19th and 20th Century Collections
Learn more about the 19th and 20th centuries through personal and scholarly papers, limited-edition books with annotations and inscriptions and other specialized collections donated by individuals. The collections highlighted below are a small part of our 19th and 20th century collections.
Most of the materials in these collections and many others can be located through Library Search.
Auction Catalog Collections (1815-1997)
Records for auctions that took place mainly through Bloomsbury, Sotheby's and Christie's including manuscript and book, jewelry, and miscellaneous items auction catalogs.
Katharine M. Briggs Collection (1806-1980)
Typescripts and manuscripts of folklorist Katharine M. Briggs.
Edward Callan Collection: W.H. Auden Archive (1928-93)
Critical and biographical articles concerning W.H. Auden and his work by various authors.
Edward Callan Collection: Alan Paton Archive (1920-94)
Journal, magazine and newspaper articles written by Alan Paton and correspondence with Edward Callan.
Edward Callan Papers and Miscellaneous Authors Collection (1903-2000)
Edward Callan's personal research and writings on Irish, British and American literature.
Seamus Cooney Black Sparrow Press Collection (1966-2006)
Black Sparrow Press' business archive and copies of almost every edition the press published.
Donald Hall Collection
Articles, poems, book reviews and correspondence written by Donald Hall as well as collections of poetry edited by Hall.
Fred Hartenstein Collection of Autographs (1898-1911)
Over 80 autographs of famous political figures, writers, inventors and entrepreneurs gathered by librarian Sophie Levin.
Alan H. Jacobs East Africa Collection (1929-2010)
Materials collected for research on the cultural, historical, political and geographic study of East Africa.
A & M Lean Comics Collection
Something for every lover of comic books—from Batman and Captain America to Dutch-language Donald Duck comics.
The Shadow Archive (1932-94)
Press kit for Universal Studio's 1994 film "The Shadow." Also includes four issues of the detective fictional serial The Shadow published in 1932, 1939 and 1940.
Ben Tibbs Archive (1958-77)
Issues of literary magazines in which Ben Tibbs's poetry was published along with promotional photos of Tibbs and several ephemeral items.
Ben Tibbs Collection (1907-1995)
Extensive poetry collection, the majority of which are signed or inscribed by the authors. Ben Tibb’s own poetry, book design and other graphic art is also part of this collection.
John Woods Papers (1948-96)
Personal papers of American poet and WMU English professor John Warren Woods. Also includes 25 cassette tape recordings of poets like Robert Frost and Alan Ginsberg.
World War II Propaganda Collection (1904-64)
Nazi German and Allied Forces publications, photographs and ephemera (collectible memorabilia).
Explore other parts of our Special Collections
We have more than 43,000 items available for your research, creative and academic projects.