FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY
About the Collections
Welcome to Special Collections—a center of intellectual curiosity, discovery, and learning! Whether you are a seasoned scholar, a curious student, or simply an explorer of knowledge, you will find something within our collections to ignite your passion. From rare artifacts to manuscripts, artists’ books, and recorded sound, our collections offer a glimpse into the rich tapestry of human history and culture. We are a dynamic community of learners, scholars, and educators united in our mission for education and research. Together, let us embark on a journey of discovery and enlightenment. The door to our Special Collections is open to all—come and explore.
The rare book collection includes more than 10,000 books from 1530 to present, including codices, manuscripts, illustrated books and small press editions, diaries, manuscripts and personal papers. Highlights include Civil War letters from the Clarke Family Papers and Cross Collection; WWII documents, letters, and photographs, research notes and lectures by Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky; and screenplays and books from Florida author Theodore Pratt. The Marvin & Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection offers a wide variety of primary source materials with more than 13,000 items. At the core of the collection are first and later editions of books, manuscripts and pamphlets that were printed before 1865. In all, the collection contains publications spanning six centuries and relate to the ideas of democracy, political reform and the creation of America.
The Print Music Collections contain more than 30,000 musical scores organized in the following major areas: American Popular, Yiddish, Jewish and Cantorial. These materials date from the 19th through 21st centuries and include rare and unique manuscripts, published scores and sheet music.
University Archives
University Archives preserves the papers and records of individuals and organizations associated with the University and items documenting the history and growth of Florida Atlantic University. Materials collected include student newspapers, minutes of the Faculty Senate meetings, faculty papers, student publications, correspondence, university artifacts, memorabilia, Boca Raton Army Base Plans and 15,000 photographs of students, faculty, and campus activities. University Archives also houses faculty papers that support the teaching and research mission of Florida Atlantic University. Faculty papers include teaching materials, lecture notes, research files (notes, journals and photographs), conference papers, writing drafts and published works. University Archives maintains processed and unprocessed collections from retired FAU faculty, including Dr. Harry A. Kersey, Jr., Dr. John Early, Dr. John O'Sullivan, and Dr. Norman Nathan.
Finding Aids & Library Catalog
Students, faculty, visitors and researchers can access books and processed materials by searching our catalog or looking through our finding aids collection directory. For a comprehensive list of finding aids, please visit the finding aids repository for all Special Collections holdings.
All collections are publicly available for research and use. For information on research requests, instruction requests, or general help, please contact us at lysca@fau.edu or 561/297-2843
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