Book shelves and glass containers on each side of a room. A woman leans over to look at a book on a table.

With more than 132,000 volumes of printed books and periodicals and more than 6,000 feet of non-book materials, Rare Books and Special Collections is a vital component of teaching and research at Notre Dame. Featured below are selected images of the holdings.

Click the image to read the caption.

An open book of the 1850 1st edition of Sojourner Truth.
An open book of a colorful illustration of two red-headed woodpeckers on a branch with four green leaves.
A handwriting book from the 1500s. The pages have ornate borders and decoration.
The Irish Roman Catholic Catechism
An early edition of Copernicus.
An opened book, black and red simplistic shapes create a ship.
Stephen Badin’s personal bible. The left page is blank with a hand written note in the center.
A close up of a chapter page in Stephen Badin’s personal bible.
A lithograph featuring President Abraham Lincoln and his three opponents in the 1860 presidential election: John Bell, Stephen Douglas, and John Breckinridge.
A set of woodcuts of Latin American origin.
An open book. An illustration of two people fighting on the lefthand side.
A handwritten Civil War diary.
A close-up of a handwritten Civil War diary.
Edgeworth family album of drawings.
1965 Aspen magazine, a full bleed photo on the right and a mini vinyl record in a clear sleeve on the left.
A close up of an opened book in focus. Blurred in the background is a professor speaking to a small group of students looking down at other books.
Professor David T. Gura teaches students to read medieval handwriting in his Latin Paleography class using manuscripts in Rare Books and Special Collections.
An oval book with an illustration of people playing football. Text on the book is
An oval book page outlined with decorative sunflowers. The title of the page says
Two tiny books on a stand next to a penny. Blurred in the background are children examining the tiny books.
An individual balances a tiny book on their pointer finger.
A detail shot of a tiny version of the book, Dante's 'Divine Comedy'.
An 1819 English scroll depicting the story of men going to see a fight.
An 1819 English scroll rolled up depicting the story of men going to see a fight.
The head of Athena on a 4th century B.C. coin.
Golf clubs lie on a shelf.
A detail shot of a bat with a plaque that states
Artillery shells on a top shelf of a bookshelf, a collection of books below it.
A former student worker wrote “Shelve Like A Champion Today” over the door of the elevator.
Different heights and colors of books on a bookshelf.
A collection of Harper’s Weekly on a bookshelf.
Movable storage with framed labels on each one. On the corner there are shelves of books.
Rare Books and Special Collections’ stacks.
A worn and wrinkled 12th century Byzantine book.
A worn open handwritten journal.
Detail of a book's pages when closed.
Sculpture of Dante between to bookshelves.
Bust of Notre Dame founder Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C.
1688 map of French territory in North America.
A Civil War book showing four portraits of soldiers in a Massachusetts regiment.
Original poster from a 1910 French aviation event.
A collection of five broadside ballads.
Aspen magazine, issue designed by Andy Warhol.
A detailed photo of a 13th century bible made in Paris.
1920 poster celebrating Women’s Suffrage.

Photography by Matt Cashore