LibGuides: University Archives & Special Collections: Special Collections

Come and discover the hidden treasures at Special Collections, where we are dedicated to preserving and sharing unique collections of rare books, literary manuscripts, artist's books, and antiquarian maps. Our collections are a testament to the beauty and importance of rare and one-of-a-kind works that are integral to our cultural heritage.

At Special Collections, you'll find a wealth of rare and precious materials that offer a glimpse into the past and inspire new perspectives on the present. Our collection includes literary manuscripts of renowned authors, stunning artist's books, antique maps that chart the course of history, and rare books that transport you to different times and places.

To search for collections information use the links below.

Our collection descriptions and finding aids can also be accessed using OneSearch.

Science Fiction Writers of America Depository Collection
The Science Fiction Writers of America Depository Collection consists of hardcover and paperback editions of science fiction literature published by the authors who are members of the SFWA professional association.
Southern California Instruction Librarians (SCIL) Depository
The CCLI Southern Region's Depository is a collection of library instruction materials produced by academic libraries in California. Materials were acquired through questionnaires distributed in 1974, 1976, 1900, 1982 and 1984. A directory entitled Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Library Instruction but Didn't Have Time to Ask, was prepared from responses to the 1974 questionnaire.
United States Volleyball Association Regional Depository Collection
The United States Volleyball Association Regional Depository Collection was established in 1972-1973 to be one of several regional depositories for the U.S. Volleyball Association's archives.

Miniature Books Collection
The Miniature Books Collection consists of unusually small-sized books. Most are United States imprints but some were published in other countries.
Press Books Collection
The Press collection represents fine press printing in the United States in the 20th and 21st centuries. It has a particular focus or strength for California presses including the Grabhorn Press, the Grabhorn-Hoyim Press, both of San Francisco and the Fine Arts Press of Santa Ana.

American Trade Bindings Book Collection
The American Trade Bindings Book Collection consists of 5095 volumes of fiction and non-fiction published circa 1880-1940. ATB collection is not fully cataloged. Please visit Special Collections for more information.
Book History Collection
The Book History Ephemera Collection of 665 cataloged pamphlets, extensive runs of 75 periodical titles, and 20 boxes of realia/facsimiles sheds light on the history of libraries, librarianship, publishing and printing. In addition, there is a small 10 drawer metal cabinet of 3106 bookplates and 2 boxes of correspondences that form part of the Emma Ford Bookplate Collection.
Foreign Trade Bindings Books
The Foreign Trade Bindings Books Collection consists of books published in countries other than the United States circa mid-19th century through 1940 which have highly decorated, illustrated cloth bindings.

Arthur Ransome collection
The Arthur Ransome Collections consists of books written by Mr. Ransome, the noted British children’s author, and books that formed part of his personal library.
Dwight Strong Collection of George Bernard Shaw
The collection includes first editions and manuscripts including correspondence, personal and professional, by and about George Bernard Shaw.
Dwight Strong Collection of George Bernard Shaw exhibit
Online exhibit featuring select items from the collection.
Fairfax Proudfit Walkup Theatre Collection
The Dr. Fairfax Proudfit Walkup Theater Collection includes books, pamphlets, periodicals, scrapbooks, fashion illustrated plates, dolls, manuscripts, and ephemera pertaining to theater costumes and set design and the professional career of educator, designer, and playwright Fairfax Proudfit Walkup. Includes some materials relating to her work at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Frederick Faust Collection
The Frederick Faust Collection consists of published pulp novels by the author best known by the pen name of “Max Brand". The author lived from 1892-1944.
James Boyer May (Amsberry-May) Papers
The collection contains personal and business correspondence, poems, stories, articles by James Boyer May (1904-1981), Trace typescript issues, Trace, publisher's information and broadsides.
Lester W. McLennan Collection of Sitwelliana
The McLennan Collection of Sitwelliana includes the works of and about Sir Osbert Sitwell and his brother, Sacheverell Sitwell. Sir Osbert Sitwell was a distinguished English poet and novelist. His brother, Sacheverell Sitwell,was also a poet and an art critic. They were the brothers of Dame Edith Sitwell and were members of a family of British eccentrics and intellectuals.
Philip MacDonald Collection
The Philip McDonald Collection consists of 61 volumes and 3 boxes pertaining to the career of British Author Philip McDonald who wrote mysteries in the "thriller" sub-genre.
Romance Fiction Collection
The collection consists of romance novels from the mid-20th century to date published by American and British publishing companies. The ephemera boxes primarily contain publishers' advertising copy, guides to the writing and marketing of romance novels and announcements pertaining to romance genre fan organizations and meetings

Rare Book Collection Inventory
The Rare Book Collection consists of books, pamphlets, periodicals and manuscripts from the 15th to 20th century. The majority of materials in the Rare Book Collection are in English but there are materials in other languages such as Latin, French and Spanish. There is a wide range of topics represented and the materials were published in many different countries. Biography, travel, history and military history, including naval history, are some of the subjects included in this collection.

Rare & Unusual Books, Pamphlets & Manuscripts of the 15th-20th Centuries Collection | Browse the collectin
Browse cataloged rare books in OneSearch. The inventory contains the complete list of books, including titles not cataloged in OneSearch.

The Science Fiction Collection
Article about the founding of the Willis McNelly Science Fiction collection at CSU, Fullerton published "Very Special Collections: Essays on Library Holdings at California State University, Fullerton" in 1992.

Willis McNelly interviews on California Revealed
Small collection of interviews by Dr. Willis McNelly. Authors include Poul Anderson,Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Frank Herbert, and Philip K. Dick.
Avram Davidson papers
Includes typescripts of short stories and novels, working drafts, correspondence, and the periodicals in which they were published as well as published novels and anthologies.
Frank Herbert's Dune: a guide for further study
Frank Herbert papers
The collection includes original manuscripts, working papers, correspondence, first editions, critical studies and ephemera pertaining to Frank Herbert's life and the works included in the collection.
Frederick and Patricia Shroyer Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror collection
The Frederick and Patricia Shroyer Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Book Collection consists of late 19th to 20th century genre fiction, 1890 to 1950, and thirty-one periodical titles from 1897 to 1909.
Philip K. Dick papers
The Philip K. Dick papers include original manuscripts, working papers, correspondence, first editions, critical studies, and ephemera pertaining to Philip K. Dick's life and the works included in the collection.
Ray Bradbury papers
The Ray Bradbury papers contains original manuscripts of The Fireman, Fahrenheit 451, short stories, and first editions donated and signed by Ray Bradbury. Autgraphed play program of CSUF Theater Dept. production of the Dandelion Wine musical, 1971.
Science Fiction Fanzine Sample Collection
The Science Fiction Fanzine Sample collection is comprised of 82 titles, and a total of 116 individual fanzine issues. Although related to Science Fiction Periodicals, fanzines were developed by fans of Science Fiction (along with other genres and topics). Sometimes a zine brought a small group of fans together, other times it was a source of cultural exchange for the masses. But zines all have one common element: the celebration and exploration of science fiction and other genres.
Science Fiction Periodical Sample collection
The Science Fiction Periodical Sample collection is comprised of 90 titles (132 individual issues). The date range for these titles ranges from 1927 to 1999.
Science fiction periodicals and pulp magazines
Science Fiction Writers of America Depository Collection
The Science Fiction Writers of America Depository Collection consists of hardcover and paperback editions of science fiction literature published by the authors who are members of the SFWA professional association.
Star Trek collection
Collection of mixed materials from various donors that includes scripts and production documents from the original television series (1964-1969), fan magazines (fanzines), and assorted collectibles and memorabilia from the television series' and motion pictures.

The Willis E. McNelly SF Manuscripts collection includes materials from authors Eric Temple Bell, Avram Davidson, Charles De Vet, Vincent Gaddis, David Gerrold, Harry Harrison, Alice Hoff, Larry Maddock, Barry Malzberg, John Morressy, Joe Poyer, Dr. Robert Richardson, Ross Rocklynne, Fred T. Saberhagen, Norman Spinrad, Leon T. Stover, Boyd Upchurch, Sydney Van Scyoc, Robert Moore Williams, and Willis E. McNelly.

Please contact the archives for more information on these collections.

World History

Captain P. Markham Kerridge Angling collection
The Capt. P. Markham Kerridge Angling collection was founded at California State University, Fullerton with a large donation from Captain Kerridge on March 11, 1969. Freshwater angling is the basic focus of the collection, but related and overlapping subject areas include: ichthyology, fly tying, entomology, recreation, travel, conservation, ecology, and stream management. Items acquired in the last decade are cataloged on the library's on-line catalog.
History of Photography collection
The History of Photography Sample Collection contains pamphlets about the techniques of photography, some photographic equipment and many samples of historic photographs and the different techniques in photography from the 19th-20th centuries.
J.D. Behrens East Asian collection
The J.D. Behrens East Asian Collection was donated on December 15, 1965 by retired missionary Jerry Behrens who was age 82 at the time of the donation. Mr. Behrens was a missionary in China. The collection consists of artifacts and costumes from China.
Major-General R.L. Eichelberger papers
The Major-General R.L. Eichelberger Papers are a Xerox copy of a collection of documents and papers about Russo-Japanese relations in Siberia in 1918/1919, reported from the United States position.
Roy V. Boswell Collection for the History of Cartography
The Collection for the History of Cartography was founded in 1971 by Roy V. Boswell and Ernest W. Toy, Jr., to provide a resource for scholarship and education in the history of cartography. The collection contains 1532 maps and 3089 volumes of books, pamphlets and periodicals. The maps range in date from 1285 to 1900. The books, pamphlets and periodicals form a reference collection for the study of cartography, geography, exploration and navigation from ancient times to 1900.

Roy V. Boswell Collection for the History of Cartography
List of maps.

War Memorabilia Collection
The War Memorabilia Collection provides a wide scope of the major wars that involved the United States Military up to World War II. Included are records pertaining to the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), Civil War (1861-1865), Spanish-American War (1898), Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), World War I (1914-1918), and World War II (1941-1945). Particularly significant items include World War II 16 mm newsreels films for selling U.S. war bonds; 15 World War II scrapbooks of newspaper clippings; Don C. Eckels' World War I memorabilia pertaining to American Expeditionary Forces servicemen in France from 1918-1919; the Durkee and Blackdon family letters covering military and personal family matters from 1771-1802 and 1862-1893, which were donated by Miss Florence Durkee of Brea, California in 1973.

University Archives & Special Collections

World History

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