Special Collections Search
In addition to keyword, author, title, and subject searches, the following searches may be helpful in locating rare books, archives, manuscripts, and other special collections materials.
Limit a search by “Archives or Manuscripts” in any of the following:
Basic Search/Quick Limits
Advanced Search/Type
Filter your Search Results
Advanced Search/Type may also be limited by other materials, including:
Print or manuscript maps
Print or manuscript music
Sound Recordings
Visual Material
Advanced Search/Location may be limited by a specific library. Yale special collections repositories include:
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
British Art Center
Divinity Library
Haas Arts Library
Lewis Walpole Library
Manuscripts and Archives
Medical Historical Library
Music Library
Location can be limited by specific locations within some of these repositories.
Search for the following in Advanced Search, as a phrase, in Special Collections:
Incunabula: [country][city][printer]
Or: incunabula in yale library
Examples:
Search england london pynson richard as a phrase within Special Collections
Search incunabula in yale library as a phrase within Special Collections
Early publications
American imprints before 1820: [place] [year]
Connecticut imprints before 1851: [place] [publisher or printer] [year]
Confederate States imprints between 1861 and 1865: [place] [year]
States west of the Mississippi River imprints through 1865 or 1890: [place] [year]
Mexico imprints before 1865: mexico [place] [year]
Example:
Search massachusetts boston 1720 as a phrase within Special Collections
Pamphlets
American: amer tracts [year]
British: brit tracts [year]
European: euro tracts [year]
Latin American: lat amer tracts [year]
Example:
Search amer tracts 1776 as a phrase within Special Collections
Provenance: [name of former owner]
Narrow search by adding: and [genre term]
Example:
Search van vechten carlas a phrase within Special Collections
And
Search bookplate as a phrase within Special Collections
Search for the following in Advanced Search, as a phrase, in Genre/Form:
Type of material (such as booksellers' advertisements, diaries, drawings, sermons).
Example:
Search diaries as a phrase within Genre/Form.
Type of binding.
Also search for specific binders by name.
Examples:
Search armorial bindings within Genre/Form.
Search sangorski & sutcliffe as a phrase within Author.
Search for a known special collections call number in Basic Search, as Call Number (Local).
Pamphlet collection call numbers begin with the collection name.
Auction catalog call numbers begin with Yale classification X348.
Trade catalog call numbers begin with Yale classification Uai.
Examples:
Search ms 572 as Call Number (Local)
Search college pamphlets as Call Number (Local)
Search uai as Call Number (Local)