LibGuides: Children's Literature/School Library Media: A guide to information resources: Historical Children's Literature Collections

Historical Children's Literature Collections

Miriam Snow Mathes Historical Children's Literature Collection - University at Albany
The Miriam Snow Mathes Historical Children's Literature Collection includes over 12,000 children's books and periodicals published in the 19th century and up to 1960. The collection is strong in the literature of the first half of the 20th century, but there is also extensive coverage of the 19th century, the latter half in particular. There is an especially strong concentration on neglected and forgotten works published in the United States, 1875–1950.
Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature - California State University, Fresno
The Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature is in the Henry Madden Library at California State University, Fresno. The Center is one of North America's leading resources for the study of children's and young adult literature. The growing collection of 60,000 books, periodicals, manuscripts, original art, and papers of authors and illustrators, has an international and multicultural emphasis. Its materials are available to anyone for use in the Center's reading area.
The Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature - University of Florida
This collection contains more than 115,000 volumes published in the United States and Great Britain from the mid-1600s to present day. The Library also has small holdings in manuscript collections, original artwork, and assorted ephemera such as board games, puzzles, and toys. The Baldwin Library is known for comparative editions of books, with special emphasis on Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim’s Progress, Aesop’s Fables, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The Library also has the largest collection of Early American Juvenile Imprints of any academic institution in the United States.
Brooklyn Public Library's Hunt Collection
The Hunt Collection is comprised of approximately 7,000 American and European books for children, dating primarily from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Among its many rarities are first editions of several books by E. Boyd Smith (1860-1943), the preeminent American picture-book artist of the generation before the Caldecott Medal was created to honor artists in his field.
Children's Books - State Library Victoria
The Library has more than 100,000 children’s books from Australia and overseas, and this collection grows by approximately 2500 books – antiquarian and contemporary – each year. The earliest children’s book held is The Scholemaster by Roger Ascham, former schoolmaster to the young Queen Elizabeth I, and subsequently published under her patronage in 1571. This book and other readers and primers reflect the instructional nature of the earliest books for children.
Children’s Historical Collection - Texas Woman's University
The Children’s Historical Collection contains children’s books of historical note or value including rare, out-of-print, and autographed books; books by award-winning/notable authors or illustrators; books by Texas authors or illustrators; or books set in Texas past or present. Some notable items include a rare edition of Pilgrim's Progress, a 1777 New England Primer, and an 1898 edition of Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales.
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The collection began as a gift to
Texas Woman’s University and was established as a resource for scholarly study and teaching
of children’s literature of the 20th century, including milestone books from the 18th and 19th
centuries as well as general fiction, nonfiction, novelty picture books, series titles, story
collections, poetry, Mother Goose, and biographies. Related professional reference works and
early readers are used for instruction
Children's Literature Center - Library of Congress
The Children's Literature Center assists users in gaining access to all children's materials dispersed throughout the Library. The Library holds between 500,000 and 600,000 children's books and periodicals including maps, visual and audio media and secondary material.
Children's Literature in the Special Collections Research Center - University of Michigan
The Special Collections Research Center houses approximately 25,000 published volumes of children's literature, in addition to other archival artwork, correspondence, and manuscripts of authors and illustrators. Several gifts have greatly contributed to the collection. The Lee Walp Family Juvenile Book Collection was acquired in 2001-2002. The Walps had collected primarily American children's books for their two daughters, because they did not want them reading comic books. When received, this collection contained more than 6,000 books plus over 1,000 additional pieces of art, posters, publishers' proof sheets, and other manuscripts.
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In 1924, the Lucius Lee Hubbard Imaginary Voyages Collection was given to the collection by Regent Hubbard. This collection consists of editions, translations, adaptations, and spin-offs of three children's classics: The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner by Daniel DeFoe, Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, and Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann David Wyss.

Finally, the Janice Dohm purchase in 2003 contributed English chapter books, fairy tales including seven shelves of editions of Hans Christian Andersen, and eight shelves of editions of Beatrix Potter's books.
Children's Literature Research Collections- University of Minnesota
The Children's Literature Research Collections (CLRC) is an internationally recognized children's literature library and archive. A member of the University of Minnesota Libraries' Archives and Special Collections department (ASC), we hold books, manuscripts, illustrations, comic books, story papers, and other materials related to the creation of historical and modern children's literature, including archival materials and original artwork for 1700 authors and illustrators
Cotsen Children's Library - Princeton University
The Cotsen Children's Library is a unit within the Department of Special Collections at the Princeton University Library. The Cotsen research collection of illustrated children's books, manuscripts, original artwork, prints, and educational toys date from the 15th century to the present day in over thirty languages. The collection has important holdings of materials in the English, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, and Russian languages.
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Among the collection's treasures are an early-Coptic Christian schoolbook; medieval manuscripts; incunables; two scrapbooks assembled by Hans Christian Andersen; drawings by Edward Lear, K. F. E. Freyhold, and Samuil Marshak; many of Beatrix Potter's famous picture letters; early editions of the fairy tales of Madame d'Aulnoy, Charles Perrault, and the brothers Grimm; one of the largest collections of children's books published by John Newbery and his successors; Soviet Constructivist children's books
de Grummond Children's Literature - University of South Mississippi
The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection is one of North America's leading research centers in the field of children's literature. Its main focus is on American and British children's literature, historical and contemporary items. The Collection houses original manuscripts and illustrations, produced by more than 1,300 children's authors and illustrators, that document the entire creative process. The original materials are complemented by an ever expanding book collection of more than 160,000 volumes dating from 1530 to the present.
Eloise Ramsey Collection of Literature for Young People 1880-1923 - Wayne State University
The Eloise Ramsey Collection of Literature for Young People was named for its creator, Eloise Ramsey. Ramsey believed that it was important for future teachers to take courses in children's literature. She provided over 400 rare or notable books to start this collection, which is now part of the Special Collections in the Wayne State University library system. Important books from this collection have been digitized for online access. The physical copies of these books, as well as others, can be found in WSU Special Collections.
Frances Hooper Kate Greenaway Collection - Carnegie Mellon University
The extensive collection consists of books, letters, manuscripts, and artwork by Kate Greenaway and is housed in the Fine and Rare Book Room, Special Collections of the Hunt Library, Carnegie Mellon University. Her books, cards, and almanack series show Greenaway's sensitivity of line and instinct for figure composition. The decorative effect of her innocent children in garden settings holding nosegays, garlands and wreaths is characteristic of the enchanting appeal of Kate's world.
The Hockliffe Collection - University of Bedfordshire
The Hockliffe Collection is a unique cache of over a thousand British children's books dating predominantly from the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They were originally collected by Frederic Hockliffe (1833-1914), a Bedford publisher and bookseller. In 1927 his eldest son, Frederic Rich Hockliffe (1861-1929), bookseller and mayor of Bedford, donated the collection to Bedford Training College. This later became Bedford College of Higher Education, then part of De Montfort University and is currently owned by the University of Bedfordshire. The Collection itself is housed in the Polhill Library of the University of Bedfordshire.
Lilly Library - Indiana University, Bloomington
The Lilly Library holds nearly 10,000 children's books, most of them from the Elisabeth Ball collection.The emphasis of the collection is on English language books of the 18th and 19th centuries, but also includes a large number of 20th century books and representative works in French and German. There are hornbooks, mechanical books, thumb Bibles, miniature libraries, Newberry and Marshall imprints, and original art by children's book illustrators, including Kate Greenaway, Walter Crane, Randolph Caldecott, and Ernest Shepard.
Lucile Clarke Memorial Children’s Library - Central Michigan University
The Clarke Library holds a rich collection of books written for children and young adults. This section of the website includes descriptions of some aspects of the children’s collections including the library’s Arthur Rackham books, children’s books written by and about Native Americans, information about our school textbook collection, and information about children’s books published outside of the United States and often in languages other than English.
National Art Library Children's Literature Collections - Victoria and Albert Museum
The National Art Library has been collecting children's publications since the mid-19th century. It now holds nearly 100,000 books dating from the 16th century to the present day. Acquired as examples of the art of the book, they show the development of children's book production and illustration.
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The Renier Collection, with over 80,000 books, represents major authors and artists and most subject areas and genres. Other collections are particularly rich in late 18th-century and early 19th-century imprints from Britain and north-west Europe. They are moderately rich in late 19th- and early 20th-century British illustrated children's books. The Library holds a fine selection of Russian (mainly Soviet) books, plus an extensive collection of North American, European and Japanese comics.
Northeast Children’s Literature Collection (NCLC) - University of Connecticut
The purpose of the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection is to preserve the history of the creation of our best literature written for children. Emphasis is given to the perception of children’s literature as a form of art over other educational or social intentions. Archives are collected to document the process of children’s book creation by authors and illustrators in collaboration with agents, editors, designers and publishers. Includes a collection of Children’s Christmas Books; over 800 monographs written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak; and 440 discrete editions of Black Beauty.
Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books - Toronto Public Library
The Osborne Collection holds items encompassing the development of English children’s literature up to and including 1910. The Lillian H. Smith Collection's are items of literary and artistic merit published in English after 1910, including picture books; fairy tales; and early and first editions of modern children’s classics. The Canadiana Collection is a representative selection of 19th- and 20th-century children’s books related to Canada. Also, includes books whose illustrators or publishers are associated with Canada. The Jean Thomson Collection of Original Art contains over 5,000 original illustrations of children’s books ranging from woodcuts to watercolors, from aquatints to multimedia.

Children's Historical Collection Treasures

Illustration from The Garden of Paradise and Other Stories from Hans Christian Andersen from the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives' Elements of Book Design Display. University Libraries, University at Albany, SUNY

Illustration from Adventures of Henny Penny and her friends , printed during the 1860s. Unknown author and illustrator. Available from Special Collections in the Wayne State University library system.

Illustration from The Bitter Bit: The Sad End of a Tail. Written and illustrated by William Foster. Available from The Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature in the Department of Special Collections at the University of Florida's George A. Smathers Libraries

From The Railroad Book Story, story and pictures by E. Boyd Smith. A part of Brooklyn Public Library's Hunt Collection.

The Great Blue Heron, from The Book of Birds for Young People. Written and illustrated by F. Schuyler Mathews. Located in the Ball State University Digital Media Repository.

W.W. Denslow wrote and illustrated Humpty Dumpty, Found in the Library of Congress' Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

Illustration from Doctor Dolittle in the Moon, from the Children's Historical Collection at Texas Woman's University.

Of interest

The History of Children’s Books
The History of Children’s Books, written by C.M. Hewins, January 1888 in The Atlantic.
Digging for Treasure: An Adventure in Appraising Rare and Collectible Children's Books
By Justin G. Schiller, in the Indiana University Digital Library.

Research Guides

Children's Literature/School Library Media: A guide to information resources

Information Science Librarian

Historical Children's Literature Collections

Children's Historical Collection Treasures

Of interest