The manuscript collections at Special Collections include not just handwritten or typewritten documents, but also objects like games and printed materials like posters.

Search Archives & Manuscript Collections

Our manuscript collections are strong in the history of science, literature, higher education, politics, planning and development in the Baltimore region, and materials pertaining to Johns Hopkins University faculty. Most of our collections are personal archives of individuals who have a connection with the University, although we do have select records of organizations and businesses.

Featured Manuscripts

ezra pound the exile
Manuscripts

The Frary Collection of Ezra Pound

Ezra Pound (1885-1972) was an expatriate American poet, literary critic, highly influential figure in the development of Imagism, and a major contributor to the early modernist poetry movement at the turn of the century. This collection of materials, created by or relating to Pound from 1909 to 1986, were compiled by collector and Johns Hopkins alumnus Richard S. Frary.

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two renaissance nuns
Ephemera, Manuscripts, Rare Books

Women of the Book Collection

The Women of the Book collection contains more than 425 books, manuscripts, and other printed ephemera produced between 1460 and 1800. The collection centers on the lives of nuns and holy women in Europe and parts of South America and offers a rare look into the lives of early modern women. It includes details of their daily devotions, records of their entrances into convents and religious orders, mystical accounts of their encounters with saints and angels, and even public announcements of their symbolic marriages with Christ. Through their association with the church, these nuns were granted access to tools of the printed word that would enable them to preserve their histories.

View the collection on Internet Archive
Cover of sheet music titled Some Smoke
Manuscripts

Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection

The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music contains over 29,000 pieces of American popular music from the 19th and 20th centuries.

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Sheet of paper with handwriting
Manuscripts

John Barth Collection

The John Barth Collection, spanning the years from 1930 through 2014, includes a variety of materials such as correspondence, photographs, notebooks, and typescript drafts that document the life and writing process of the National Book Award winning author. Shown here are the manuscript title pages for the novel LETTERS, published in 1979.

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Illustration of a woman in a garden
Manuscripts

Les Fleurs Animées

We have a growing collection of games and pre-cinematic toys that serve to illuminate 19th and early 20th century material culture, such as Les Fleurs Animées (The Animated Flowers). This circa 1850 French paper doll game was inspired by the popularity of J.J. Grandville's caricature book of the same name in which the personalities of society women are associated with flowers. The hand-colored game includes its original box, twelve costumes, and moveable scenery.

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A grainy black and white portrait shows Elisabeth Gilman wearing a pince-nez and holding a chow chow
Manuscripts

Elisabeth Gilman Papers

Elisabeth Gilman was much more than just the daughter of founding Hopkins president Daniel Coit Gilman. Social justice advocate, Socialist Party gubernatorial candidate, world traveler, and YMCA wartime volunteer, her life was one of service to her strongly held beliefs. The Elisabeth Gilman papers document her remarkable life through photos, correspondence, diaries, speeches and more.

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Illustration of a neighborhood plan
Manuscripts

Roland Park Company Records

The Roland Park Company records document the corporate history of the Roland Park company, which developed the neighborhoods just north of Homewood campus, in the process inventing the modern garden suburb as we know it.

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Manuscripts

Political Cartoons

Curated by Jesse Chen, JHU Class of 2016

Since the proliferation of Benjamin Franklin’s infamous “Join or Die” drawing in the 1750s, the political cartoon has enjoyed a significant presence in American history and politics. Iconic historical events, figures, and debates have been chronicled through the lens of various cartoonists’ work, serving as a form of documentation, commentary, and in some cases, protest.

View the collection on Flickr

A list of our manuscripts collections is available for browsing. Please contact us if you have questions about the collections or are interested in viewing them.

Ephemera

In addition, we have a growing collection of ephemera such as scrapbooks, games, posters, and pre-cinematic toys, as well as journals, correspondence, and other documents showcasing the history and development of world’s fairs.