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UCL Special Collections is home to over 100,000 rare books, pamphlets and periodicals, dating from the fifteenth century to the present day.
Rare Books highlights include:
- Our collection of incunabula
- The Graves Library collection on the history of mathematics
- The Ogden Library collection on language and communication
- Our collection of Hebraica and Judaica
- The Orwell Collection of editions and translations of Orwell’s works and books from his library
- The Small Press collection of little magazines and alternative press publications.
For a full list, visit the A-Z collection descriptions and see also the A-Z of IOE Rare Books Collection.
- Catalogue
The rare book collections can be searched on UCL Explore. This video demonstrates how to browse rare books and printed material from our website, use Explore to find specific items, and make a viewing appointment with our Enquires Team.
MediaCentral Widget Placeholderhttps://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/C673d35B Not all of the collections are fully catalogued online. See the collection descriptions in the A-Z list for current information on the cataloguing status and the availability of handlists. Please contact us for further advice if you can’t find what you’re looking for.- Access
The rare books are stored at UCL’s Bloomsbury campus and at The National Archive in Kew. Material can be viewed either at the Special Collections Reading Room in the South Junction of the Wilkins Building or in a dedicated reading room at The National Archives, depending where the collection is stored. Contact us for further details.
