Rare Book Collection
Laughing Owl, Sceloglaux albifacies by John G. Keulemans, from Ornithological Miscellany, Vol. 1 by George Dawson Rowley, London,1875. (AMNH image no. 6253)
The Library's Rare Book and Rare Folio collection grew from a need to protect and preserve the Library's research collection. As the Library grew and more time passed, a sizable number of books could be designated as rare. These collections now include over 14,000 volumes and continue to be integral part of the Museum's research collection, especially in the study of systematics. The collection includes field diaries and scrapbooks; richly illustrated, fragile or uniquely bound materials; limited and/or autographed editions; published and unpublished materials with special Museum association; materials of high monetary value; and rare books relevent to natural history, especially in those fields of interest at the Museum.
Viewing Rare Materials
Access to materials in the Rare Book Collection is by appointment only. The Library's holdings of Rare Materials can be found in the Library Catalog by using a keyword search and limiting by "Location"="rare materials". To make an appointment to view rare material, please complete our Rare Book Collection Access Form.
Definition of Rare Materials
“Rare Books” are defined as those parts of the Library collection that fit one or more of the following categories:
1) Volumes printed before 1850 in the Americas, and before 1775 in Europe and the other continents (these thresholds of rarity will be periodically advanced).
2) Items including a unique autograph or other unique manuscript elements (marginalia, annotations, etc.). Note that not all books signed by an author or illustrator are necessarily “rare”. Discretion is used in evaluating signed copies. The following criteria are considered:
a. The book itself (or all of the authors’ writings) is of special interest.
b. The book is an association copy, containing a signature, bookplate, or other evidence of ownership by a distinguished person, especially if the book itself or its owner is closely tied to the Museum.
3) Signed presentation copies of books written by a member of the Museum staff (whether on a subject of interest to the Museum or not).
4) Books known to be very scarce or known to be of especially high monetary value.
5) Original bindings of types which are extremely scarce, or which may be associated with known early binders and their shops, or with a particular owner and in general, books with unique or highly distinctive formats.
6) Books less than four inches in height.
7) Volumes with unique graphic elements such as hand-colored plates, significant maps or graphics and portfolios of unbound hand colored prints.
8) Classic or “landmark” books in the field, preferably in their first or definitive editions and subsequent revisions issued under the direct auspices of the author (for example, Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and its various editions) -- modern editions are thus normally excluded; also, first English editions of works originally published in other languages.
9) Limited editions (issued in editions of fewer than 200 copies).
10) Selected curiosa, (as, for example, Edgar Alan Poe’s plagiarized volume on conchology).
Rare Book Collection Access Form
Please fill out the following form to request an item from our Rare Book Collection or Rare Folio Collection.
* Indicates a required field.