Image courtesy James Branch Cabell Library
James Branch Cabell Library
901 Park Ave.
This library’s Comic Arts Collection contains 175,000 items, including more than 125,000 comic books. Also here are some 3,000 titles from the personal library of Richmond-born fantasy fiction novelist and satirist James Branch Cabell. The Betty Tisinger Collection of around 1,000 moveable and pop-up books resides here, too.
William Smith Morton Library
3300-3498 Chamberlayne Ave.
This library contains 5,200 rare books that date from 1470 to about 1830, many related to the European Reformation, with volumes by Martin Luther, Jean Calvin and Erasmus. Since this is the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s “Ninety-Five Theses,” which ignited the Protestant Era, several works are on view through Reformation Day, Oct. 31.
L. Douglas Wilder Library
1500 N. Lombardy St.
The rare book collection contains more than 1,200 volumes — first editions, signed copies and out-of-print books with a particular emphasis on African-American children's books of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In Virginia Union University’s collection is also the Registrar’s Book for Richmond Institute, precursor to Virginia Union University. The life of each enrollee, including where they were born and baptized, is summarized in a brief paragraph.
Richmond Public Library
101 E. Franklin St.
It houses an array of rare editions by Richmond authors, a Richmond history collection, and a People’s Library with blank and recycled books in which patrons can write their own stories. The Martha Orr Davenport Special Collections Room offers rare children’s books, including pop-up volumes and the first editions of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum and Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn.”
Image courtesy Linda Kachurek, University of Richmond
Boatwright Memorial Library
28 Westhampton Way
This library possesses a rare book and archival collection of approximately 25,000 volumes that date from 1471 to the present. The oldest book is a hand-sewn German devotional album. One unique item is a handmade, hand-illuminated book (pictured above) by Alberto Sangorski, a prominent 20th-century illuminator.
Image courtesy Library of Virginia
Library of Virginia
800 E. Broad St.
The state's great book treasure house holds more than 7,800 volumes in its Virginia Authors collection alone. Within its Rare Book Collection is a 15th-century hand-written copy of a manual for hearing Catholic confession. Here, too, are ledgers kept by Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson’s Statute for Religious Freedom, dated January 16, 1786.
