Special Collections & College Archives

Special Collections & College Archives is home to Lafayette's rare book and manuscript collections and the historical records of the College. The department offers an array of classroom instruction opportunities, exhibitions, and public programs. Visit us in our beautiful reading room on the second floor of the library.

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Rare Books

Lafayette's rare book holdings of some 15,000 volumes include incunabula—among them the magnificent Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493—and other early imprints reflecting the development of printing during the hand-press period (ca. 1450-1800).

Manuscripts, Art & Artifacts

The College houses nearly one hundred manuscript, art, and artifact collections of national scope. Holdings relate to the Marquis de Lafayette; Lafayette College faculty and alumni; and American artists, politicians, and businesses of note.

College Archives

The College Archives documents the history of Lafayette College from its founding in 1824 to the present day by preserving the administrative records, audio visual materials, photographs, and objects associated with the institution.

Digital Collections

To enhance access to their rich and varied collections, Special Collections & Archives have digitized hundreds of historical photographs, pamphlets, manuscripts, books, and other rare and unique materials. The majority of these collections are freely available online for public access.

Now available for streaming...

Lafayette College Football Films: 1960-62

Exhibits

More News From Current Exhibits

Sep 2, 2018

William Wegman: Photographs

The work of William Wegman—video artist, conceptualist, photographer, painter—is featured this fall in a trio of exhibits on Skillman's main floor…

Aug 31, 2018

The Art of Persuasion: Howard Chandler Christy’s Posters from the First World War

Posters showcase how the artist adapted his trademark Christy Girl to inspire self-sacrifice on the home front and entice thousands of young men to enlist…

Lafayette College partners with Archive-It to collect, preserve, and provide access to our institutional web presence through the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, a digital archive of the World Wide Web.

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