Research in Library and Information Science in India: Special Collection LIbraries World Over

Boston University. Boston University's library is the depository for Harold Gray's original art for "Little Orphan Annie." This collection focuses on the papers of mystery and science fiction writers, and film, radio, and television writers, performers, etc. The collections built around papers of individuals are supplemented by their printed works. CONTACT: Director, Special Collections, Mugar Memorial Library, Boston University, 771 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, Massachusstts 02215. 617/353-3696. (To index)
Bowling Green State University. The Popular Culture Library is the flagship collection of the popular culture studies world, with amazing accumulations in every imaginable category. This library holds over 36,000 comic books of all descriptions, and extensive comics-related miscellany including Big Little Books, fanzines, pulps and trading cards. A large Ray Bradbury collection includes rare material connected to comic book adaptations of his works. The holdings (beside comics) are 75 percent cataloged on OCLC and visible. The comics are well organized within the library and can be found using internal finding aids (notebooks). CONTACT: Librarian. Popular Culture Library, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403. 419/372-2450. CLICK FOR A VISIT (To index)
Brown University. Michael J. Ciaraldi Collection. Brown University has received the first installment of a projected multi-year gift of comic books, graphic novels, and other materials related to comic art in popular culture. The Collection was amassed by Michael J. Ciaraldi, an independent computer consultant and comic art enthusiast, from the 1970s to the present.
The first year's installment includes 2,225 titles in 6,388 issues. It includes extensive runs of the major "superhero" comics of the period, and is particularly noteworthy for the many titles published by the small and independent comic producers who flourished in the 1980s. There are nearly 300 graphic novels present in the collection to date, including works such as the graphic novel edition of Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat. The history of comic art is evident in the many reissues and collector's editions of classic "golden age" comics such as the first issue of Action Comics (June 1938) in which the character of Superman was introduced, and in the compilations of newspaper strips such as Prince Valiant and Terry and the Pirates.
The Collection also includes work by influential "alternative" comic artists of the 1960s and 1970s such as R. Crumb and Art Spiegelman, author of Maus, and the comics and comic magazines influenced by the popularity of the French Métal Hurlant adult science fiction comics, which trace their inspiration to the French student revolts of the 1960s. It also includes many English translations of the Japanese "manga" and the "anime" comics, with their roots in Japanese animated films. There are, in addition, collections of British satirical graphic magazines, fan and collectors' journals, advertising ephemera, periodicals on animated film and film-to-comic "crossovers," adult erotica, role-playing fantasy game materials, Walt Disney characters, and much more.
When the entire Michael J. Ciaraldi Collection, estimated to contain 60,000 items, is transferred to Brown University Library over the next few years, it will constitute one of the largest collections of comics and comic art in an American library. The Collection will join and complement the Wayne D. Poulin collection of comics (10,000 issues), donated by Brown University Professor Barton St. Armand, and the extensive comic and graphic art holdings of the Miller Collection of Wit and Humor at Brown University Library. In addition, the Collection includes materials that complement the H. Adrian Smith Collection of Conjuring and Magicana, the H.P. Lovecraft Collection, the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays, and even the McLellan Lincoln Collection.
The Ciaraldi Collection has been sorted and inventoried, and manual records for all titles and issues are available. The Collection is housed at the John Hay Library, Brown University, and may be consulted by all researchers during ordinary business hours. CONTACT: Curator of the Harris Collection, The John Hay Library, Box A, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912. 401/863-1514. (To index)
California State University, Fullerton. California State University at Fullerton holds about 2,000 comic books, including some underground comics, which are part of a larger collection including science fiction manuscripts, Star Trek scripts, and a circulating collection of most kinds of popular fiction. CONTACT: Archivist, Archive of Popular Culture, California State University Library, Box 4150, Fullerton, California 92634. 714/773-3444. (To index)
Cartoon Art Museum. The Cartoon Art Museum holds a broad collection of original daily and Sunday comic strip art, editorial and political cartoons, animation cels, magazine panels, comic book pages and covers, and cartoon-related toys. The museum holds periodic programs and exhibits. Membership is open to the public. (8/00) CONTACT: Administrator, Cartoon Art Museum, 814 Mission Street., Suite 200, San Francisco, California 94103. Phone: 415/227-8666. Fax: 415/243-8666. Curator's e-mail: Funnies@sirius.com. Website: www.cartoonart.org (To index)
Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée The Belgian Center for Comic Strip Art is both a library and a museum, with regular exhibits, many thousands of graphic albums and over 3,000 original drawings by European comic artists. The center is a non-profit institution founded in 1989, and is not connected to any (other) academic institution. CONTACT: Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée, Rue des Sables, 20, Brussels 1000 Belgium. 02/219.19.80. (To index)
CNBDI - Musée de la Bande Dessinée. The Museum of Comics is located in the "National Center for Comic Art and the Image" (Centre national de la Bande Dessinée et de l'Image - CNBDI). Founded in 1991, the museum owns about 7,000 original pages. A regularly changed selection of 350 of them is on show in the exhibition hall. The Museum of Comics documents the history of French comics from 1830 to the present, and has a whole section devoted to American comics. All the best Franco-Belgian comic artists are represented in our collections (Caran d'Ache, Bretécher, Calvo, Forest, Fred, Giffey, Gotlib, Hergé, Pellos, Pinchon, Rabier, Saint-Ogan, Tardi, Uderzo, and many others ...), as well as the main American masters of the ninth art (Capp, Eisner, Foster, Herriman, Kelly, Kurtzman, McCay, Raymond, Schulz, Soglow, Sterrett...), and others from countries all over the world. Every year, several exhibitions are mounted in the museum. Some are devoted to a particular author (Saint-Ogan, Juillard, Breccia, Herriman and Crumb, to name just a few, have been the subject of retrospectives), others explore a theme ("Angels and Demons", "Comics and Storyboard", "The Nine Lives of the Cat"). These exhibitions are movable, and subsequently travel throughout Europe and sometimes further afield. The Library houses the first specialized comics collection in France. In a 300 sq. m. hall, with a corner reserved for children, the public has access to 15,000 albums and a selection of international magazines. Videos about important authors and the history of comic books can be viewed. The Fonds Patrimonial (Heritage Trust) is a unique collection of over 2,000 different periodicals and thousands of albums offering a panorama of the illustrated press from 1840 to the present. This collection regularly receives new releases owing to a trust convention signed in 1984 by the CNBDI, the Library of Angoulême and the National Library of France. The Museum publishes "9e Art," a magazine which reflects on the aesthetics and history of comics; the "Répertoire professionel de la bande dessinée francophone" (an index of all those involved in French language comics); exhibitions in the form of sets of posters; catalogues; and the "Bibliothèque du 9e Art," which is a collection devoted to republishing chef-d'oeuvres of French comics no longer in circulation. (5/04) CONTACT: Gaby Scaon, Director and Curator of the Museum, CNBDI, 121 rue de Bordeaux, 16000 Angoulême, France. Telephone: (33-0) 5 45 38 65 65. Fax: (33-0) 5 45 38 65 66. E-mail: musee@cnbdi.fr
Click here for a web visit
(To index)
College de Sherbrooke. The College de Sherbrooke collects American comic strips and comic books, but mostly European and Canadian publications in French. One of the best collections of European comics in North America (more than 5,000 items). A course on comic art and narrative has been given since 1970. CONTACT: Richard Langlois, Information Center on Comics, College de Sherbrooke, 475 Parc St., Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada J1H 5M7. (To index)
Comic Research Library. The Comic Research Library is a private collection of newspaper strips and related items, with over 200,000 daily strips of over 250 titles from the 1920s through the 1950s, sorted and organized by title for easy use. Numerous Sunday pages are filed chronologically. Over 400 books of the Big Little Book and Cupples and Leon type, and over 1,000 comic books from the 1930s through the 1950s are collected because they reprint newspaper strips, and to sample various comic book genres. Several hundred reference books and periodicals about comics are include, with minor sections on animation, magazine and editorial cartoons, and comics from around the world. Reference questions are handled through the mail. The curator is a library school graduate. CONTACT: Doug Kendig, Curator, Comic Research Library, Tappen, British Columbia, Canada V0E 2X0. 604/835-8529. (To index)
Fairleigh Dickinson University. Fairleigh Dickinson University's library holds 4,000 pieces of original comics art, with 1,245 volumes of supporting matrial, and some comic books. The late Harry "A" Chesler donated a large portion of the art collection, and for several years worked on the collection at the library a couple of days each week, guiding visitors and answering questions. Chesler ran one of the art studios that created comic book stories on contract for various publishers during the Golden Age of comic books. An exhibition catalog is available for $5.50, and a list of the artists represented in the original art collection is available free. An old but still useful list of the supporting books is available from Comic Art Collection, MSU Libraries, East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1048, or on ERIC fiche ED 207 572. The status of some of the information above is in question because this COLLECTION WAS DISCONTINUED AND GIVEN TO THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS in 2001. (5/02) CONTACT: Curator, Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540-4731. (To index)
Indiana University. The Lilly Library at Indiana University has an "extensive" Marvel comics collection, and "much" Brenda Starr original art by Dale Messick. The collections include science fiction, fantasy, detective fiction, and filmscripts. This library has not been on the "popular culture studies" track and prefers to emphasize a "folklore" orientation which includes important fairy tale collections CONTACT: Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405. 812/335-2452. (To index)
International Museum of Cartoon Art. The International Museum of Cartoon Art (formerly the Museum of Cartoon Art in Rye Brook, New York) has 60,000 pieces of original newspaper comics and cartoon art, with extensive collections of the works of Hal Foster, Walt Kelly, Gene Byrnes, Tad Dorgan, and Chester Gould. The collection also includes about 800 animated cartoons and a strong Disney collection. Samples are maintained of Big Little Books, foreign comics, fanzines, cartoon-related games, posters, pulps, and underground comix. Special exhibits are changed quarterly, with celebrity guest lectures. (3/09) NOTE: This museum has been closed and the materials are going to Ohio State University. (To index)
Iowa State University. Iowa State University's library has the best underground and new wave comix collection in a research library anywhere, still growing with over 3,000 of them already acquired. The collection also includes 84 E.C. comic books, which is also probably the best research library collection of E.C.'s, and some science fiction. CONTACT: Department of Special Collections, The Parks Library, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011. 515/294-6672. (To index)
Kent State University. Kent State University's library has a collection of 125 comic books, some of them Golden Age and some of them in the Spanish language. The collections holds original art by Chuck Ayers, Rog Bollen, and Tom Wilson. The Saalfield "Big Little Book"-style books are in the collection, which also includes Raymond Chandler, Stephen R. Donaldson, movie and television material, and the Saalfield Publishing Company archives. CONTACT: Kent State University. Library, Special Collections and Archives. Kent, OH, 44242. 216/672-2270. CLICK FOR A VISIT (To index)
Library of Congress. The Library of Congress has a comic book collection of over 100,000 items, and keeps them alphabetically arranged in covered, acid-free archive boxes. Although the collection in theory should be complete because of copyright depository, for many years comic books seem to have disappeared regularly. In addition, until the 1970s the comics were not well protected from light. Consequently, the older collections are brittle and incomplete. The Library of Congress has cataloged its comic books on OCLC and in its online catalog. A printed list of the LC collection as it was when there were about 45,000 comic books in it is available from Comic Art Collection, MSU Libraries, East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1048. Here is a link to the Library of Congress's own description of its comic book collection CONTACT: Head, Periodical Section, Serial and Government Publications, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20015. Phone: 202/707-5467. The Prints & Photographs Divsion has over 800 examples of original comic strip drawings, some original art for comic books, and original drawings for editorial cartoons from Thomas Nast to Patrick Oliphant, over 7,000 examples, and 10,000 British satirical prints dating from 1655 to 1832. CONTACT: Curator, Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540-4731. The Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon operates within the Library of Congress, providing fellowships to graduate students studying caricature and cartoons in any field. Application guidelines and applications are online from the Caroline and Erwin Swann Foundation Home Page CONTACT: Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon, Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E., Washington, DC 20540-4730. e-mail: swann@loc.gov (To index)
Lock Haven University. The Stevenson Library at Lock Haven University holds a collection of about 700 comic books dated 1967-1972. CONTACT: University Archivist, Archives and Records Centre, Stevenson Library Building, Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania 17745. 717/893-2371. (To index)
Maison d'Ailleurs. The Maison d'Ailleurs (The House of Elsewhere) is a museum of science fiction, utopia and extraordinary journeys that includes science fiction comics in its holdings of some 35,000 volumes of science fiction in 34 languages. This is the definitive collection of French language science fiction and related materials. (8/00) CONTACT: Maison d'Ailleurs. Case postale, CH-1400 Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, ph: +41 24.425.64.38, fax: +41 24.425.65.75, www.ailleurs.ch (To index)
Michigan State University. The Michigan State University Library's comics collection includes over 100,000 comic books, including 20,000 European and other foreign comic books, and 3,000 additional Golden Age U.S. comic books on microfilm and microfiche. The collection includes nearly 10,000 books, magazines and fanzines about comics, and tries to collect every reprint volume and book about comics. The collection holds 550 scrapbooks of daily newspaper strips representing 100 titles from the 1920s to the 1970s, and over 100,000 daily strips sorted by topic. Strong sample collections of Big Little Books, fotonovelas, and tie-in books are maintained. Books about animation, cartooning, and about Walt Disney Productions are included. A large vertical file holds clippings and miscellanea about most topics, persons and institutions in the comics field, and also the Eclipse Comics deadfiles. The library holds the account books of writer Gaylord Du Bois. The Comic Art Collection is part of a larger popular culture collection, the Russel B. Nye Popular Culture Collection, which includes popular fiction of every kind. The related American Radicalism Collection will be of interest to researchers looking for alternative viewpoints and, by policy, materials that fit both the comics and the radicalism categories are especially prized. Organized comics fandom has been important in the growth of this collection through extensive donations and publicity. Brochures and a quarterly newsletter are available. CONTACT: Comic Art Collection, Michigan State University Libraries, East Lansing, MI 48824-1048. 517/355-3770. CLICK FOR MORE COMPLETE DESCRIPTION (To index)
National Archives of Canada. The National Archives of Canada holds 22,000 pieces of original cartoon artwork, primarly 20th century Canadian editorial cartoons but including 1,300 pieces for comics published by Bell Features during World War II when, due to Canada's War Exchange Conservation Act, Canadians were forbidden to import comic books from the United States; 200 pieces from the Canadian comic book Fuddle-Duddle produced in 1970-1971; 700 pieces for the "Captain Starship" strip by A. Raeside, 1979-1982; plus 200 Bell Features published comic books and related documentation. The collection includes an extensive reference library relating to Canadian cartooning. Over 20,000 of the original editorial cartoons are available on an on-line optical disc system. CONTACT: Chief, Art Acquisition and Research, Documentary Art and Photography Division, National Archives of Canada, 395 Wellington St., Ottawa, Ontario K1A ON3. 613/996-7766. (To index)
National Library of Australia. The National Library of Australia holds an extensive collection of comic books assembled by the late comics historian John Ryan. Besides writing his history of Australian comics Panel by Panel (Stanmore, N.S.W.: Cassell Australia, 1979. 223 p.). Ryan was active by correspondence in U.S. comics fandom and the acquisition of his collection by the National Library of Australia was an occasion for celebration among fans and scholars in both countries. The Ryan collection is the only major collection of Australian comics in the public domain. An inventory of the collection, MS6514, 81 pages, can be purchased as a photocopy from the Manuscripts Librarian. CONTACT: Manuscripts Librarian, National Library of Australia, Canberra, ACT 2660 Australia. (To index)
New York Public Library. The New York Public Library's Rare Book and Manuscript Division holds 25 archive boxes of comic books, plus a sampling of educational and foreign-language comics. Click here for a visit to the New York Public Library's comics research web page. CONTACT: Librarian, Rare Book and Manuscript Division, New York Public Library, Fifth Ave. and 42nd Street, New York, New York 10018. 212/930-0801. (To index)
Northwestern University. The Northwestern University Library holds 14,500 comic books and about 100 Big Little Books, plus some fanzines. Several thousand science fiction paperbacks and magazines are also present. The collection is not being actively enhanced. CONTACT: Northwestern University Library, Special Collections Department, 1937 Sheridan Rd., Evanston, IL 60208-2300. 708/491-3635. (To index)
Ohio Historical Society. The Ohio Historical Society holds two oversize scrapbooks containing "King of the Royal Mounted" comic strip pages proofs in its Zane Grey materials. CONTACT: Archivist, Ohio Historical Society, Archives-Library Division, Interstate 71 and 17th Ave., Columbus, Ohio 43211. 614/466-1500. (To index)
Ohio State University. The Ohio State University's Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum holds extensive original editorial cartoon and comic strip art by by several hundred artists. In various formats (original art, syndicate proofs, clippings and reprint books), the collection includes several million comic strips. The addition of the the holdings of the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art gives this library the most complete holdings of newspaper comics anywhere.
Archives of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, the Newspaper Features Council, and National Cartoonists Society are on file. The collection includes several thousand comic books, and books on cartoon art. Cataloging is on OCLC, and materials do not circulate. The collection also includes movie posters and stills, and archives of photographers. OSU sponsors a Triennial Festival of Cartoon art. The journal INKS: Cartoon and Comic Art Studies (1994-1997) was edited by the librarian in charge of this collection. Click for Inks contents information, or to visit the Cartoon Library & Museum website. (updated 10/09) CONTACT: Lucy S. Caswell, Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, 27 West 17th Ave. Mall, 023L Wexner, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1393. Phone: 614/292-0538. Fax: 614/292-9101. E-mail: cartoons@osu.edu (To index)
Oldenburg University. Oldenburg University Library has about 4,500 British comic papers from the 1880s through the 1930s, mainly those issued by the Harmsworth Brothers (later Amalgamated Press). These are stored in the rare books division of the library, and available to all bona fide researchers. This collection was the basis for the exhibit cataloged in Kevin Carpenter's Penny Dreadfuls and Comics (London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983). CONTACT: Oldenburg University Library, Uhlhornsweg, 2900 Oldenburg, Germany. (To index)
San Francisco Academy of Comic Art. For decades, most projects to research and reprint comic strips either began or ended at the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art. The Academy was founded in 1967, and the Director, Bill Blackbeard, was instrumental in producing hundreds of books based on the materials collected there. Mr. Blackbeard has retired, and the Academy's library of 4.5 million comic strips and several thousand comic books was moved to Columbus, Ohio, to become part of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University. (updated 10/09) (To index)
Smithsonian Institution Libraries. The Smithsonian Institution has lent its name to two important reprint books, one of comic strips and one of comic books. This has brought many people to conclude that the Smithsonian must have some kind of amazing comics collection, which just isn't true. The Smithsonian does have a few important specialized collections, however. The Archives Center of the National Museum of American History owns 28 bound volumes of "Winnie Winkle" strips by Martin Branner. The "Winnie Winkle" volumes cover 37 complete years of dailies and Sundays, 1920, 1922 through 1945, and 1950 through 1961. An Ed Dodd (Mark Trail) collection includes abstracts of eleven "Outdoors with Ed Dodd" radio programs. The Mrs. Curtis B. Patterson comic book collection dates 1901 through 1917, and includes three "Foxy Grandpa," one "Pore Lil Mose," one "Gumps," and 9 "Buster Brown" reprint books. A small collection of Superman art, scripts and promotional material was donated by DC Comics in 1987. Two loose-leaf volumes of William Moulton Marston's letters and papers, and 13 bound volumes of comic books featuring "Wonder Woman," dated 1941-1948, are part of the Special Collections of the Museum. CONTACT: Chief, Special Collections, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Washington, DC 20560. 202/357-1568. (To index)
Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville has 1,500 comic books, which it has cataloged on OCLC. CONTACT: Rare Book Librarian, Lovejoy Library, SIU, Edwardsville, Illinois 62026. 618/692-2665. (To index)
State Historical Society of Wisconsin. The Mass Communications History Center of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin has August Derleth's comics collection, which includes dozens of bound volumes of daily and Sunday comic strips. The collection holds original art by Frank King, George McManus, H.T. Webster, Carl Anderson, William Donahey, and Gene Ahern. Kitchen Sink Press publications are collected on a standing order. The collection also includes 800 Warner Bros. films and 2,000 Ziv television films. (11/00) CONTACT: Mass Communications History Center, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 816 State St., Madison, Wisconsin 53706. 608/264-6598. (To index)
Syracuse University. The George Arents Research Library at Syracuse University has Harold Foster's personal scrapbooks and correspondence, with printers' proofs of "Prince Valiant" art. Several pieces of R.F. Outcault's original "Yellow Kid" art are held. The collection also includes science fiction, fantasy, fanzines, horror, mystery, series books, westerns, radio scripts, and the Street & Smith archives including the Street & Smith comic books. CONTACT: George Arents Research Library, 600 Bird Library, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244-2010. 315/423-2585. (To index)
University of California, Los Angeles. The UCLA Library reports an "extensive" comic book collection, and a collection of first issues of comic books (as well as other popular magazines). It is more difficult than normal to get a clear idea of what they have, and in 1988 a request for information was returned with the suggestion that a graduate student from their library school be hired to find out what they have. The collection also includes some science fiction, television, radio and movie materials. (12/04) CONTACT: Special Collections, UCLA University Library, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024. 213/825-4988. (To index)
University of California, Riverside. The University of California at Riverside has the amazing Eaton Collection of science fiction, with over 100,000 items in all media. As a sideline that is rapidly growing, they have around sixty thousand comic books, of which 1,200 are in French. The comics collection is being cataloged in OCLC. (updated 2/98) CONTACT: Eaton Collection, Dept of Special Collections, Tomas Rivera Library, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521. 909/787-3233. (To index)
University of Chicago. The University of Chicago has 45 boxes of comic books, with an internal finding aid but no formal cataloging. CONTACT: Curator of Special Collections, Joseph Regenstein Library, 1100 E. 57th St., Chicago, Illinois 60637. 312/702-8705. (To index)
University of Connecticut. The University of Connecticut Library's Alternative Press Collection includes about 150 underground comix. CONTACT: Alternative Press Collection, Special Collections, Homer Babbidge Library, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06268. 203/486-2524. (To index)
University of Iowa. The University of Iowa has a collection of original art for 6,000 various cartoons. The collection also includes film and television scripts, dime novels, series books, and Iowa authors including Janet Dailey. CONTACT: Special Collections Department, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa 52242. 319/353-4854. (To index)
University of Kansas. The Special Collections Department at the Spencer Research Library has about 500 Big Little Books, and extensive science fiction and fanzines. CONTACT: Spencer Librarian, Department of Special Collections, Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045. 913/864-4334. (To index)
University of Kansas. The Kansas Collection at the Spencer Research Library has original art by Albert T. Reid and 600 other cartoonists.(8/96) CONTACT: Curator, Kansas Collection, Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045. 913/864-4274. (To index)
University of Kent at Canterbury. The Cartoon Study Centre is an indexed archive of British twentieth-century original cartoon drawings (72,000 of them) and related material. Holdings include Vicky, Low, Strube, Steadman, Jensen, Dyson, Kal, Cummings, Emmwood, Garland, and Haselden. Serious researchers are welcome with advance appointments. Research, access and reproduction fees are charged. CONTACT: Centre for the Study of Cartoons and Caricature, The Library, University of Kent at Canterbury, CT2 7NU England. 0227/764-0000. (To index)
University of Kentucky. The Special Collections department at the University of Kentucky library holds "some" comics and fanzines, and also 1,000 volumes of science fiction. CONTACT: Special Collections, Margaret I. King Library, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506. 606/257-8611. (To index)
University of Louisville Library. The Edgar Rice Burroughs collection at the University of Louisville holds ERB-related comics among its 60,000 items. CONTACT: University of Louisville Library. Rare Books and Special Collections, Louisville, KY 40292. 502/588-6762. (To index)
University of Maryland Baltimore County. The University of Maryland Baltimore County, has about 1,000 comic books, including some Air Fighters and extensive underground comix. The collection also includes a Kelly Freas art collection, 10,000 sf fanzines dating back as far as the 1930s, and about 10,000 items in a science fiction collection. CONTACT: Special Collections Librarian, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Catonsville, Maryland 21228. 301/455-2353. (To index)
University of Minnesota. The University of Minnesota's Children's Literature Research Collections hold some 1,200 comic books and 500 Big Little Books. Children's literature collections do not normally include comics material, and including them here was a far-sighted move on somebody's part. CONTACT: Curator, Children's Literature Research Collections, 109 Walter Library, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455. 612/624-4576. (To index)
University of Missouri-Columbia. The University of Missouri at Columbia began a comic art collection as of 1989 with a donation of 300 underground comix and a complete set of the published comics reprint books by Andrews and McMeel. CONTACT: Special Collections Librarian, 402 Ellis Library, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri 65201-5149. (To index)
University of New Brunswick. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection at the University of New Brunswick includes science fiction comic books in its scope. The collection totals about 30,000 items, but comic books are not a major emphasis. CONTACT: Curator, Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection, Ward Chipman Library, Univesity of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 5050, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada E2L 4L5. 506/648-5700. (To index)
University of Oregon. The University of Oregon is the home of the Gardner Fox collection of comics, fanzines and fiction, also including Fox's letters and papers. The collection also has westerns, pulps and manuscripts of radio and television westerns. CONTACT: Curator of Special Collections, University of Oregon Library, Eugene, Oregon 97403. 503/686-3068. (To index)
University of Pittsburgh. The University of Pittsburgh's Archive of Popular Culture includes a collection of over 8,500 comic books, plus 600 comics fanzines, some original comic art, and a sampling of Big Little Books. This collection was for a time built and nurtured by the Pittsburgh Comix Club. The Archive also includes science fiction, a Mary Roberts Rinehart collection, pulps, detective fiction, and material on film, radio and television. CONTACT: Coordinator, Special Collections, 363 Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260. 412/624-4428. (To index)
University of Sydney. The University of Sydney holds a collection of more than 12,000 comic books, mostly from the United States. An index/catalog listing the comic book collections is available for A$6.00 (Dickinson, Pauline. Index to the Comics in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection, University of Sydney Library, 1984. 54 p.) The collection also includes science fiction (ca. 40,000 volumes), crime fiction, and fanzines. CONTACT: University of Sydney Library. Rare Books and Special Collections, Sydney, N.S.W. Australia 2006. 02/692-2992. (To index)
University of Tulsa. The University of Tulsa is the home of the E. Nelson Bridwell collection of about 1,000 comic books and some Bridwell papers, plus original Inferior Five and Secret Six art. This is not the complete Bridwell collection, but is a memorial and also the start of a good research collection. This library also holds an R.A. Lafferty manuscript collection and some science fiction. Click for a visit CONTACT: Department of Special Collections, McFarlin Library, University of Tulsa, 600 S. College Ave., Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104. 918/631-2496. (To index)
Victoria and Albert Museum. The National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum includes a "Krazy Kat Arkive" for contemporary popular imagery, which includes about 4,200 comic books, and the Rakoff Collection of Comics, which includes 17,000 items. Further description in Inks, Cartoon and Comic Art Studies, v. 3, no. 2, p. 32-36.
Recently acquired, as of July 2007:
- Rakoff Collection of Romance Comics: ca. 1,600 items (1940s & 1950s)
- Andy Roberts Memorial Collection of Minicomics and Fanzines: ca. 2,000 items (mainly 1980s-1990s, mainly British)
- David Claris Collection of Disney Comics: ca. 1,500 items (1930s to 2000), virtually a complete collection of Carl Barks strips
Furthermore, the Library has ca. 2,000 comics in the "Comics Collection," which is constantly updated (mainly US, France/Belgium & Italy) CONTACT: National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum, South Kensington, London SW72RL, United Kingdom. Phone: 171 938-8500. (To index)
Virginia Commonwealth University. The only comic research library in Virginia. 20,000+ comic books dating primarily from the 1960s-1990s. Extensive collection of comics reference journals and fanzines. Large runs of Mad Magazine and National Lampoon. Collections include the Dr. William E. Blake 1940s Era True Life Comics; M. Thomas Inge manuscript and reference collection; the papers and drawings of two Richmond political cartoonists; and the 124 item Billy De Beck library including his office door featuring an image of Barney Google and Spark Plug. SF includes the Dennis Danvers manuscript collection, 2000+ SF book collection, and a large runs of Issac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Analog and Amazing Science Fiction. The personal library of Richmond writer James Branch Cabell (1879-1959) noted for his fantasy work, Jurgen, are housed within the department. In addition, SCA houses a 3,000 piece Book Art collection, a large collection of Richmond history reference books, as well as an extensive collection of art and photography books. (5/04) CONTACT: Cindy Jackson, Comic Book Coordinator. Special Collections Department, James Branch Cabell Library, 901 Park Ave., Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284. 804/828-1108. (To index)
Walt Disney Archives. The Walt Disney Archives is a comprehensive Disney collection, including a complete set of United States and most foreign Disney comic books. The comics are not available to researchers for preservation reasons, but much material may be consulted by appointment. CONTACT: Archivist, Walt Disney Archives, 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, California 91521. 818/840-5424. (To index)
Washington State University. Washington State University's collection of 2,500 underground, new wave and self-published mini-comix, is called the Counter-Culture Comix collection. Librarian and comix artist Steve Willis was instrumental in setting up this collection when he worked at WSU. CONTACT: Curator, Modern Literary Collections, Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Library, Pullman, Washington 99164-5610. 509/335-5517. (To index)
Words & Pictures Museum. The Words & Pictures Museum in Northampton, Mass., closed its doors in 1999. (To index)
Det Kuloerte Bibliotek. All 300 to 400 Danish public libraries have comics collections, but Det Kuloerte Bibliotek (The Colored Library) maintains a collection of comics strictly for study purposes. This data thanks to F. Madsen. CONTACT: Librarian, Det Kuloerte Bibliotek, Krystalgade 15, Koebenhavn, Denmark. Phone: (45) 3393 6060. (To index)
British Library Newspaper Library. Collection covers British comics from 1874 to the present. CONTACT: Reading Rooms & Information Services Manager, The British Library Newspaper Library, Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HE UK Phone: (44) (0)20 7412 7393. (To index)
Northern Illinois University. The Founders Memorial Library at Northern Illinois University holds a collection of 125 comic book titles. The comic book collection is based around a large donation of a single collector. Much of the comic book collection dates from the 1970s, although there are earlier and later issues. The library does not hold a significant number of Golden Age or Silver Age comics. A portion of the collection is minimally processed, and there are gaps in runs of titles. The Library is currently working on a searchable database of holdings. In the meantime, the collection grows, chiefly through donations. Recent acquisitions include full runs of Strangers in Paradise and Cerebus in trade paperback format, and autographed copies of a short Scary Godmother run in single issues. The Library also has a small but growing cache of original comic art. (2/05) Contact: Curator, Rare Books and Special Collections, Founders Memorial Library 402A, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60115. Phone: (815) 753-0255. (To index)
University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center. The American Heritage Center is the University of Wyoming’s (UW) repository of manuscript and special collections, rare books, and the university archives. The AHC’s holdings are vast, but particular areas of strength include Wyoming and the American West, the mining and petroleum industries, U.S. journalism, conservation, aeronautics and aviation, and 20th-century entertainment such as music, radio, television and film. Internationally known for its historical collections, the AHC also sponsors a wide range of scholarly and popular programs, including lectures, concerts, symposia, exhibitions, and a large number of traveling exhibits. Access to the AHC is free and open to all.
Comic Book Industry. While several other repositories collect the comic books themselves, and a few collect the artwork of comic book artists, the AHC is alone in documenting the editors and writers of this industry increasingly recognized by scholars as having a significant impact on the nation’s popular culture. The goal of this collecting area is to document the business behind the final products, though inclusive of the creative writing process. Focus is on editors and writers thus artwork will not be solicited (it will be accepted, however, if a writer is also an artist). Currently the AHC’s holdings include the personal papers of industry professionals Stan Lee and Mort Weisinger, as well as the related collections of Forrest J. Ackerman and Robert Bloch. (8/08) Contact: American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, Dept. 3924, 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071 307/766-4114
Comic Bibliothek Renate. Founded in 1992 by a group of comic artists the library now has about 15,000 titles. Because of its intention to give access to many kinds of comics, and show their diversity and possibilities, the library is for researchers and journalists as well as for comics lovers and friends. Most of the titles can be borrowed for two weeks. The main collection is independent and single-author comics, but there are examples of nearly everything in comics. (2/09) Contact: Comic-Bibliothek "Renate", Tucholskystrasse 32, 10117 Berlin, Germany. Phone: 0049(0)30 97 00 58-15 Website: www.renatecomics.de
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Saturday, February 16, 2013

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