Welcome to Special Collections

Collections of primary resources and valuable research materials have been grouped together in Special Collections. Special Collections contains two primary areas:

• Book Collections. Included are the Rare Book Collection, the Comic Art Collection, and a variety of other print collections.
• Microform Collections. The MU Libraries have one of the largest collections of microforms in North America.

Increasingly, a third area is evolving: that of Digital Collections that enable materials to be accessed around the world.

Special Collections is part of the Division of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books (SCARaB), of the University of Missouri Libraries at the University of Missouri.

Current Events and Announcements

UPCOMING EXHIBIT! -- Anatomical Illustration: Art Informing Science: 1543 -1950

On March 3, 2010, Rare Books and Special Collections department will open an exhibition in the Ellis Library Colonnade entitled Anatomical Illustration: Art Informing Science: 1543 -1950. The exhibition will run in conjunction with the 6th Annual Life Sciences & Society Symposium "From Art to Biology and Back Again". A wide variety of materials—books, prints, artifacts—will be presented by Special Collections, University Archives, and the MU Health Sciences Library Rare Book Room and the MU Veterinary Medical Library. Michael Holland, the Director of SCARAB division, is the curator of the exhibit. The display will run till March 30th 2010.

NEW DIGITAL EXHIBIT! -- Children’s Literature: Selections from the Special Collections Department of Ellis Library

The exhibit was originally mounted in the Ellis Library Colonnade from October 1st-31st, 2009. This digital exhibit reflects the items displayed such as early reading specimens, 19th-century picture books, and dime novels. Notable children's book illustrators are also highlighted.

150 Years of On the Origin of Species

150 Years of The Origin of Species: The Historical Journey from Specimens to Species to Genes is a digital exhibit based on a physical exhibit mounted in the University of Missouri's Ellis Library from March 5th to March 31st, 2009 to honor the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his On the Origin of Species. This exhibition traces the concept of biological variation from the Renaissance through the 20th Century using rare and historical books from the Rare Books and Special Collections Department and other university collections.

Adopt-A-Book Program

Many of the books in our collections are fragile, others need minor repairs, still others require extensive help if they are to survive this century. Please consider sponsoring a book. All monies will go directly to the care and maintenance of rare, fragile and just plain good books. As our thanks, your adoption will be noted in the Merlin online catalogue, and you will be invited to an annual Celebration of the Book event, sponsored by the Friends of the MU Libraries.