Special Collections

The Department of Special Collections was founded in 1946 with the acquisition of the Chester H. Thordarson Collection, holdings include rare books, manuscripts and archives, printed ephemera, pictorial materials, and a significant reference collection. Among the collection strengths are English and American literature, history of science, history of the book, European collections, and philosophy and theology. The Department also contains many books previously held in the circulating collections of the University of Wisconsin-Madison libraries because those books require special handling. Many books published before 1800, for example, are automatically transferred to Special Collections.

Subject Specialist: Currently Vacant

Homepage: Department of Special Collections