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University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center

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The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center is home to the University of Chicago Library's Archives, Rare Books, and Manuscripts.

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11/08/2026

Curious what new archives, manuscripts, rare books, and digitized items are available at the Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center?

You can see a list of everything that became available this October by following the link in our bio and clicking on "New at SCRC - October 2026" on the SCRC homepage.

Pictured is an example of a Dos-à-dos binding dated 1628. Dos-à-dos (French for "back-to-back") binding is a unique style that involves two books bound together in such a way that they share a common back cover but open in opposite directions so both volumes open to their title page. While this item is newly available at SCRC, it is one of the earliest known examples of this binding style.

Pictured item:
Biblia, das ist, Die gantze Heilige Schrifft Deutsch [German-language bible]
Luther, Martin, Johann Stern, Heinrich Stern, and Helge Loewenberg-Domp.
Lüneburg: Gedruckt vnd verlegt bey Johann vnd Heinrich Sternen, 1627.
Call Number: BS239 1627

11/06/2026

Upcoming Event: The Kim-Park Program for the Study of the Book is pleased to present Hawaiian Protest in Print, a Student Research Spotlight presentation from Sam Maza, Kim-Park Student Fellow and PhD Candidate in English Language and Literature at the University of Chicago.

🗓 Friday, November 20th at 3:00 PM at Newberry Library (60 W Walton Street)

This program is free and registration is open to all who would like to attend.

Free Registration: srs-hpip.eventbrite.com

Hawaiian Protest in Print examines the myriad printing methods employed by Hawaiian citizens to assert their sovereignty. Public reactions to the 1843 Paulet Affair and the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom can be witnessed in newspaper articles, as well as pamphlets, songs, and petitions. The program will include a presentation of select items from the Newberry Library's collection.

Thank you to Newberry Library for hosting the Kim-Park Program.

11/03/2026

From the collections on election day:

Item 1: Petition of Free Colored Citizens of Louisiana. To His Excellency Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, and to the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, January 5, 1864
Call number: f JK1929.L8L8

In early 1864, Jean-Baptiste Roudanez and Arnold Bertonneau ventured from New Orleans to Washington to present Lincoln with a petition signed by over 1,000 free men of color requesting the right to vote and to participate in the reformation of the government in Louisiana. The petition argued that “over and above the right, which, in the language of the Declaration of Independence, they possess to liberty and the pursuit of happiness” they also had “the right of enjoying the privileges and immunities pertaining to the condition of citizens of the United States.”

Item 2: Justitia: A Court for the Unrepresented, March 15, 1888
Call number: JF847.J878 c.1

Justitia: A Court for the Unrepresented, a short-lived newspaper published in Chicago for the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association in the 1880s, took as its motto the idea that “Governments derive their Just Powers from the Consent of the Governed” presented in the Declaration of Independence. The pictured issue from March 15th, 1888 includes a “Suffrage Song” by Mary A. Andrews (see image 4).

In 1870, 6 years after Roundanez & Bertonneau’s petition, the Fifteenth Amendment to the constitution was ratified, which prohibits denying or abridging a citizens right to vote “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”. It would not be until 1920 with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment that women’s right to vote was guaranteed, more than 30 years after the publication of this edition of Justitia.

Both items are highlighted in our current exhibition - Created Equal: The Premises and Promises of the Declaration of Independence, on view thru December 11th.

Exhibition Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

11/02/2026

From the Collections - Ofrenda : A Zine Anthology by Celia C. Pérez

Ofrenda is a zine anthology that includes portions from selected zines published between 1994 and 2014. SCRC’s copy has two bookmarks, a button, and a manuscript note from the publisher laid inside.

Pictured Item:
Ofrenda: A Zine Anthology by Celia C. Pérez
Olympia, WA: Sweet Candy Press, 2014.
Call Number: PN6727.P474 O47 2014

10/31/2026

Happy Halloween from SCRC!

Pictured Item:
Pictured Item:
Bibliotheca Spenceriana; or, A Descriptive Catalogue of the ... Library of George John, Earl Spencer
Spencer, George John.
London, 1814.
Call Number: Z240.S7 c.1

10/30/2026

Happy All Hallows' Eve Eve from the Dean of Spooky Sciences and their Special Collections Skeleton Crew!

10/29/2026

In honor of national cat day, we wanted to share this photo from The University of Chicago Photographic Archive! Pictured is student Richard Pinegar laughing with a cat for company in 1973.

You can view this photo and many others that document the history of the University of Chicago and the development of its campus, academic programs, and student life in the photographic archive by following the linktree in our bio and clicking on "Digital Collections".

Pictured:
Richard Pinegar laughing, with cat
Series IV: Student Activities
Photographer: Frank Gruber
Photograph Date: 11/9/1973=
Repository: University of Chicago Library, Special Collections Research Center
Image Identifier: apf4-04168

10/27/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined the Kim-Park Program for the Study of the Book recently for a Manuscript Meet & Greet! Manuscript Meet & Greet programs are collections presentations that provide up close encounters with items from our Special Collections. Pictured are our recent iterations of the program: Manuscript Meet & Greet: Meet the Map presented by Marcy Bidney, the UChicago Assistant University Librarian for Distinctive Collections and Manuscript Meet & Greet: Printing on Fabric presented by Suzanne Karr Schmidt, George Amos Poole III Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts at Newberry Library.

We hope you will join us for more opportunities engage with book history and the materiality of information soon. Join the Kim-Park Mailing list to be the first to know about upcoming events and opportunities like these at the Kim-Park Program link in our bio

10/25/2026

Upcoming Event: The Kim-Park Program for the Study of the Book is pleased to present Dictaminal Attitudes: Transcribing and Compiling Peter of Blois with Thomas C. Sawyer, Assistant Professor of Medieval Literature in the Department of English at Case Western Reserve University.

🗓 Friday, November 6th at 3:00 PM in Regenstein Library

This program is free and registration is open to all who would like to attend.

Free Registration: https://PeterofBlois.eventbrite.com

More about the program:

In 1993, Lena Wahlgren enumerated over 250 manuscript collections witnessing the epistles of Peter of Blois. These witnesses had been categorized previously by Ethel Higonnet, whose 1973 thesis posited at least seventeen distinct manuscript groups. Whether and how Peter altered which of his own letters after their first inscription remains an open question, and the task of producing a complete edition of his works remains a feat of textual criticism few scholars might feasibly accomplish. He remains one of the most influential prose authors of over four-hundred years – and one of the least accessible to modern audiences. Bewildering though the manuscript record may be in sum, individual witnesses reflect how medieval scribes and readers customized their encounters with Peter’s dictaminal ouevre. In this talk, Thomas C. Sawyer (Case Western Reserve University) will examine the production of two manuscripts that yield divergent views on the legibility of the epistolary collection as a genre and reflect changing motives for reproducing staggeringly popular texts in the weave of late-medieval scribal cultures.

10/22/2026

From the Collections: Les Remplaçantes, La Baïonnette, 25 novembre 1915

Presumably many serving in the military during World War I enjoyed the barbed satire of French magazine La Baïonnette, but the primary audience for the magazine was those who remained on the home front. A number of issues dealt with their lives. "Les Remplaçantes", illustrated by Charles Gentry, put a spotlight on the substitutes, mostly women, for men away fighting for the cause. Genty, was a well-known humorous illustrator who served during the war and also worked for such magazines as Le Rire, Le Rire Rouge, and Fantasio and illustrated novels. Other issues of the magazine dealt with such subjects as "Nos Gosses" (Our Kids), "La Vie Chère" (The Expensive Life), and "Les Nouveaux Riches."

This work is featured in our web exhibition, “En Guerre: French Illustrators and World War I”. You can view this item and many more in the exhibit by following the linktree in our bio and clicking on “Web Exhibits”.

Pictured Item:
Les Remplaçantes
Charles Genty. La baïonnette, 25 novembre 1915. Paris: L'Edition Française Illustrée Rare Book Collection
Call Number: f D526.3.B2 c.1
v.1 no.1-v.2 no.45 1915-16

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