Buttons from the Brett Shingledecker GLBT Collection
Mounted Don Quixote Led by Armed Sancho Panza; uncut ration coupons
Book of Hours Manuscript Fragment
Issues of Doris by Cindy Crabb
Brett Shingledecker Papers and GLBT Collection
The Rare Books & Manuscripts Library's (RBML) Brett Shingledecker Papers documents Shingledecker’s work as the cofounder of People Like Us, Chicago’s first exclusively gay and lesbian bookstore, as well as his activism during the 1980s and 1990s. Materials include correspondence, zines, publications, flyers, buttons, t-shirts and other materials. The collection also comprises more than 800 cataloged books and magazines. Click the link above to explore the archival collection's finding aid. Published materials may be found in the Library catalog by searching for "Brett Shingledecker Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Collection."
Talfourd P. Linn Cervantes Collection
RBML holds the Talfourd P. Linn Cervantes Collection, one of North America’s most significant collections of works by Miguel Cervantes, ranging from a 1605 printing of Don Quixote and other 17th-century editions of his works through modern editions, adaptations, and translations from around the world. RBML actively acquires any editions not already owned, and also seeks out materials revealing how Cervantes and his works have been adapted and repackaged for new purposes and audiences (such as advertising ephemera, the performing arts and select examples of merchandising and realia). Click the link above to explore the collection's holdings in the Library catalog. To see items from this collection that have been digitized, visit the Library's Digital Collections.
Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts
RBML holds one of the largest collections of manuscript fragments in North America, as well as a substantial collection of codices and diplomatics. RBML collects across national, genre, and linguistic boundaries in this area, with particular emphasis on items that contribute to active international fragmentology reconstruction programs; manuscripts of pastoral care; and fragments and codices offering useful and compelling opportunities for classroom teaching and outreach (odd or unique formats and layouts, evidence of direct reader interaction with texts, vernacular texts, and unusual scribal and codicological features). To see items from this collection that have been digitized, please visit the Library's Digital Collections.
RBML Zine Collections
RBML actively collects zines—self-published, inexpensively made, small circulation publications. Particular strengths include 1970s-1980s punk zines; LGBTQ zines from the 1980s-present; personal zines; Riot Grrrl zines; and COVID-19 and quarantine zines. We are especially interested in acquiring works by central Ohio zine makers. Click the link above to explore zine collections in the Special Collections Registry. Additional holdings may be found in the Library catalog.