Special Collections

Explore Special Collections

We invite you to explore the holdings in Special Collections which encompass a number of collecting areas, formats and time periods. Information on placing digitization requests, including for Senior Theses, and guidelines for copyright and citations can be found here.

Learn more about access and our collecting areas

Visit Special Collections

All are welcome to conduct research in Special Collections. The materials housed in Special Collections Firestone and Special Collections Mudd do not circulate, however researchers can access the physical collections in one of our reading rooms.

Learn more on how to visit

Teach with Special Collections

Teaching with Special Collections is a collaboration between faculty and library staff. We look forward to sharing our spaces, the collections, and our skills and knowledge with your students.

Learn more on how to plan a session

Ask Special Collections

We welcome you to reach out to us with any questions you may have. To ensure we can respond as effectively as possible, please provide clear and detailed information in your inquiry. Kindly note that it may take 7-10 business days for us to respond. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Special Collection Spaces

Researchers viewing special collection items in large reading room with circular lighting and a class wall to the outdoors

Special Collections Firestone Library

Special Collections Mudd Library

Play area with a whimsical play fireplace and armchair

Cotsen Children's Library

Search the Collections

Library Catalog

Use the Library Catalog to search library holdings for resources, in a variety of formats, on your topic of interest.

Finding Aids

Find archival collections of unique primary sources such as records, personal papers, or manuscripts.

Digital Library (DPUL)

View digital collections and exhibitions from the Library's collections and archives.

Exhibitions

Explore all Exhibitions

Living Forever: The Archive of "The Great Gatsby"
Apr 11 2025 – Dec 1 2025
Through large-scale reproductions, a variety of items that trace the creation, reception, and impact of “The Great Gatsby” around the world are featured.
Powering Up the U.S. Labor Force: Women in Industry During World War II (1940-1945)
Nov 25 2024 – Jul 1 2025
Helen Baker developed an unparalleled collection of industrial relations material at Princeton University Library. Baker joined the Industrial Relations Section in 1930 as the Section’s first librarian and research assistant, and became the first woman to achieve the rank of associate professor at Princeton in 1948.
Fashion, Feminism, and Fear: Clothing and Power in the 19th Century
Jun 27 2025 – Apr 1 2026
In the late 19th century, some women made the boldest, most bizarre fashion choice imaginable—they started wearing pants. To some, including William H. Walker (1871-1938), women in pants became a symbolic representation of the end of the world as they knew it.
Forms & Function: The Splendors of Global Book Making
Sep 10 2025 – Dec 8 2025
Highlighting the diversity of global book making traditions using examples from the Princeton University Library, this exhibition focuses on the continuous transmission and exchange of formal aspects in the world’s three major lineages of the book form: the codex, the East Asian, and the pothī traditions.

Friends of the Princeton University Library Research Grants

Woman working at reading table with rare books

Each year, the Friends of the Princeton University Library offer short-term Library Research Grants to promote scholarly use of the Princeton University Library special and distinct collections. Applications will be considered for scholarly use of archives, manuscripts, rare books, and other rare and unique holdings in Special Collections, including Mudd Library; as well as rare books in Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology, and in the East Asian Library (Gest Collection).

FPUL Research Grants