Special Collections and Rare Books

The History of Science Collection is the library's special collection of rare books on science, engineering, and technology. It includes printed books from the fifteenth century to the present. Additional materials to support historical research are available in the library's general collections of over one million volumes. Two rare book rooms adjacent to the library's main reading room provide space for readers, visiting scholars, and group visits.

Use of the Collection

The Linda Hall Library Rare Book Rooms are open to the public Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Readers and visitors are advised to contact staff to make an appointment in advance of a proposed visit.

The Linda Hall Library is pleased to provide reproductions of certain items from its collections on this website. Please read our information regarding the proper use, reproduction, and publication of images before downloading any materials found on this site.

History of Science and Rare Books

From its opening in 1946, the Linda Hall Library has included resources for study in the history of science and technology. In 1947, the purchase of the entire library of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences provided the foundation of a rare book and reference collection to support research in the history of science and technology. Smaller collections, such as portions of the Herbert Hoover collection of rare books in mining and metallurgy, the Robert B. Honeyman collection of scientific books, and the George White collection in early geology were acquired in the 1980s. In 1995, the entire collection of the Engineering Societies Library was transferred to the Linda Hall Library, including the Ball Gemmology Collection and hundreds of early books on engineering, mathematics, physics, geology, and other related sciences.

Scientific Journals

Long runs of scientific and technical society journals dating from the seventeenth century are a special strength of the library's collections, with more than 40,000 titles currently represented. A long-term acquisitions program has filled in the gaps for older titles, while current acquisitions assure a steady flow of the most recent scientific and technical journals, including those dealing with the history of science and technology.

Subject Coverage

Subject areas of special strength in the History of Science Collection include astronomy, mathematics, physics, electricity and magnetism, and optics. Natural sciences of the Renaissance period are also well represented, especially encyclopedic works, descriptions of natural history museums and collections, works on classification, early herbals, and works on natural magic. Scientific works by Jesuit authors of the Renaissance period have been actively collected, as have works on the history of geology and paleontology, including theories of the earth. Books describing engineering projects, inventions, and machines represent another area of strength.

Classics and Landmarks

Landmarks of science and technology that have become recognized for their seminal influence, groundbreaking ideas, or presentation of initial discoveries are included in the collection.

Examples include:

• Georg Joachim Rheticus, Narratio Prima (Gdansk 1540).
• Nicolaus Copernicus, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (Nuremberg, 1543).
• Leonhard Fuchs, De historia stirpium (Basel, 1542). Galileo Galilei, Sidereus nuncius(Venice, 1610).
• Francis Bacon, Instauratio magna [Novum organum] (London, 1620).
• Isaac Newton, Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (London, 1687).
• Georges Buffon, Histoire naturelle (Paris, 1749-1804).
• Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species (London, 1859).

 

Exhibitions

Exhibitions of rare books from the History of Science Collection are presented throughout the year in the library's exhibit hall. A full listing of the library's online exhibitions is available at http://www.lindahall.org/events_exhib/exhibit/index.shtml.

Recent exhibitions include:

• "Vulcan's Forge and Fingal's Cave"
• "Voyages: Scientific Circumnavigations 1679-1859"
• "Centuries of Civil Engineering"
• "The Year 1000: A Legacy of Science and Technology"
• "Paper Dinosaurs 1824-1969"
• "Out of this World: The Golden Age of the Celestial Atlas"
• "The Face of the Moon: Galileo to Apollo"
• "Buffon's Histoire Naturelle"
• "It’s About Time! Clocks and Clockmaking"
• "Books that Darwin Read"
• "Uniquely American: New World Plants and Animals"
• "Electricity in the Enlightenment"
• "The Scientific Journal: 40 Landmark Articles"
• "Jesuit Science in the Age of Galileo" (printed catalog available)
• "Theories of the Earth 1644-1830"