Notable Collections

The Penn Libraries holds over 25,000 Philadelphia imprints--books printed in Philadelphia.

The Libraries work with select local bookstores to collect items that were were written or published locally, that represent the books marketed/sold to specific local communities, or that reflect the interests of local cooperative centers with goals aligned with those of the University.

This collection documents the long cultural and institutional histories of the Academy of Music and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture collections include the Society's records, beginning with its 1785 founding, and its extensive library.

Spiritualism, the belief that it was possible for the spirits of the dead to communicate or interact by various means with the living, attracted many adherents in the United States since 1850.

The Short Title Catalogue project, now the English Short Title Catalogue, represents an attempt to gather and describe all English books from the beginning of printing in England.

Penn Libraries has developed its coverage of 20th century Spanish history and literature in recent (since the early 21st century) years.