Guide to Special Collections -- General SPecial Collections, Rare Periodicals, and CSULA Archival Collections

General Special Collections, Rare Periodicals,
and CSULA Archival Collections

General Special Collections: Included here are examples of fine printing; works produced by outstanding presses; signed and/or limited editions of outstanding authors; fine arts books or portfolios with plates; works published before 1800; works of historical value; works with unusual format, physical condition, or content; and works with qualities which distinguish them as rare, scarce, susceptible to damage, irreplaceable, or expensive. Also found here are broadsides, brochures, keepsakes, announcements, and ephemerae. Approximately 8,000 books, or 750 linear feet, have been assigned to General Special Collections.

Some notable items within General Special Collections include: a rare copy of The Klemscott Chaucer (printed in 1896, this is considered one of the great printed books of our time); three bound books of letters by Brigham Young's secretary, James G. Bleak (these letters cover the period 1874-1907); two handwritten letters c.1880 containing art work by the famous Southwest painter C. M. Russell; a collection of Upton Sinclair pamphlets, brochures and memorabilia, primarily concerning his unsuccessful bid for Governor of California in 1934; a 1783 edition of Reales ordenanzas para la direccion régimen y gobierno del importante Cuerpo de la Mineraría de Nueva-España; and a ten volume facsimile set of Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Atlanticus.

Rare Periodicals: Currently, the collection consist of full or partial runs of seventy titles, or approximately 515 linear feet. These are discontinued, rare periodicals (e.g., Beiträge zur Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache und Literature, Blackwood's Magazine, Dial, Fortnightly, Niles' Register, Outlook, and Overland Monthly.

On the left, is an issue of the Overland Monthly. This magazine began publishing in San Francisco in 1868. Bret Harte was its first editor. Under his direction, the magazine soon became one of America's leading literary journals. Ambroise Bierce, Edwin Markham, Mark Twain and Jack London all had their early work published in the Overland Monthly. It ceased publication in 1930. Our collection of the Overland Monthly inludes issues for years 1868 through 1923.

CSULA Archival Collections: Selected Campus and Library Archives
[descriptive text will be added here soon]; Faculty Archives
[descriptive text will be added here soon]; Graduate Theses and Projects
[descriptive text will be added here soon]