Rare Books
Service
Guidelines
The Hugh Thomas Miller Rare Book Room houses early and rare
books, as well as manuscripts, prints, maps, classical and popular
music scores, newspapers, and memorabilia, in all fields of liberal
arts and sciences, education, pharmacy, and the fine and performing
arts. The William F. Charters South Seas Collection and the Madame
de Staël Collection, described in the links below, are two of the
significant collections. The rare books collection dates back to
1473.
Miller (1867-1948) was one of Butler University's most notable
alumni, faculty members, and benefactors. He was president of the
Irwin-Union Trust Company and the Cummins Engine Company in
Columbus, Indiana, and he was elected lieutenant governor of
Indiana. For nearly fifty years he served on the Board of Trustees
of Butler University.
In 1889 Miller joined the Butler faculty as professor of history
and romance languages. He recognized the central role of an
academic library in the process of education and was responsible
for the marked growth of the university's collections during his
years on the faculty (1889-99). He also introduced the then very
modern practice of cross-referencing for all Butler library
collections.
Collection strengths include such areas as: South Pacific
Islands during the 18th and early 19th centuries, herbology and
botanists, Native Americans, American authors in first editions
(many of them signed), African American poets, American westward
expansion, American natural history, and early educational
materials.
Listed below are major collections of books housed in Irwin
Library's Special Collections and Rare Books room. Materials are
described in the University's on-line catalog. Some collections
also have supplementary access lists; these are available on-site
and, as they become available, via the Special Collections and Rare
Books webpage.
For descriptions of the collections, appropriate search
strategies, and available access lists, click on the appropriate
links.
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You can download a free copy from Adobe's website.