About
The Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections preserves and makes accessible rare materials and special research collections supporting teaching and research across a wide range of disciplines. Holdings now total over 150,000 rare and special collections volumes and over 50 archival collections. The books of the South Carolina College are the foundation of the collection, augmented by gifts and purchases from endowed funds over the past 30 years. Major collecting areas include philosophy, natural history and science, history, and literature, with particular strength in Scottish Literature, Robert Burns in particular; John Milton; nineteenth century American Literature; F. Scott Fitzgerald; Ernest Hemingway; Joseph Heller; the history of the Civil War and the Great War; Giuseppe Garibaldi; Charles Darwin; and Historical Astronomy.
