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Antiquarian Materials and Primary Sources
The Department of Special Collections holds a number of collections that may be of interest to researchers in Classics, including manuscript collections, early coins, early printed materials (including many editiones principes of works by Classical authors), facsimiles, and antiquarian editions and scholarly texts. Some of the highlights of the collections are listed below, but please contact the Rare Books Curator, Benjamin Albritton (blalbrit@stanford.edu), for any questions about accessing these materials, using them in classroom visits to Special Collections, or using them for individual research.
Numismatics
- The Cantor Arts Center collection of ancient coins, circa 5th century BCE - 15th century CEhe collection consists of approximately 8.600 coins transferred to Stanford University Libraries by the Cantor Arts Center in 2017. The dates of the coins span approximately from the 5th century BCE to the 15th century CE.
Papyri
Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts
- Bucolics, Georgics, and the Aeneid byCall Number: MSS CODEX M0380 CBPublication Date: 1450-1499A 15th c. Ferrarese manuscript of Virgil's works, donated to the library by Henry Rushton Fairclough.
- Metamorphoses byCall Number: MSS CODEX M0414 CBPublication Date: 1200An early 13th-c. Italian manuscript of Ovid,heavily annotated.
In addition to the two items above, we have dozens of codices and hundreds of medieval manuscript fragments listed in SearchWorks. The easiest way to find these is to limit your search to the Library -> Special Collections, and then sort by date -> ascending.
Incunabula and 16th c. Printed Books
Stanford holds some 350 incunabula (books printed from 1450-1501) and more than 5000 books printed in the 16th century, many with texts of interest to Classical scholars. Author, title, and keyword searches in SearchWorks will often provide the items you may be looking for, but the Rare Books Curator is always happy to help if you run into difficulties. A few of our more cohesive collections in this area are listed below.
- Incunabula CollectionWe hold roughly 350 books printed prior to 1501, at present, listed in our Incunabula Collection
- Leaves from the History of Early PrintingRoughly 700 early printed leaves, this is our largest collection of loose printed leaves, and a good place to start, but not everything held in the library.
- Aldine PressStanford also holds nearly 300 books printed by the famous press of Aldus Manutius, responsible for the first appearance in print of many Greek and Roman texts.
