Collections : [University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.]

University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
160 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Primary Collecting Areas:
American literature, antiquarian and contemporary, American history (Southeastern United States), Virginiana, British literature, Sporting books and manuscripts, World War I, Bibliography, the book arts, history of the book and typography
Fine press and artist’s books, Pop-up books, Victorian publishers bindings, Typography, Archives of the University of Virginia
Description:

The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library administers over 13 million manuscripts, 3.6 million items in the University archives, and 325,000 rare books, as well as approximately 5,000 maps, over 4,000 broadsides; more than 250,000 photographs and small prints; over 8,000 reels of microfilm; and substantial holdings of audio recordings, motion picture films, and ephemera.

The major emphasis of the Department’s collections are American history and literature, with additional substantive collections in Virginiana, British literature, African-American history, book arts, the history of sporting and World War I, among others. In addition, the library serves as the University Archives, holding records of historic significance to UVA.

POC: Brenda Gunn
Phone: (434) 924-1037
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Start Over Repository University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept. Subjects Manuscripts (documents)

C. Cowen manuscript The Three Sentimentalities, Love, Revenge, and Rivalry 0.03 Cubic Feet One folder

The three sentimentalities, love, revenge, and rivalry by C. Cowen manuscript (1867; 0.03 cubic feet) is in 3 parts in one vol., fashioned to look like a published work, complete with frontispiece and title page. A home-made book that reads like a gothic novel, full of adventure, romance, and drama.

  1. University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.

"De Alguien a Nadie" Box 1, Folder 25

Holograph manuscript "From Someone to No One" by Jorge Luis Borges, signed in black ink on gridded notebook paper, numbered by Borges. With deletions and interpolations. The manuscript is an essay that first appeared in the march 1950 issue of Sur, reprinted in Borges's Otras Inquisciones (1952) and Antologia Personal (1961). It describes the paradox, which applies to gods as well as men, of a consuming ambition which can only be based on personal annihilation.

  1. University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
  2. Jorge Luis Borges papers
  3. Manuscripts

Edna St. Vincent Millay papers 1500 items 16 document boxes (Barrett)

Proof copy of Edna St. Vincent Millay, "A Few Figs from Thistles". Typescript in cover of Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles, Poems and Sonnets (New York: Frank Shay, 1921). 25 pp. Rare example of a pre-publication item from Frank Shay, a little-known publisher in Greenwich Village, New York who published small-run books, a magazine, and a newspaper from Frank Shay's Bookshop, 4 Christopher Street.

  1. University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.

"El Dios y Elrey" Box 1, Folder 26

Jorges Luis Borges original holograph manuscript, "El Dios y Elrey" (God and the King)titled and signed, in black ink, 3 leaves numbered by Borges with deletions, corrections, and interpolations. The corrections on this manuscript and other manuscripts in the collection demonstrate his work toward a final publication.

  1. University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
  2. Jorge Luis Borges papers
  3. Manuscripts

Ella F. Simons, "A Young Ladies school newspaper written for subscribers" 0.03 Cubic Feet One folder

Ella F. Simons, "A Young Ladies school newspaper written for subscribers"(1859; 0.03 cubic feet) Contains eleven pages of hand written material. Begins with an "edatoreal" about the state of the nation and the mission of the paper, followed by articles with titles such as "Night," "The Poet," "Dear Emily," "A Ride," "Our Wreath," "Composition," "Sniff," and more. All articles are written in the same hand and with the same unique writing voice, leaving one to ponder if she was a scribe or perhaps the individuals' names attributed to each writing were fictitious. A lace paper cover with embossed cut-outs serves as the wrapper. Windsor, CT.

  1. University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.

George Washington Lewis papers .75 Cubic Feet 2 boxes; 1 legal document box and 1 half-size legal document box.

Lewis, George Washington, 1804-1879

The George Washington Lewis papers consists chiefly of correspondence to and from George Washington Lewis and between other family members, but also includes a few photographs of the Lewis family and the homes of "Claymont", "Shellfield" and "Marmion"; a plat of "Claymont"; newsclippings; notes on Lewis family history and genealogy; and a few financial and legal documents.

  1. University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.

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