Shakespeare Folios.

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About the Collection

Founded in 1935 with the donation of Thomas B. Lockwood’s antiquarian collection, the Rare Book Collection comprises over 17,000 volumes from ca. 1450 to the early twentieth century, including all four 17th-century Shakespeare Folios, important first editions of English literature like Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, significant publications in the history of science including Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, fine press publications from the Kelmscott and Doves presses, and Western New York imprints. Additionally, it contains manuscript collections, a rare coin and medallion collection, and other materials, including three original illustrations by William Blake.

420 Capen Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260-1674
rarebooks@buffalo.edu
716-645-2917

Digital Collections
Shakespeare Folios
5/20/25
The four 17th-century folio editions were the first published collections of Shakespeare’s plays and remain among the most important works in English literature.
Walt Whitman Collection
5/20/25
The collection features original manuscripts and letters, including essays on Emerson and an essay about his own work, such as Leaves of Grass.
The Wounded Stag and other poems by Charlotte Brontë
5/20/25
Brontë, a leading 19th-century novelist, is less known for her poetry. The Wounded Stag and Other Poems showcases 20 pages of her poetry manuscripts.
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News & Events
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    12/10/25

    December 16 marks 250 years since the birth of Jane Austen, one of the English language’s most celebrated writers.

  • Access Forbidden: UB Exhibition Unveils Centuries of Banned and Censored Books
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    Explore 575 years of censorship and resilience in Access Forbidden: Banned and Censored Books, 1549–1940, the first major exhibition of UB’s Rare Books Collection since 2006.

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    The UB Libraries has made available a digital collection, Defence Of Guenevere, featuring 21 original watercolors by Frances E. and Margaret Macdonald.