Book Collections

 
The Wonder of Wonders, or The Remarkable Discovery of an American Hermit; Who Lived Upwards of 200 Years by James K. Remich. Printed in Kennebunk, Maine 1815. Chapbook from the Albert A. Howard Book History Collection.

Anthoensen Press Collection    [LC call #] Anthoensen

The Anthoensen Press was a 20th-century small press located in Portland, Maine. It published fine editions, and the majority of its titles were about the New England region.  This is from the Press's own collection, incorporating books it published and printed as well as books from other small presses. The collection was given to the University by Edward F. Dana, secretary of the Press, in the 1960s, with additions in the 1970s and 1980s.

Read more about the Press.

Search the Anthoensen Press Collection in the online catalog URSUS.

General Rare Book Collection    LC call number
The collection spans the period 1650-2012, with the bulk of the titles being published between 1790 and 1940. The books cover a wide range of topics from American and New England history (the most common subjects), to language and literature, to political science.

Albert A. Howard Book History Collection
Albert A. Howard is a retired USM Rare Book Cataloger and currently Honorary Curator of Printed Books. This rare book collection includes works of Bruce Rogers, Merrymount Press, W.A. Dwiggins, various small presses, a reference collection on book collections, c. 200 Greek and Latin books primarily from the 16th-18th centuries, and 19th c. chapbooks.  Items to come on bequest include children's books as well as journal runs on book collections.  Also includes various ephemera.  Framed items: 1 leaf from 15th c. book; 1 leaf from Chaucer work, 1896; Oath of Hippocrates, 1941; Honorary Membership Certificate, Society of Calligraphers, 1925.     15th c. to 21st c.    

View online exhibitions of books from the Reformation and Colonial Mexico from this collection.

Shirley S. and Bernard Kazon Americana Collection
Bernard Kazon, vice president of Eastland Shoe Corp., collected political works of early America as well as documents related to slavery.  He and his wife donated their collection to USM in 1997.  The Collection consists of printed items documenting American political history from the 18th-20th centuries, including books, pamphlets and documents, such as a broadside seeking a runaway slave.     18th-20th centuries    

View a selection of documents related to slavery from this collection.

Search the Kazon Americana Collection in the online catalog URSUS.

Reference Collection    Reference [LC call #]
Twentieth and Twenty-first century secondary works about the subjects represented in the department's collections. Topics include fine printing, American and British children's books, movable books, Judaica, African Americans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, American political history, oral history, archives and special collections librarianship.     1900s-2000s     14 ft.

Edith C. Rice Collection of Children's Literature    [LC call #] Rice
Books collected by Barbara Winn Adams over her lifetime, bequeathed to USM's Special Collections with the request that the Collection be named as a memorial to the children's librarian at Arlington, MA in the 1920s.  The Collection consists of 19th and early-to-mid 20th century childrens' books, mostly American and British, including folk tales and adolescent literature.  Includes 42 first editions.     1800s-1900s

Search the Rice Children's Literature Collection in the online catalog URSUS.

Textbook Collection    [LC call #] Textbook
Educational texts used in K-12 schools printed primarily in the United States (mostly New York and  Massachusetts) dating from the 18th to 20th centuries, with the bulk dating from the late nineteenth century. Many of the works have brief annotations, a name of a former owner and place, but a few have extensive notes. The bulk of the Collection was given to us by E. Grosvenor Plowman (Lecturer in Business Administration, 1966-1978) in the 1960s, but a few titles have been added over the years.     1700s-1900s

Anne D. Williams Family Movable Book Collection
Anne D. Williams is Professor Emerita of Economics at Bates College, Lewiston, Maine.  This extensive collection of pop-up books was gathered by Prof. Williams in support of her interest in illustration and paper engineering.  While dates range from the 1930s to the 2000s, the majority of the books date from the 1980s and 1990s.     1930s-2000s

Search the Williams Family Movable Book Collection in the online catalog URSUS.