Recent Acquisitions

PUL honors Black History Month

In celebration of Black History Month, Princeton University Library highlights the following e-resources and research guides that speak to the contributions of Black leaders and communities.

A 'Wonder Theatre of Nature' in Marquand Library

Scholars and wealthy amateurs acquired examples of both natural phenomena and the material evidence of earlier civilizations for their private “cabinets of curiosities.” Guests were invited to visit these “Wunderkammern,” the precursors of today’s public museums.

Marquand and East Asian Libraries collect Chinese COVID-19 posters

Recently, Marquand Art and Archaeology Library and the East Asian Library jointly acquired a collection of 32 Chinese COVID-19 posters.

Marquand Library's rare books acquisitions during the pandemic

Nicky Shilliam shares recent rare books she acquired for Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology.

PUL builds special collection of early editions of Frederick Douglass autobiographies

Douglass, an enslaved citizen from Maryland who escaped slavery and later became a leading voice in the anti-slavery movement, wrote three autobiographies in his lifetime: “Narrative of the Live of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (first published in 1845),” “My Bondage and My Freedom (1855),” and “Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881).” PUL’s goal, according to history and African American studies librarian Steve Knowlton, is to eventually own copies of each of the early editions produced in Douglass’s lifetime.

Humphrey Tonkin gifts rare Esperanto book to Princeton University Library

Humphrey Tonkin, dedicated Esperantist, presented a rare book gift to Princeton University Library: "Unua Libro" (published in 1887).

PUL acquires a complete set of early Soviet art magazine, "Tvorchestvo"

PUL's Graphic Arts Collection (within the Department of Special Collections) recently acquired the set, which includes all 23 issues running from 1918 to 1922.

PUL acquires proofs for well-known lithograph "The Darts Champion" by Barnett Freedman

PUL's Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired a progressive series of proofs for the well-known lithograph. 

PUL acquires rare set of early-Soviet weekly "Krasnaia niva"

Krasnaia niva ("Red Field") published poetry and short prose works by contemporary literary figures, alongside pieces and images related to the young state's broader political, artistic and cultural spheres.

PUL acquires photographs documenting life in migrant camps, immigrant communities, and low-income areas across U.S. in 1968

PUL's Graphic Arts Collection (within the Department of Special Collections) recently acquired a series of 73 photographs documenting poverty across America in April/May 1968, presumably commissioned for Time Magazine.

Marquand Art Library acquires rare Japanese book by renowned artist Kitagawa Utamaro

Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology recently acquired Gifts from the Ebb Tide by renowned artist Kitagawa Utamaro, described as "one of the most beautiful books ever published."

PUL acquires rare 1933 vocal score of Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District

The extremely rare score marks only the fifth recorded copy of this edition held by libraries in the West.

PUL acquires the papers of Bill Bradley, former U.S. Senator, New York Knicks player, and Princeton alumnus

The Library has acquired an extensive collection of documents and records chronicling Bradley's professional and academic career.

Marquand Art Library acquisition: The Great Mirror of Male Love

PUL acquires collection of 480 late-Soviet posters

Princeton University Library has acquired posters from the Stagnation and Perestroika periods of the last decades of the Soviet Union.

PUL receives Bell Collection of Ducats--an extraordinary set of medieval gold coins

The Numismatics department of Princeton University Library's Special Collections announces the receipt of an extraordinary collection of medieval gold coins

New Acquisition: The Peter Donald Collection of Byzantine Coins

The Princeton University Numismatic Collection announces the acquisition of Peter Donald’s vast collection of rare Byzantine coins. Comprising 5,280 coins, the London-based numismatic scholar’s collection is one of the most comprehensive private collections in the world.

Princeton University Library Acquires a Vellum Fragment of the Gutenberg Bible Preserved as a Book Cover

Princeton University Library’s Department of Special Collections is pleased to announce the acquisition of the most significant specimen of the ‘Gutenberg Bible’ discovered during this century.

Gee’s Bend Prints Acquired

Three spectacular new etchings have been acquired for Firestone Library’s African American Studies Room (B floor) thanks to a joint initiative between the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton University Library, and the Department of African American Studies.

Celebrating the Japanese “Creative Print” (1924-1930)

China from Empire to Republic: Missionary, Sinology, and Literary Periodicals

Charlotte Catherine Patin: A Seventeenth-Century Female Art Historian?

Ehon imayō sugata from the Edmond de Goncourt Collection

Scheide donates rare books library to Princeton

On February 16, 2015, the University announced that the The Scheide Library has been received as a legacy from William H. Scheide, Class of 1936. It has been housed in Firestone Library since 1959, when Scheide moved the collection from his hometown of Titusville, Pennsylvania. Bill Scheide added new acquisitions to the Library continuously down to his death in November 2014. For the past 56 years it has been available to scholars on terms comparable to the University’s other rare book collections and this will continue.

Toni Morrison Papers at Princeton University Library

The Princeton University Library is pleased to announce that the Papers of Toni Morrison, celebrated American author and Nobel Laureate, now have a permanent home in the Library. President Christopher L. Eisgruber made the announcement on Friday, October 17, in Princeton's Richardson Auditorium, during the conference Coming Back: Reconnecting Princeton's Black Alumni. 

Peter N. Heydon ’62 Gift of Browning Artifacts

The Manuscripts Division of Special Collections is pleased to announce that Peter N. Heydon, Class of 1962, has made several important gifts, which are now on view in Firestone Library’s Eighteenth-Century Window.

Alumnus Henry Wendt and wife Holly donate historic world map collection

An extraordinary collection of world maps, dating from 1472 to 1700, has found a permanent home in the Historic Maps Collection of the Princeton University Library.

Library Acquires an 18th Century Handel Score

The Princeton University Library is pleased to announce the acquisition of an eighteenth-century scribal score (297 pages) of George Frideric Handel’s three-act opera Berenice, copied by a contemporary Handel copyist (“S2”) from the composer’s autograph manuscript. The scribal score is complete but for Berenice’s aria “Avvertite mie pupille” and opens with the title page reading, “Berenice Opera Composta per il Sgr G:F: Handel / Comminciato December: 15 1736.” Handel’s opera seria concerning the life and loves of Queen Cleopatra Berenice of Egypt around 80 B.C.E. was based on an Italian libretto by the Florentine poet Antonio Salvi, who entitled it Berenice, regina d'Egitto.