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Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center

Resources and methods for identifying and using the materials housed in the Special Collections

Archival Digital Collections

The University of Chicago Campus Publications digital collection provides access to serial and occasional publications documenting the history of the University of Chicago and the work of its faculty, students, and alumni.

Early Manuscript Digital Collections

The Goodspeed Collection of New Testament manuscripts comprises 68 Greek, Syriac, Ethiopic, Armenian, Arabic, and Latin manuscripts ranging in date from the 7th to the 19th century. The Library is creating high-quality digital images of each of the manuscripts in the collection.

 

The University of Chicago Library’s manuscripts of Le Roman de la Rose (The Romance of the Rose) and Le Jeu des échecs moralisé (The Moralized Game of Chess) were bound together, perhaps soon after they were created, and stayed together for over 500 years. In 1907 they were disbound and sent their separate ways. By bringing them back together, The University of Chicago Library has made it possible for scholars to study the two manuscripts together to learn about their shared origin and production history.

 

 

 

Modern Manuscript Digital Collections

Rare Book Digital Collections

In 1540 Antonio Lafreri, a native of Besançon transplanted to Rome, began publishing maps and other printed images that depicted major monuments and antiquities in Rome. These images were calculated to appeal to the taste for classical antiquity that fueled the cultural event we call the Renaissance. After Lafreri published a title page in the mid-1570s, collections of these prints came to be known as the Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae, the "Mirror of Roman Magnificence."

Collection of 400 first and early printed editions of musical compositions by Frédéric Chopin. Drawn from the Frédéric Chopin collection of the Special Collections Research Center.
 

Collection of printed materials digitized as part of the Library's University of Chicago Digital Preservation Collection.

The Italian Women Writers project (IWW) is a long-term research endeavor to preserve and provide access to an extensive corpus of literature written by Italian women authors.

Web Exhibits

The Special Collections Research Center mounts 3-4 exhibitions in its gallery a year.  Many of the recent exhibitions also have accompanying web exhibits and older exhibitions are being digitized as time and resources allow.