F. A. Q. about Special Collections
- What is Special Collections (SpC)?
- What makes these books special?
- How can I determine if Special Collections has a particular item?
- Can materials in SpC be checked out?
- Can I make photocopies there?
- Why are most of the science fiction books in Special Collections?
- How did the comics collection begin?
- What does ARVF stand for?
- What is the oldest book in SpC?
- Why does the look of this page seem to change from day to day?
- What is Special Collections (SPC)?
- Special Collections was established in 1962 to hold, preserve, build, and make accessible rare materials and special collections in the MSU Libraries. All materials must be used in the Special Collections reading room to protect and preserve them for use today and in the future.
- What makes these books special?
- Materials in SpC require special handling and security because they may be old, rare, fragile, expensive, part of a special collection, or in a format that would not stand up to normal usage.
- How can I determine if Special Collections has a particular item?
- While Special Collections holds more than 450,000
books, numerous manuscript and archival collections, and an extensive
collection of ephemera, we take great pride that most our collection
is cataloged in the MSU Library's on-line catalog HERE.
If you are having trouble locating the material you need, please contact Special Collections at 517.884.6471, or berg@msu.edu. - Can materials in SpC be checked out?
- Materials in Special Collections cannot be checked out. They can be used only in the Special Collections reading room.
- Can I make photocopies there?
- Photocopying of materials depends first of all
on its condition. Many books have pages which have separated from
the spine of the book and are, therefore, considered to be too
fragile for photocopying. The paper in some materials is so deteriorated
that trying to photocopy will sadly cause the pages to literally
crumble.
Our second consideration for photocopying is the compliance with current copyright laws. If the piece passes both considerations, a staff member will do the photocopying for you at the cost of $.10/exposure.
Payment for copying must be done in cash, check, or with a MSU account number. If paying with cash, it’s a good idea to bring cash amounts less than $5.00 as we do not have change always available. - Why are most of the science fiction books in Special Collections?
- The Science Fiction Collection in the Special Collections Division is one of the 20 largest and best in the United States, and is often consulted by users coming from outside our community. In large part it is made up of ongoing donations from the Science Fiction Writers of America, a professional writers' organization. The books are accepted with the agreement that this will be a permanent collection. "Permanent" means, of course, that they may not circulate outside of our reading room. A very good collection, with hundreds of titles, is also maintained in the circulating collection.
- How did the comics collection begin?
- The Comic Art Collection began with two large donations arranged by Russel B. Nye, in 1969 or 1970. Dr. Nye talked two of his graduating students into giving us their collections, the story goes, and they came to Special Collections after he had used them for research on his book, The Unembarrassed Muse (New York, Dial Press, 1970)
- What does ARVF stand for?
- The American Radicalism Vertical File is a collection of pamphlets, clippings, website printouts and other miscellaneous stuff on topics of interest to students of radicalism. They are organized by issues, by peoples' names, and by names of organizations. The technical term "vertical file" just means the clippings are stored in ordinary filing cabinets in manila file folders, as opposed to a "shelf file," in which clippings would be boxed for stand-up shelving, or a "flat file" in which clippings would be stacked in boxes (like pizza boxes) and stored horizontally.
- What is the oldest book in Special Collections?
- The oldest printed book in the MSU Libraries is
held in Special Collections. Its title is Scriptores
Rei Rusticae, which was printed in Venice in 1472, only
a short time after the invention of the moveable type printing
press by Gutenberg in Germany about 1455. Scriptores
Rei Rusticae features classical agricultural treatises by
Cato, Varro, Columella, Palladius, and others. Distinguished by
its simple and elegant typescript, it was printed by Nicolas Jenson,
one of the most important figures in early printing. Scriptores
Rei Rusticae is an "incunable," (Latin for 'things
in the cradle') to mean books produced in the infancy of printing,
generally speaking all books published before 1501. Special collections
has a total of 12 incunabula and each one is available to be seen
in the reading room.
However, this is not the oldest book in Special Collections. Instead that honor goes to one of two manuscripts: either our beautiful Book of Hours, an illuminated manuscript produced probably between 1400 and 1450, or a magnificent "Antiphonale," which is a collection of liturgical chants that was probably written sometime in the period 1200-1450. All this dating is probable because none of these manuscripts are dated anywhere on their pages and we can only guess based on what we know about them physically and the history of the book.
And none of the above is as old as a small item from our Samaritan Collection: a sixth century (500 AD) marble piece with the inscription which in rough English translation states, "O Yahweh, my strength, who is like you."
Despite the age of all these pieces (ranging from 500 to 1,500 years old), they are uniformly in good, if not excellent condition, with every indication of being around another millennium or so as long as we continue to provide good stewardship. All this does suggest the enduring quality of the book and the written word, and begs the question of whether any of the MSU Libraries' wonderful and useful electronic resources will be able to make the same claim of living to such a ripe old age.
- Why does the look of this page seem to change from day to day?
- This page was created to change it's look and
feel from visit to visit in order to highlight the vast array of
unique and important items in Special Collections. Each style has
been designed to spotlight a selected item from the collection.
Additional styles will be added over time.
To view a different style from the one you are currently viewing, you can select "View Another Style" at the bottom of any page on our site.
