Special Collections

The London Library’s Special Collections contain more than 70,000 rare, valuable and historically significant items dating from the sixteenth century onwards.
A red oval London Library bookplate on the decorated endpaper of an illuminated binding.

These collections extend and enrich the Library’s lending holdings, offering extraordinary opportunities for research and discovery across literature, history, theology, travel, politics, science and culture. 

Highlights include more than 12,500 antiquarian books printed between 1500 and 1800, a collection of nearly 200 atlases, around 40,000 pamphlets, one of the largest collections of Spanish plays outside Spain, and rare journals and newspapers documenting major historical moments. 

The collections also include unique thematic holdings such as the Heron-Allen Collection relating to the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám and the Nozze Collection of Italian celebratory publications. 

Items from the Library’s Special Collections cannot be borrowed but may be consulted in the Library under supervised conditions, given 72 hours’ notice.  Contact us for more information. 

Antiquarian Books

A red oval London Library bookplate on the decorated endpaper of an illuminated binding.

While the books on the Library's open shelves date from 1700 onwards, the whole collection actually dates back as far as 1500. Ca. 12,000 antiquarian books are housed in safe storage because of their age and rarity. This collection of books printed between 1500 and 1800 covers as broad a range as our open-access holdings – from politics, history and philosophy, to linguistics, travel and exploration, poetry, botany, occultism, astronomy and psychology. The collection includes many beautiful volumes produced by famous European printers. 

Atlas Collection
 

Atlas

A collection of nearly 200 atlases dating from the 16th century to the present day offering a unique perspective on the changing ways we have mapped our world. The collection is particularly strong in 19th-century maps of the British railways but also includes many foreign maps and examples of atlases in various formats and sizes printed for a variety of purposes: from navigational aids to statistical analysis and documentary evidence for use in legal disputes.

Spanish Plays
 

Spanish plays

One of the largest collections of individually printed plays or 'sueltas' held outside Spain, The London Library's Spanish Plays Collection comprises nearly 1,500 editions dating from 1616 to 1849. It includes works by all the key playwrights of the period, as well as some very rare pieces. The collection is an invaluable tool for the study of both Spanish Golden Age theatre and the history of Spanish-language printing. 

Search our collection

Explore The London Library catalogue to discover one million volumes and thousands of online resources to support your reading and research.
Start your search here

Small books

A collection of ca. 420 small books printed between the 16th and the 20th centuries, measuring up to 5 inches tall. The collection includes seven miniature books all under 3 inches tall, printed mostly in the 19th century, the golden age of miniature printing. Among these is the smallest version of Dante's Divina Commedia in the world, the legendary 'fly's eye Dante' of 1878, and the smallest Authorized Version of the Bible, printed by David Bryce of Glasgow in 1896.

Stack of miniature books

Nozze Collection

A collection of 144 volumes containing around 2,500 booklets, the Nozze Collection of Italian votive publications illustrates the production of 'nuptialia' and other gift books. Particularly popular from the late 15th to the early 20th century, 'nuptialia' or epithalamia are writings published as wedding gifts in accordance with Italian custom. The collection also includes a number of publications celebrating different kinds of occasions such as the taking of vows, promotions, investiture in high office and anniversaries of all kinds. A fascinating form of social commentary as well as a compelling example of literature with a direct social function, the Library's collection, ranging from 1579 to the 20th century, is the largest of its kind in the UK.
Nozze collection

More Special Collections

Heron-Allen Collection

The personal collection of lawyer, palmist, violin-restorer, marine biologist, eccentric and litterateur Edward Heron-Allen (1861–1943), relating to the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. These ca. 400 editions of the Rubáiyát in numerous Eastern and Western languages, together with critical works on Khayyám and 10 portfolios of pamphlets, ephemera, and cuttings relating to him, provide a unique perspective on the reception of Edward FitzGerald's translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in Britain at the height of its popularity.

Higginson Collection

The personal collection of the American-born Master of Foxhounds, Alexander "Hig" Higginson (1876-1958) who devoted his life and library to fox-hunting. Comprising ca. 2,000 volumes, including 35 of Higginson's own works and his hunting diaries, this unique collection of books is fully catalogued online and documents the remarkable social phenomenon of fox-hunting and other rural pursuits in Britain like no other.

Montefiore Pamphlets

A unique collection of 664 volumes containing ca. 5,000 pamphlets, this is the entire working reference library of Sir Claude Joseph Goldsmid-Montefiore, the founding father of Liberal Judaism in Britain. Essential for an understanding of Montefiore's work and thought, and the development of a movement still powerfully relevant today. The collection is fully catalogued online, made possible through the support of the Blavatnik Family Foundation.

Modern Books

While most modern books can usually be found on the Library's open shelves, just over 5,300 books published from 1801 onwards are kept in the safes because of their rarity, vulnerability, or unique provenance. The range of subjects and languages reflects that of the rest of the Library's collections, but the collection includes many first editions, often autographed, as well as limited editions produced by famous private presses in the 19th and 20th centuries.
 

Pamphlet Collection

A collection of ca. 40,000 pamphlets dating from the late 17th century onwards and covering a broad and rather miscellaneous range of subjects. Like the Library's main holdings, the appeal of the pamphlets can often lie in the idiosyncrasies and curiosities to be found the collection. The majority of the earlier titles discuss contemporary events and many cover topics such as social welfare, the slave trade, education, art, law, commerce and literature, but there are also pamphlets on many different branches of science. Later pamphlets are mostly literary and historical.

Related