Rare Books: Collection Strengths
Major Collections
Major Topics
- Aesthetics and Literary Theory
More than 350 volumes on aesthetics and criticism, most published in the 18th century in Great Britain. The collection includes well-known titles by canonical figures, such as William Hogarth and Joshua Reynolds, as well as works by as-yet-undiscovered authors. Additional titles are regularly acquired. - British Naval History Collection
Nearly 400 titles. The collection is described separately on this site. - California
More than 800 books from the 18th-19th centuries. The collection is described separately on this site. - Costume and Fashion
Complementing the Dance collection are more than 250 books and serials on costume and fashion. Search ANTPAC by subject Clothing and dress, Fashion, Women's clothing, and related topics. Search by genre for Fashion plates, Fashion design drawings, Costume prints, and Costume design drawings. - Courville Collection
Two hundred books collected and donated by Cyril Brian Courville, M.D., on the history of neurological science and, more generally, medicine. Described in the Catalog of Works in the Neurological sciences, Collected by Cyril Brian Courville, M.D. (Irvine: Regents of the University of California, 1978). The bibliography also lists Courville’s non-rare books in the same field, which are stored at the Southern Regional Library Facility (SRLF) on the UCLA campus. - Dance
More than 200 books from the 17th-19th centuries. The collection is described separately on this site. - Hollingsworth Collection
Books on sexually transmitted diseases, with a focus on syphilis. The bequest of Merrill W. Hollingsworth, M.D. - Emma D. Menninger Collection
More than 2,000 monographs and serials on horticulture, with an emphasis on orchids, from the 18th century onward. Most notable is a complete run of Curtis's Botanical Magazine (1794 to present). The bequest of Emma D. Menninger, an eminent orchid scholar and hybridist. - Mesoamerican Codices
More than forty facsimile reproductions.