Archives Hub Contributors

Reading University: Special Collections Services

Reading University Library was established by the newly-formed University Extension College in 1892. As well as providing support for the University's taught programmes, the Library has over the years built up extensive collections of research material. It is widely known as an important centre for the study of British publishing and printing, and supports the work of the University's unique Department of Typography and Graphic Communication, and of the Centre for Writing, Printing and Publishing History, also based at Reading University. The records of many major British publishing and printing firms and their subsidiaries are held in the Archives and Manuscripts section. The Library also holds other collections relating to book history, such as the personal papers of publishers, and ephemera collections which illustrate the history of printing in all its aspects. In addition the Archives contain the personal and literary papers of around fifty late nineteenth- and twentieth-century authors, including the world's largest collection of material relating to Samuel Beckett.

The archives of the University of Reading itself include the papers of many of the University's former members of staff, such as the historian Sir Frank Stenton and the sociologist Viola Klein. The collections also include records of the Reading area, including the archives of the major local firm Huntley and Palmers.

Many archive collections are held at the Museum of English Rural Life, which is also part of the University of Reading.

Special feature: Love letters

Email: :specialcollections@reading.ac.uk. Web: http://www.reading.ac.uk/library/special-collections/using/lib-special-using.asp

Browse Reading University Special Collections Services' descriptions

Show list of Reading University Special Collections Services' descriptions