts of Russell's writings, correspondence, documents, photographs, and videotapes.
- Spotlight: Léon Lipschutz collection of Dreyfusiana and French Judaica The majority of this collection is made up of materials specifically related to the Dreyfus Affair, including letters, newsclippings, and photos; there is also a small but notable group of documents that focus more generally on Jewish life and intellectualism in France from the late 1700s to the mid-twentieth century.
Medieval and Renaissance studies
Click here to see a guide devoted entirely to Medieval and Renaissance studies and sources.
- Manuscript Books of Hours and Medieval Manuscripts See a title list of books of hours and medieval manuscripts in Special Collections.
- Digital collection: Book of Hours images See images from a fifteenth-century Flemish Book of Hours held in Special Collections.
- Incunabula See a title list of the forty-four incunabula (books printed before 1501) held in Special Collections.
- Spotlight: 1589 Geneva Bible The English Geneva Bible, published in completed form in 1560, was issued at a time when the Roman Catholic Church had banned all vernacular translations of the Bible.
- Spotlight: Three Books of Renaissance Cryptography and the Secret of Shakespearean Authorship See details about and images of three books of cryptography, a craft that became quite popular in the Renaissance. One of the volumes described is cited as evidence in the Shakespeare authorship debate.
- Shakespeare in Special Collections See a list of the rare Shakespeare works held in Special Collections, including a First Folio.
- Shakespeare First Folio online See a digitized version of the First Folio held at Brandeis.
- Title list: Gorham Collection of Early Music Imprints, 1501-1650 The Gorham Collection consists of the original imprints of music or books on or related to music published between 1501 and 1650, a golden age of music printing and publishing. Click the above link for a list of books with call numbers in LOUIS.
- Description: Gorham Collection of Early Music Imprints, 1501-1650 The Gorham Collection consists of the original imprints of music or books on or related to music published between 1501 and 1650, a golden age of music printing and publishing. Click the above link for a detailed description of the collection.
- Spotlight: Gorham Collection of Early Music Imprints, 1501-1650 The above link will show you the Special Collections Spotlight entry on the Gorham Collection, with information about the partbooks in the collection and early music publishing, written by Sarah Mead, music department faculty member.
Music
- Title list: Gorham Collection of Early Music Imprints, 1501-1650 The Gorham Collection consists of the original imprints of music or books on or related to music published between 1501 and 1650, a golden age of music printing and publishing. Click the above link for a list of books with call numbers in LOUIS.
- Description: Gorham Collection of Early Music Imprints, 1501-1650 The Gorham Collection consists of the original imprints of music or books on or related to music published between 1501 and 1650, a golden age of music printing and publishing. Click the above link for a detailed description of the collection.
- Spotlight: Gorham Collection of Early Music Imprints, 1501-1650 The above link will show you the Special Collections Spotlight entry on the Gorham Collection, with information about the partbooks in the collection and early music publishing, written by Sarah Mead, music department faculty member.
- Digital collection: Portraits by Carl Van Vechten Portraits by Carl Van Vechten are organized by the last name of the subject. Thumbnail images are available for all portraits. Subjects include music greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Harold Arlen, and many more.
- Finding aid: Victor Young Collection This collection consists of scores, awards and memorabilia, sheet music, press clippings, correspondence, photographs of Victor Young, and more.
- Spotlight: Victor Young Collection Click above for a description of the Victor Young collection, with information about Young's career and images.
- Yiddish Sheet Music This collection includes Yiddish sheet music written for the Yiddish stage, Yiddish and Hebrew folksongs, and cantorial compositions.
- Reginald De Koven Collection, 1861-1920 This collection includes opera manuscripts, published compositions, and some correspondence regarding contracts, copyrights, production dates, and reviews, as well as news articles and two pages handwritten by De Koven titled "Ideas for a Farce."
Near Eastern and Judaic studies
Click here to see a guide devoted entirely to Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, created by Judaica Librarian Jim Rosenbloom.
Click here to see a guide devoted entirely to Yiddish studies, created by research and instruction librarian Judy Pinnolis.
- Spotlight: Léon Lipschutz collection of Dreyfusiana and French Judaica The majority of this collection is made up of materials specifically related to the Dreyfus Affair, including letters, newsclippings, and photos; there is also a small but notable group of documents that focus more generally on Jewish life and intellectualism in France from the late 1700s to the mid-twentieth century.
- Leo Frank Trial Collection, 1909-1961 This collection chiefly consists of correspondence from Leo Frank and his wife, Lucille Frank, as well as correspondence to and from Governor Slaton and others. Also included are miscellaneous articles, pamphlets, and legal documents.
- Spotlight: Leo Frank Trial Collection See a Spotlight on the Leo Frank Trial Collection, including images of some letters and documents.
- Rose Jacobs Collection, 1896-1966 The Rose Jacobs collection is dominated by a manuscript and supporting documents regarding the history of Hadassah.
- Jewish Resistance Collection The Jewish Resistance Collection is an unprocessed collection of materials related to Jewish resistance during World War II, in a variety of languages, including clippings, publications, memorabilia, and more.
- Louis Dembitz Brandeis collection This collection contains personal correspondence, family photographs, publications, financial records, newsclippings, biographical material, and more.
- Maurice Samuel Collection, 1915-1936 This collection contains correspondence, literary works, reviews, and photographs. Of particular interest are descriptions of rural life in wartime France and experiences in the barracks.
- Yiddish Sheet Music This collection includes Yiddish sheet music written for the Yiddish stage, Yiddish and Hebrew folksongs, and cantorial compositions.
- Stephen S. Wise Collection, 1896-1949 This collection contains manuscript material representing Wise's career as a rabbi and involvement in public affairs. The bulk of the collection consists of materials related to organizations Wise was involved in, sermons, and correspondence.
- Stephen S. Wise Family Papers This collection consists primarily of correspondence and concerns Stephen Wise's personal relationships with his family, and, in particular, the relatives of his wife's family.
- Josephus See a sampling of rare books on Josephus, from 1499 to the twentieth century.
- Simons collection of Judaica The Simons Collection of books on Judaica includes works dating from 1792 to 1990.
- Ludwig Lewisohn Collection, 1883-1955 This collection contains manuscript material from the novelist, literary and drama critic, and prominent Zionist Ludwig Lewisohn, representing the latter part of his writing career.
- E.M. Broner Collection, 1930- The collection concerns the writings, rituals and correspondence of E.M. Broner, including manuscripts, publications, reviews, correspondence, descriptions of rituals, and more.
- Hebrew manuscripts See a list of Hebrew manuscripts in Special Collections, ranging in date from 1782 to the present.
- Bernice and Henry Tumen Collection of Judaica A portion of this collection of antique Jewish religious objects is on display on the mezzanine of Goldfarb Library.
Science
Some of the material relevant to various scientific fields includes works on early astronomy (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries), rare seventeenth-century Galileo books, first editions of Darwin's Origin of Species, the Albert Einstein collection, the Leonardo DaVinci collection, the Bern Dibner Collection in the History of Science, and more.
- Works on early astronomy Books include a 1541 edition of Ptolemy, a 1609 first edition of Johannes Kepler’s "Astronomia Nova," and "A Discovery of a New World, or, A Discourse Tending to Prove that ‘Tis Probable There My Be Another Habitable World in the Moon" (1684).
- Audubon's Birds of America The four volumes of John James Audubon's Birds of America contain 435 plates depicting 489 species of birds, approximately life-sized. The illustrations are renowned for their detail and beauty as well as the impressive technical skill of the artist.
- Leonardo DaVinci collection The Leonardo DaVinci collection includes books about Leonardo and his work spanning the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.
- Charles Darwin Charles Darwin books in Special Collections include several first editions, including a signed first edition of The Origin of Species.
- Albert Einstein Collection The Albert Einstein collection contains material created between 1896 and 1952, primarily personal and professional correspondence.
- Albert Einstein books Special Collections includes articles published by Einstein during his lifetime as well as other items.
- Galileo books The book collection contains seventeenth-century Galileo books, including an early edition on sunspots.
- Bern Dibner Collection in the History of Science The Bern Dibner Collection of rare books is primarily comprised of works on science, spanning the 16th through the 20th centuries.
- Spotlight: Experiments and Observations on Electricity Made at Philadelphia in America See a Special Collections Spotlight on the first collected edition of Benjamin Franklin's experiments with electricity. The book also includes his observations on mathematics, natural phenomena (such as theories on the source of aurora borealis, hurricanes, and shooting stars), economics, population growth, and the 1752 outbreak of smallpox in Boston.
Social justice and social policy
Manuscript collections relevant to social justice and social policy include material on Leo Frank, Sacco and Vanzetti, Jewish Resistance during World War II, Alfred Dreyfus, and abolitionism, as well as the personal papers of Louis Brandeis.
- Leo Frank Trial Collection, 1909-1961 This collection chiefly consists of correspondence from Leo Frank and his wife, Lucille Frank, as well as correspondence to and from Governor Slaton and others. Also included are miscellaneous articles, pamphlets, and legal documents.
- Spotlight: Leo Frank Trial Collection See a Spotlight on the Leo Frank Trial Collection, including images of some letters and documents.
- Sacco and Vanzetti collections: Gardner Jackson Collection, 1896-1965 Special Collections has several collections dealing with the Sacco-Vanzetti case. This collection contains writings by and about Gardner Jackson and his involvement in the establishment of the case as a supreme example of American injustice.
- Sacco and Vanzetti collections: Mrs. Walter Frank Collection, 1927-1963 This collection contains correspondence by and to people who belonged to the Sacco-Vanzetti National League (New York) or the Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Committee (Boston), including Gardner Jackson and Felix Frankfurter, as well as other letters and photos.
- Sacco and Vanzetti collections: Tom O'Connor Collection 1920-1965 Tom O'Connor was a journalist who also served as the secretary for the Vindication Committee of Sacco and Vanzetti. This collection contains newsclippings and correspondence O'Connor collected during his lifelong interest in the case.
- Sacco and Vanzetti collections: Francis Russell Collection 1921-1965 This collection includes documents related to the Citizens National Committee for Sacco and Vanzetti and the Sacco and Vanzetti National League. Also included are drafts of Russell's writings, correspondence, documents, photographs, and videotapes.
- Jewish Resistance Collection The Jewish Resistance Collection is an unprocessed collection of materials related to Jewish resistance during World War II, in a variety of languages, including clippings, publications, memorabilia, and more.
- Alfred Dreyfus materials Brandeis holds a collection of materials related to Alfred Dreyfus, consisting of correspondence, clippings, and photographs. The collection is in the process of being digitized.
- Helmut Hirsch Collection Helmut Hirsch, a promising young artist and poet, was executed on June 4, 1937, for plotting to bomb the Nazi headquarters in Nuremberg. The collection contains artwork, poetry, photographs, and family correspondence.
- Louis Ruchames Collection The collection consists largely of correspondence related to abolitionism in general and John Brown and William Lloyd Garrison in particular. There is also material pertaining to his work with such organizations as the American Jewish Historical Society.
- Spotlight: Hall-Hoag Collection of Extremist Literature in the United States See images from the collection with background information and description at Special Collections Spotlight.
- Spotlight: Radical Pamphlet Collection See images from the collection with background information and description at Special Collections Spotlight.
Theater arts
Theater Arts collections include materials related to Joan Crawford, Sophie Tucker, Arthur Laurents, George Froeschel, and others.
- American Theater Programs Collection This is a collection of American theater and stage programs of the late 19th and early 20th century, focusing on the Boston drama scene. A paper finding aid is available in the Special Collections Department (+Z688 .T5 B79 1987).
- Finding aid: Joan Crawford Awards This collection consists of awards presented to Joan Crawford for her acting talents, contributions to the community, and business achievements. Awards for acting comprise the majority of the collection.
- Online exhibit: Joan Crawford Awards This online exhibit displays a variety of awards that Brandeis Fellow Joan Crawford acquired during her lifetime (finding aid in link above). These awards were donated to Brandeis University in 1966, 1968, and 1973.
- Sophie Tucker scrapbooks Special Collections holds a number of scrapbooks created by Sophie Tucker, incorprating memorabilia, newspaper clippings, greeting cards, and other personal mementos. Please contact the department for more information.
- Finding aid: Van Vechten photographs The Carl Van Vechten photograph collection contains images of many theater notables, including James Earl Jones, Tallulah Bankhead, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, and many more.
Special Collections Librarian |
Sarah ShoemakerContact Info:
Archives & Special Collections
Goldfarb Library, Level 2
Brandeis University
Waltham, Massachusetts
tel. 781-736-4641
sshoemak@brandeis.edu
Send Email
Subjects:
Special Collections, Manuscripts, Rare Books, Primary Sources
Archives & Special Collections
Goldfarb Library, Level 2
Brandeis University
Waltham, Massachusetts
tel. 781-736-4641
sshoemak@brandeis.edu
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Subjects:
Special Collections, Manuscripts, Rare Books, Primary Sources
Description
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