The mission of Rare Books and Manuscripts is to properly preserve Library materials that are unique, rare, valuable or fragile and fit into the designated collecting areas of the Unit or have been accessioned through consultation with the Library Director, Special Collections Librarian and Assistant Library Director for Technical Services.

Use and Handling of Rare Materials
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Known Book Donors
Guides to Books in the Collections
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Preservation & Conservation
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Use and Handling
 

• Rare books and manuscripts do not circulate

• Rare books and manuscripts must be used in accordance with standard rare books practices -- See Proper Book Care and Handling

• Materials in this collection receive full cataloguing at the item or collection level, as appropriate

• Rare books and manuscripts receive minimal physical processing

• Restoration decisions are made in consultation with the Library Director, Special Collections Librarian, and the Assistant Director of the Library/Head of Technical Services

• Items in the Rare Books & Manuscripts Collection are considered for deaccessioning when the item is deemed inappropriate due to its condition, content, or if it is an exact duplicate of another item already in the collection

• If an item is a duplicate, the item in the best condition will be retained or the duplicate will be added to the library stacks for circulation

• All proceeds from the sale of duplicate or inappropriate items will go towards collection development and the preservation and conservation of items already in the collection

• Reproduction of materials, as in photocopying or flash photography, may not be possible due to the condition of the item

• Rare books and manuscripts are located in several different locations throughout both library buildings, the Wendell B. Will Room, Stockwell Room 305 and the Rare Books Room in Special Collections.

Contents of the Collection

For the Rare Books & Manuscripts Collection, we define "rare" as an item with collectable or intrinsic value (i.e., demand is greater than the supply, or has local or historic interest); an item that is scarce, or vulnerable to theft or mutilation; a first, early, special or limited edition; and/or an item signed or dedicated by the author or another significant historical figure. We also take into consideration the condition of materials, whether or not they are in their contemporary bindings, etc. Unless stated otherwise, most of the collections were pre-existent in the library's circulating collections before their value was determined. The College Library does not purchase books to enhance their collections except on rare occasions; therefore, any future additions to the collections are made only through gift or transfer from the library stacks.

American and European Literature
	This collection contains first, limited and fine press editions and signed copies of works by selected major figures of American and European literature, including but not limited to the likes of W.H. Auden, Samuel Beckett, Saul Bellow, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Miguel de Cervantes, Jean Cocteau, James Fennimore Cooper, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Faulkner, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ernest Hemingway, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Thomas Mann, Francois Mauraux, Georges Sand, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, and Virginia Woolf. This collection was begun through gifts made by Ronald Dzierbickie from 1969 to 1998, in honor of Judge Donald E. Holbrook.
Americana
	This collection contains items published prior to 1900 that are covered by the standard Americana bibliographies: US-iana/Howe, Sabin, the American Bibliography Series, which includes Kelly, Roorbach, Evans, Shaw, Shoemaker, Cooper). The original donation that began this collection was made during the late 1930s through the McGregor Plan. In June of 1938, several items were donated to Albion College at the Dedication of the Stockwell Memorial Library. The individuals who donated these materials were important book dealers who had sold items to the McGregor Plan. There are four subdividions within Americana, including Early Exploration, American Revolution, 18th Century America, and the Civil War (important collections include the G. Lynn Sumner Lincolniana Collection and the Franklin C. Courter Lincoln Paintings)
Art & Music Books
	This collection consists of rare, limited, and special reproductions by major artists; editions signed by the author or artist; unusual formats, sizes and/or shapes that makes it difficult to house in the regular stacks.
Bible Collection
	This collection contains printed editions of the Bible (Old and New Testament and the Apochrypha), in any and all languages; sacred literature related to the Judeo-Christian Bible (i.e., Book of Mormon); and commentaries and selected works by major figures in the history of religion (i.e., Martin Luther's works). The original donation for this collection was made in the late 1930s by William R. Longstreet, Albion alumnus of the Fiske years. The donation included three hundred biblical volumes and testaments that Longstreet had spent his lifetime collecting throughout North America. While a student at Albion, Longstreet was a member of the Philozethian Society, the Lovejoys, and Alpha Tau Omega.
Early American Textbooks
	This collection contains pre-WWI K-12 school textbooks, with emphasis on those at Albion College, in Michigan and throughout the Midwest. These materials have come to us through gifts and were pulled together from the library stacks as a collection and catalogued through a McGregor Grant that provided the necessary funds.
Early Printing, Fine Binding, and Limited Editions
	This collection contains examples of fine printing and binding (e.g., incunables, pre-1700 imprints, and fine printing of the nineteenth century to the present), limited and fine press editions, facsimiles of early books, renowned books about books in first or signed editions, books on the history of printing, and prints that can be used to print the curriculum and research of the College community (e.g., Currier and Ives Lithograph Collection and Hogarth Print Collection). This collection is active through purchase or gift. Types of materials present include artist books; printings by Giambattista Bodoni; publications by Golden Cockerel, Nonesuch, Peter Pauper, and Rodale Presses; and the Mary Elin Schnedier Collection of East Asian Dance.
Juvenile Books
		This collection is limited to series books before 1950 by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, similar titles published in the first third of the twentieth century, and classics of children's literature before 1940. One of the donors associated with this collection is the Hugh Sebastian Estate.
Local History
		For this collection, "local" is defined as the state of Michigan, Calhoun and Jackson Counties. It is limited to historically significant publications on Michigan before 1940, including rare and special editions; first or rare editions by authors born or residing in Michigan; titles on Albion history that include information on Albion College; and major titles on Albion history with some duplication with the Local History Room. Items on Albion and Albion College history are generally purchased for this collection upon publication.
M.F.K. Fisher Collection
	This collection contains works by and about Fisher. The original donation for this collection was made by Dr. Robert Reynolds in 1990. This collection is active through purchase only; in which case, one copy goes to the Wendell Will Room to join the rest of the collection; the other, to the library stacks.
Manuscripts
	This collection includes land grants, indentures, slave manifests, maps, and the like from throughout history. The majority of these items were donated in the late 1930s by William R. Longstreet along with the Bible Collection. This collection is closed to further accessions.
Periodicals of Historic or Literary Importance
		This collection contains important serial publication before 1800 and literary magazines (e.g., Burning Deck, Caterpillar, Works in Progress, Sparrow). Publications between 1800-1870 would be considered for inclusion (i.e., Harpers Weekly), as would other titles considered rare because of their historical importance, "collectability," vulnerability, scarcity or content (i.e., Scientific American).
Poetry
		This collection consists of only limited, fine press editions and signed copies of works of poetry. The majority of these items were donated through the Marie Guy Kimball Poetry Collection, though the Dr. Charles E. Feinberg Walt Whitman Collection is of note as well.
Science, Natural History and Technology
	This collection contains first, early, signed or facsimile editions of firsts or manuscripts by major figures in the fields of biological and physical sciences, as well as works relating to the history of technology prior to World War I (e.g., railroading, agriculture, engineering).
Theatre
	The Theatre Collection contains rare or historically significant books on theatre, including rare and unusual editions of plays and books on plays and theatre productions. This collection accumulates new accessions upon gift and purchase.
Travel Books
	This collection covers travel books up to the beginning of the twentieth century, such as Baedeker's books. The history of this collection is unknown.
Visiting Authors
	This collection contains copies of works by authors visiting campus for public readings. Signed copies of the visiting authors' works have been purchased by the library for inclusion in the Rare Books & Manuscripts Collection (e.g., one copy in the Wendell Will Room, and the other in the library stacks).
West Michigan Conference of the United Methodist Church Library Selections
	The West Michigan Conference Library contains United Methodist (UM), Methodist Protestant (MP), Methodist Episcopal (ME), and Ecumenical United Brethren (EUB) publications official to the Michigan, West Michigan, Detroit or General Conferences; as well as those about Michigan Methodism, its antecedents, churches, circuits membership, or leadership; those of general church distribution; those on general Methodist subjects; and religious histories and theology. Of these materials, only those considered to be Americana are included in the Rare Books Collection.
List of Known Rare Book Donors - Past & Present