Historical Collections

Thanks to a century and a half of collecting, the Library is home to tens of thousands of historic books, manuscripts, photographs, ephemera, maps and other artifacts representing more than 4,000 years of human history and culture from around the world.

You can learn more about our collections in the sections below, but we encourage you to contact us and set up a visit, whether you're researching a topic for a class, publication or personal interest. Some of our materials are also available online. Many of our archival collections are described in finding aids available via RIAMCO (RI Archival and Manuscript Collections Online). View our Collecting Policy for more information about how we are actively building our collections.

See below for a full alphabetical listing of available collection guides. You can find a portion of our book collection by searching our online catalog.

Full List of Collections

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z