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Everyone can access UCL Special Collections digitally or in person. Our collections of rare, unique and historic archives & books cover themes including history of UCL, education, arts and sciences.
Collection Highlights
Archives
UCL's archive and manuscript collections include the UNESCO registered George Orwell Archive.
Records
Map of Bloomsbury, 1800 College Collection.
Exhibitions
View current and past exhibitions online.
Rare Books
The Ratdolt edition of Euclid's 'Elements', 1482.
Treasures from UCL
View 'Treasures from UCL', available for free online.
Finding Material
- You can search for rare books and other printed material on Explore.
- Archives and manuscripts are found on the Archives Catalogue.
- Search for digitised and digital content on Digital Collections.
For more information and video tutorials on how to use these resources to find material held by UCL Special Collections, learn about Our Collections.
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News from our blog
Introducing The New Curators Project Cohort of 2026!
It has been Special Collections’ pleasure to host The New Curators Project for it’s sixth year running! Each year we run a careers focussed project for 18-24 year olds from east London who are interested in working in the cultural heritage sector but might not yet have found a way to gain the skills and experience required for their first role. We run a series of workshops and on-site visits over four months, during which the cohort meet professionals in the sector, learn
Introducing the 2026 UCL Small Press in Residence: Enviaideas
enviaideas is an independent editorial project (2024) by Pamela Caparroso Gutierréz and Anna García Molina based in Mexico City and London to experiment through printed media with collaborative ideas around the built environment.
2026 Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize winners announced!
We are delighted to announce the winners of this year’s Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize, which was set up to encourage student book collectors at any London university. We received 23 submissions representing a total of six institutions, with collection themes ranging from punk memorabilia and tarot cards to musical theatre programmes and Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida.
Hebrew and Jewish collections: Jewish calendars from Berlin
The past year has been the first of a three-year project where I have been working to catalogue the uncatalogued Hebrew and Jewish material of archives and rare books in University College London Special Collections. I have already uncovered many intriguting items, but my attention was captured most recently by two volumes of bound-together Jewish calendars (luḥot in the plural, luaḥ in the singular).
Beyond the Bicentenary #1: Public Historians take on UCL200
Posted on behalf of MA Public History students Gauri Bij, Lottie Cook, Wanrawee Trakullapphan, and Millie Winter, this is part one of four posts reflecting on UCL200. Huge thanks to Sarah Aitchison, Colin Penman, and Robert Winkworth for their support of this project!
Beyond the Bicentenary #2: UCL Illuminated
Posted on behalf of MA Public History students Gauri Bij, Lottie Cook, Wanrawee Trakullapphan, and Millie Winter, this is part two of four posts reflecting on UCL200. Huge thanks to Sarah Aitchison, Colin Penman, and Robert Winkworth for their support of this project!
Beyond the Bicentenary #3: UCL200 Exhibition and UCL History Roundtable
Posted on behalf of MA Public History students Gauri Bij, Lottie Cook, Wanrawee Trakullapphan, and Millie Winter, this is part three of four posts reflecting on UCL200. Huge thanks to Sarah Aitchison, Colin Penman, and Robert Winkworth for their support of this project!
Beyond the Bicentenary #4: Our Reflections
Posted on behalf of MA Public History students Gauri Bij, Lottie Cook, Wanrawee Trakullapphan, and Millie Winter, this is part four of four posts reflecting on UCL200. Huge thanks to Sarah Aitchison, Colin Penman, and Robert Winkworth for their support of this project!
“Here History Happens, Can Happen, Will Happen.”