Collection Strengths in Rare Books & Manuscripts

Bryn Mawr holds one of the country’s largest collections of books printed in Europe during the half-century between the invention of printing and 1500. 

The library has an extensive collection of printed European and American accounts of travel to the rest of the world.  

As one of the country’s preeminent women’s colleges for nearly a century and a half, Bryn Mawr has built extensive collections on women writers, artists, and activists, as well as collections that document women’s daily lives. 

The Library’s collections of illustrated books date from the 15th century to the present, and include large numbers of books on natural history, travel, classical antiquities, and daily life.

The Library includes a strong collection of books by women writers from the Italian Renaissance to today, important editions of major literary works, and the papers of prominent writers, artists and people active in the theater.