A.M. TODD RARE BOOK ROOM
Questions may be sent to smithson@kzoo.edu
Current Exhibit: "The Fair Arcadian Hill: Celebrating the College’s 175th Anniversary"
Hours
The Rare Book Room is open from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm every
Monday, Tuesday, & Thursday, and by appointment. The current exhibition is open March 31 - April 24, and May 19 - June 5, 2008.
The current exhibition is "The Fair Arcadian Hill: Celebrating the College’s 175th Anniversary"
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The Collection
The A.M. Todd Rare Book Room houses a distinctive collection
of rare and unusual books and manuscripts acquired by
the college through the benevolence of alumni and friends.
Taken together, the materials demonstrate the nature of
intellectual inquiry over the past five hundred years
and thereby reinforce the strength of the general library
collection. The following summary introduces the most
distinctive subject areas in the collection.
American Literature
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A select group of notable works, highlighted by
a first edition of Thoureau's Walden and
first editions of Faulkner, Longfellow, and Henry
James.
- Classics
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A solid and diverse assemblage which includes the
1481 Christopher Landino edition of Dante's Divina
Commedia, first editions of Pope's translations
of Homer, and numerous fine editions of the classics
in Latin and Greek, several of which are first printings
from the fifteenth and sixteen centuries.
- Economic and Political Works
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Including first editions of Adam Smith's Wealth
of Nations, Rousseau's Contrat Social,
and Hobbes's Leviathan.
- English Literature
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A deep and wide-ranging collection, including first
editions of Milton, Shelley, Byron, Dickens, and
D.H. Lawrence.
- History and Travel
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Featuring first editions of Gibbon's Decline
and Fall of the Roman Empire, the complete set
of official accounts of Cook's historic voyages,
and the massive twenty volume Description de
l'Egypte, commissioned by Napoleon.
- History of Printing and Book Production
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Encompasses the major technical and artistic developments
throughout the history of book printing and production
from the early movable press books of the fifteenth
century through the private press movement near
the end of the nineteenth century. The collection
is well represented by many of the finest printers,
from Gutenberg, Aldus Mantius, and Nicholas Jenson
to William Morris, Lucien Pissarro, and T.J. Cobden-Sanderson.
- Ornithology
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Perhaps the most striking element of the collection,
containing many beautifully bound, hand-colored
books, among them signed works by Audubon and numerous
folio volumes by ninteenth-century ornithologists
John Gould, Daniel Elliot, and R. Bowdler Sharpe.
- Scientific Works
-
A major emphasis of the collection, containing
the first publications of scientific advances, among
them Boyle's Law, Priestley's discovery of oxygen,
and Lavoisier's chemical nomenclature.
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History of the Collection
The Rare Book collection at Kalamazoo College began in
the 1920's with gifts from the library of Albert May Todd,
a prominent Kalamazoo citizen and an internationally known
book collector. Over the years, the collection gradually
expanded through generous contributions of many donors,
but it was not until the 1970's that it attained its present
scope and stature. Major bequests from A.M. Todd's daughter,
Ethel Todd Woodhams, and from Elizabeth Dewing Todd, the
widow of Todd's son Paul, brought together a major portion
of the library originally collected by Mr. Todd. Today,
the collection contiues to be enhanced through the generosity
of book lovers and friends of the library.
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The Room
The collection is located on the third floor of Upjohn
Library Commons, Room 326, in rooms equipped with environmental
controls specifically designed to protect printed materials.
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Exhibits
The rare book collection contributes to the educational
program of the college by introducing students to unique
primary source materials in the context of their academic
course work and through regularly scheduled public exhibitions,
many of which are curated by advanced-level students.
The depth and variety found in the collection enable student
curators to incorporate their own areas of interest into
the exhibits. This experience serves as an excellent tool
for individualized study as these students follow a scholarly
path to in-depth knowledge of their subject and at the
same time share the richness of the collection with the
wider community.
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Donations
Upjohn Library is pleased to accept donations of books
and manuscripts in accordance with its gift policy.
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A.M. Todd Rare Book Room Fund
The Rare Book Room is supported by the A.M.Todd Rare
Book Room Fund, a growing endowment created by friends
of the college. The library welcomes contributions to
this fund, which provides for the preservation, exhibition,
and development of the collection.
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Guidelines for Using the Rare
Book Room
The collection includes many items that are fragile and
in delicate condition, and therefore require special handling.
Visitors are requested to abide by the following guidelines:
