André de Saint-Rat Collection of Russian History, Literature & Art: The Russian resources and the André de Saint-Rat Collection of Russian History, Literature and Art in Special Collections document the period from 800 – 1950 AD. Several of the volumes are from the library of Czar Nicholas II. This collection specializes in Imperial Russia and its military regiments before, during and after the Russian Revolution into the new Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, as well as the military units of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Basil Bunting Collection: This collection includes journal issues featuring articles pertaining to the life and work of British poet Basil Bunting; photocopies of newspaper clippings pertaining to the Bunting family; photocopies of notes made by Bunting’s wife, Marian; text and photographs from a posthumous exhibit about Bunting in Northumberland; postcards and brochures illustrating Bunting’s tombstone in the Brigflatts Burial Ground, the D.H. Lawrence Birthplace, and other English landmarks; and a recording of Bunting reading Briggflatts at the University of British Columbia, November 20, 1970, with an introduction by Peter Quartermain.
Edgar and Faith King Juvenile Literature Collection: Printed from the seventeenth century through the 1900s, the Edgar and Faith King Juvenile Literature Collection provides insight into the activities of children for more than three hundred years.
English Toy Theater Collection: The English toy theater was a craft hobby for children of the 1800s, which evolved from the popularity of theatrical portraits sold as souvenirs in London. Each toy theatre play (sold for either “a penny plain or two pence coloured”) was comprised of several sheets of paper illustrating characters and settings from contemporary productions that children would cut out, assemble and then perform in little wooden theaters for their friends and family.
Folios of William Shakespeare: The Walter Havighurst Special Collections is fortunate to hold a complete set of all Four Folios of the works of William Shakespeare, which were donated to Miami University in 1949 by Dr. O. O. Fisher. Fisher was a Miami alumnus (class of ’09) who went on to become an industrial surgeon and an avid book collector. The First, Second, and Fourth Folios are from the matched set once owned by Lord Leigh. The Third Folio was once a part of the collection of John Gribbel.
George Orwell Collection: This collection includes: first edition books by Orwell, foreign language editions, contributions to books by Orwell, contributions to periodicals by Orwell (as Eric Blair), contributions to periodicals by Orwell (as Orwell), presentation copies to George Orwell, books about Orwell and his work, books having chapters or sections on Orwell.
Labiche–Leveaux Papers: This collection contains correspondence, manuscript books, newspaper clippings, and printed material pertaining to the French dramatist Eugène Marin Labiche (1815-1888) and Alphonse Leveaux (1810-1893).
Matthew Prior Project: Photographic copies (photographs or photocopies or microform) of the nearly 3,000 letters to and from him known to be extant in manuscript or print. Special Collections owns four of the original manuscripts; the remaining original manuscripts are scattered among thirty-seven other repositories, both public and private, chiefly in the U. S., Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands, with nearly 300 correspondents represented.
Spiro Peterson Center for Defoe Studies: This collection includes more than 550 volumes, including 70 different printings of Defoe’s best known work Robinson Crusoe, and more than 100 reels of microfilm.
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), English novelist, pamphleteer, and journalist, author of Robinson Crusoe (1719-22) and Moll Flanders (1722). A man of many talents, he was not only a writer, but also a businessman, secret agent, and journalist. The Defoe collection includes books, microfilm, documents, maps, notes and files on Daniel Defoe and early fiction.
