The English Collection includes first and special editions of English literature, history and many other topics, from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Fifteenth-century books are held in the Incunabula Collection. Among the influential writers well represented are Milton, Spenser, Donne, Dryden, Pope, Defoe, Sterne, Johnson, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, the Brownings, Morris, Swinburne, Bridges, Austen, Dickens, Thackeray, the Brontes, Eliot, and many others. Further editions and supporting literature are held in the Alexander Turnbull Library General Collection.
More about the Turnbull Library’s Special Printed Collections
Access items in this collection
Items from the Collection can be used onsite in the research reading room on the first floor of the Library on weekdays. Items need to be ordered in advance for use on Saturday mornings.
A growing number of items in the collection are listed on the National Library Catalogue. For other access options, see the main Special Printed Collections page.
Borrow items in this collection
Original items from this collection cannot be borrowed.
Get copies from items in this collection
You can order digital photographs and microfilm copies of items in this collection.
Photocopies are possible under certain circumstances, depending upon the physical condition of the item. All photocopying requests are assessed on a case-by-case basis by the Curator, and are carried out by Special Printed Collections staff.
More about copyright and usage
Get help
We can answer your enquiries in person, by letter, phone or email.
