Special Collections
The Special Collections, located in the Margaret Clapp Library, contains rare books, manuscripts, and limited editions. These may be consulted in the Special Collections reading room, which was extensively renovated in 1999 as part of a gift from Lia Gelin Poorvu '56 and William Poorvu. The collections are available for research, free of charge to students and faculty of the Wellesley College community, as well as visiting scholars, regardless of academic affiliation.
Readers are required to register and present photo identification. Limited scanning, microfilming, and photography are available in some instances, depending on the condition of the original.
Special Collections' holdings may be searched in the library catalog to the right.
The Special Collections
- The Durant Collection
- The Rare Books Collection
see also Pre-1600 Manuscripts - The Plimpton Collection
- The Elbert Collection
- The Alcove of North American Languages
- The Juvenile Collection
- The English Poetry Collection
- The Marks Collection
- The Guy Walker Jr. Collection
- The Ruskin Collection
- The Book Arts Collection
Featured exhibitions & articles
- Artists' Books in Special Collections: Wellesley Magazine article
- Resonance and Response : Artists' Books from Special Collections - exhibition catalog available for purchase
- Artists' Books Conference June 15-18, 2005
- Books of Hours
- An Old Assyrian Colony Period Cylinder Seal in the Wellesley College Library Special Collectionsby Suzanne Estelle-Holmer