History of the Department

The formation of the rare book and manuscript collections dates back to the founding of the University. The first major donation of rare books and manuscripts to Columbia was the Stephen Whitney Phoenix bequest in 1881. When the Rare Book Department was established in 1930, material that had been collected since the founding of the University finally had a place where it could be preserved and used.

William Schermerhorn's gift in 1902 of the DeWitt Clinton Papers marked the beginning of the active acquisition of collections of original manuscripts, autograph letters, and documents. In the early decades of the 20th century, the large book collections donated or bequeathed, such as the Brander Matthews, George Arthur Plimpton and David Eugene Smith libraries contained significant groups of manuscripts among their diversified holdings. During the post-World War II era the collecting of manuscripts and archives in their own right began to take on ever greater importance, and the rare book and archival resources of the Columbia Libraries have continued to grow through bequests and purchases ever since.