Nearly every semester, The Bancroft Library offers the course, “The Hand-Printed Book in Its Historical Context,” under the aegis of the Undergraduate and Interdisciplinary Studies Department as UGIS 140.

Open to both graduate and undergraduate students, the course emphasizes practical experience in the printing of the handmade book by presenting a historical perspective on the various technologies involved in producing printed books: type founding, paper making, binding, illustration, and the evolution of the printing press itself.

Under the instructor's guidance, students closely examine and discuss original printed books from Bancroft collections, ranging in date from the 15th century to the present. And as a group, these students hand-set and print a small publication on the library's cast iron presses: the Albion (ca. 1856) and the Reliance (ca. 1913).

Only a very limited number of copies of these editions are made. None of these exquisite volumes is available for purchase; they may only be viewed in the Heller Reading Room.

For a list of these hand-printed texts, please see The Bancroft Library Press Publications.
 

Depositing guidelines

The basic information for depositing material at the NRLF is listed below. Please consult your campus storage coordinator for more detailed information. You may also contact Deposit Services at NRLF. It is especially useful to do so if you have material that is unusually difficult to prepare.

Depositing libraries are considered the owners and managers of the materials they deposit in NRLF. For materials collaboratively purchased and designated as prospective Berkeley Libraries Collections, ownership is shared among all Berkeley campuses. Legal ownership of Berkeley material is retained by the Regents of the University of California. In order to assure appropriate use of the Facility, unless otherwise specified, it is expected that material deposited at NRLF be intended for permanent storage.

Material eligible and not eligible for deposit

Materials may be in any physical form normally considered appropriate for library collections with the following exceptions:

• Materials that duplicate items already in storage at a Berkeley Regional Library Facility are proscribed except where justified by an approved Berkeley Libraries collection management plan for selective systemwide retention of duplicate copies. Exceptions to the general policy may be made by the Board. Special Collections material is exempted from this policy. (Guidelines for RLF Duplication Screening)
• Materials in an advanced state of deterioration are not ordinarily accepted.
• Highly flammable or potentially explosive items (e.g., nitrate films) are prohibited, as are items infested by mold, insects, or other vermin.

Records

• Book and booklike material
  Each depositing library is responsible for providing a machine-readable bibliographic record for all book and booklike items deposited. The record standards and format must be compatible with the Berkeley Union catalog. Because the primary means of retrieving the material at NRLF is the facility inventory control number, the records must also be capable of accommodating that number. All Berkeley holdings at the Facility must be listed in the Berkeley Union Catalog. Inclusion of non-Berkeley materials in the Berkeley Union Catalog is a policy matter determined by the Berkeley Office of the President in consultation with the Shared Library Facilities Board. Contact NRLF for more information.
• Nonbook material
  Depositing libraries must provide a machine readable minimum storage record for nonbook material, the content of the record to be specified by the Board.

Requests to deposit

Requests to deposit material are reviewed on a regular basis by the NRLF Director and the Shared Library Facilities Board as set out in the Board's Procedures for Annual Management of Deposits to the Berkeley Regional Library Facilities. Acceptance of deposit requests for accessioning is based upon the ability of the requesting library to meet conditions outlined in the Regional Library Facilities Statement of Operating Principles, for example, condition, duplication, form, and bibliographic control.

Scheduling

Immediacy of need, availability of space, and facility operating requirements are considered when scheduling receipt of deposits. Procedures for submitting deposit requests, review, scheduling, and notification of requesting libraries of request disposition are available from NRLF.

Priorities

If the space required to shelve acceptable deposits exceeds the space available, the Board establishes the priority for acceptance of deposits.

Withdrawals (recalls and deaccessions)

Only Berkeley staff authorized by the owning library are permitted to withdraw Berkeley material from NRLF. A non-Berkeley depositor may permanently withdraw deposited items from NRLF, subject to any special agreements between the University and the depositor.

• Recalls (persistent items)
  A depositing library may recall its deposited items from NRLF for return to its local collections indefinitely, subject to the policy on Persistent Deposits in Berkeley Regional Library Facilities (2/20/06) and any other applicable Berkeley collection management policies. To submit a recall request, use the Recall Request Form.
• Deaccessions (Nonpersistent, special collection, and duplicate items) 
  A depositing library may deaccession its deposited items from NRLF for return to its local collections permanently. To submit a deaccession request, use the NRLF Deaccession Form.   

Conditions of use

The Bancroft Library welcomes researchers from the UC Berkeley campus, nationally, and from around the world. We are a non-circulating library, so all materials must be consulted in the Heller Reading Room. Bancroft materials are unique or rare, and some are in fragile condition. Researchers must handle all materials with care (here’s how), to avoid loss or damage, and by following these conditions of use, which are designed to protect Bancroft collections while providing the best possible access to our researchers. The Aeon online registration form constitutes an agreement by the researcher to comply with the Library's stated policies for use of its materials.

Bancroft Library researchers must be at least 18 years old, or have graduated from high school, or be accompanied by an adult. Current government, UC Berkeley, or other academic photo identification, and registration in Aeon are required to enter the Reading Room. The Bancroft Library is under camera surveillance. 

The registration desk will issue researchers a daily reader card during the sign-in process. Print your name on the card and present it to the circulation desk to obtain your requested material. The card will be checked at the registration desk each time you re-enter the Reading Room. At the end of the day, the registration desk will collect the card.

Paging ends 15 minutes before the Reading Room closes and all material must be returned to the circulation desk at closing time.

Bancroft staff are available to answer questions about our procedures and to otherwise assist researchers. For further information, please email bancref-library@berkeley.edu.

General rules

1. The Reading Room is reserved for the active use of Bancroft materials only. These materials are non-circulating (i.e. cannot be checked out).
2. Researchers may bring a cell phone, laptop, tablet, one notebook or one pad of paper (without loose sheets or pockets), and/or up to five sheets of loose paper. 
3. Personal belongings — including coats, bags, purses, and umbrellas — must be stored in Bancroft’s lockers which are operated by a refundable quarter. 
4. If you need to bring personal research materials (books/photographs/etc.) into the reading room, please request a personal property pass at the security desk.
5. All personal items taken out of the Reading Room must be presented for inspection at the registration desk and the security desk upon departure. This includes opening laptop computers. 
6. No eating, drinking, chewing gum, or smoking in The Bancroft Library. Cell phone calls may be taken outside the Reading Room.
7. Only pencils in the Reading Room. No ink.
8. Please handle all Bancroft materials with care and follow staff instructions.If you'd like to learn more about the safe handling of materials, please review the guidelines on our website.
9. Researchers must abide by the Library Code of Conduct. 

Using cameras 

The Bancroft Library encourages the use of personal cameras in the Reading Room under the following conditions:

1. Only hand-held cameras, cell phones, and tablets in silent mode with flash disabled may be used. 
2. All photographs must be for personal research use only. Photographs taken in the Reading Room may not be published, posted online, donated or sold to another repository, or exhibited.  Researchers interested in obtaining high-resolution images and permission to publish can learn more about options via the duplication inquiries link on the Bancroft website. 
3. Include a completed citation strip in the frame of each photograph. 
4. Handle all materials with care. Material must remain flat on the table or in an appropriate book cradle. Reading Room staff may assist in positioning the item so that it is fully supported. Please do not rearrange furniture or stand on chairs or tables. 
   • Archival materials must be photographed in their folder, keeping their order intact. 
   • Books should only be opened as far as their spines will easily allow without pressing down. 
   • Material should remain in their sleeves or mats. Staff will assist when fasteners need to be removed
5. Researchers are responsible for complying with all intellectual property laws. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless The Bancroft Library and the University of California, including agents and employees, against all claims, demands, costs, and expenses incurred by copyright infringement or any other legal or regulatory cause of action arising from the use of these photographs. 
6. Please do not photograph library staff, the Reading Room, or other researchers. Take care not to disturb others. 

Privacy and personally identifiable information

Collections that include 20th and 21st-century archival materials may contain sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal, state, and/or global "right to privacy" laws. You agree to make no notes or other record of privacy-protected personally identifiable information found within archival collections, and further agree not to publish, publicize, or disclose such information to any other party for any purpose.

In the event that you encounter materials that contain sensitive or confidential information, such as social security numbers or other personally identifiable information, please bring the materials to the attention of a Bancroft Library staff member. In accessing collections in our repository, you assume all responsibility for potential infringement of privacy in your use of the material, and agree to indemnify and hold harmless The Bancroft Library and the University of California, its agents and employees against all claims, demands, costs, and expenses arising out of your use of collections.

Using online collections

The Bancroft Library is committed to making our digital collections available for private study, scholarship, teaching, and research.

Some materials in Bancroft collections may be protected by the United States copyright law (U.S. Code, Title 17) and/or restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing, and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Researchers interested in acquiring high-resolution images can learn more about the options in our Duplication and Permission LibGuide.

The Bancroft Library encourages and supports research, teaching, and scholarship to advance global knowledge and understanding. Please see our Permissions Policies page for inquiries about obtaining permission to quote/excerpt or republish materials from Library collections.

We are dedicated to protecting the rights of creators and copyright holders, and are always interested in learning more about the materials in Bancroft collections. If you have specific information about collections posted by The Bancroft Library, please contact us at bancref-library@berkeley.edu.

The building and its origins

Haviland Hall was completed in 1924, one of a collection of buildings by campus architect John Galen Howard (1864-1931) that transformed the Berkeley campus.

Inspired by California’s growing importance, and with the backing of Phoebe Apperson Hearst, a major benefactor of the early university, the university launched an international competition in 1898-99 for master plans for the development of the campus. French architect Emile Bernard won the competition -- Howard placed fourth -- but differences with Bernard led to his departure in 1900, and Howard was appointed as supervising architect in 1901.

Howard's designs reflect his training at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Although originally appointed to implement Bernard’s plan, Howard reshaped it into his own, developing a "City of Learning" that turned the central axis of the campus back toward the Golden Gate, as originally envisioned by Frederick Law Olmsted's 1865 campus plan. Among the campus landmarks built during his tenure were the Hearst Memorial Mining Building (1902-7), the Hearst Greek Theatre (1903), California Hall (1905), Doe Library (1911-17), Sather Gate (1910), Durant Hall (1912), Wellman (formerly Agriculture) Hall (1912), the Campanile (1914), Wheeler Hall (1917), Gilman Hall (1917), and Hilgard Hall (1918).

Haviland Hall was one of the final buildings of the Howard era. It bears an uncanny resemblance to a design for new North Hall on the site of an earlier North Hall, just east of Doe Library, which had been demolished in 1916. Haviland Hall was conceived in its present location as a symmetrical balance to California Hall across the central axis of the campus, in accordance with Howard's master plan for the campus.

Haviland Hall is named after Hannah N. Haviland, wife of John T. Haviland, a San Francisco banker. Her sister was the first wife of industrialist Collis P. Huntington. Upon her death in 1919 at the age of 94, she bequeathed $250,000 to Berkeley for the construction of the building. (Perhaps foreshadowing the building's eventual home for the School of Social Welfare, Haviland also left $20,000 to the San Francisco Protestant Orphan Asylum.) In 1921, the California legislature contributed an additional $100,000. Haviland Hall was built specifically to house the School of Education and Lange Library of Education, which occupied the building from 1924 to 1963.

The newly constructed Haviland Hall, c. 1924

The building was formally dedicated on March 25, 1924, in a ceremony featuring a speech by Dr. WW Campbell, president of the University of California, and appearances by the dean of the School of Education, the Oakland superintendant of schools, the state superintendant of public instruction, and other notables. The program included an exhibition of work of the Berkeley public schools in the 3rd floor exhibition room and an informal talk on "Haviland Hall as a clearing house for educators."

The building is ornamented with details relating to its original purpose. Open books and medallions of Pegasus, regarded as the horse of the Muses, decorate the exterior. The neoclassical reading room was done in the "Adams Style," after Robert Adams, 18th-century Scottish architect.

Haviland Hall was designated a City of Berkeley Landmark in 1981. In 1982, it was also added to the National Register of Historic Places (#82002161).

Social Research Library

Until 1961, the Lange Education Library occupied the site of the present Social Research Library.

Lange Education Library reading room, 1950s; view from the rear of the reading room.

Reading room looking toward site of present circulation desk

Looking into the seminar room.

Detail of lamps and ceiling

The Social Research Library was originally established in 1957 as the Social Welfare Library, a unit of the Social Sciences Library, and was located in Stephens Hall where the Ethnic Studies Library is currently situated.

Upon relocation of the School of Education to Tolman Hall in 1963, the chambers at either end of the reading room were walled off, as was the main second-floor corridor. The library was installed in the spaces currently occupied by rooms 215-218. Emptied of books, cavernous, and lit by graceless fluorescent lights that replaced the Beaux Arts originals, the reading room became little more than a passageway through the building.

Studying in the vacant reading room, c. 1980
(Photo by Lora Graham)

The reading room languished until 1986, when a major renovation led by the School of Social Welfare restored the space. The reading room now "is among the significant remaining interiors of Howard's campus buildings." (University of California, Berkeley : an architectural tour and photographs. Harvey Helfand. New York : Princeton Architectural Press, 2002.)

In 2014, the library was renovated, its facilities were upgraded for the 21st century, and its focus was broadened to become the Social Research Library.

School of Social Welfare

The School of Social Welfare took up residence in Haviland Hall in 1963 after almost twenty years in makeshift campus buildings. Although the School was formally organized in 1944, a social welfare certificate program began in the 1920s, and antecedents of the social welfare curricula stretch back to 1904, when economics professor Jessica Peixotto first began teaching courses in social welfare. A comprehensive history of the School was published on the occasion of its 50th anniversary in Social Welfare at Berkeley, v.6:1 (fall 1994), HV11.C322.

Architectural hairnets

Visitors to Haviland sometimes remark on the netting installed over the decorative details -- quoins, bas reliefs, and cornices -- on the exterior of the building. An analysis in 2004 revealed that chemical changes in the cast stone was causing the underlying steel reinforcing bars to corrode. Corrosion caused them to expand, cracking and spalling the concrete and causing it to come loose. Netting was installed for the safety of pedestrians, pending repair. Renovation will require new molds and castings of the ornaments, at an estimated cost of at least $2 million.

Rockin' and rollin'

For years, Haviland Hall has been used as a seismic recording station. Buried deep in Haviland's subbasement, nestled into the Franciscan sandstone, is the station BRK seismograph, part of the Berkeley Digital Seismic Network. You can take a peek at the seismograph recordings of the previous 24 hours for the stations around the state, including Haviland Hall (Station BRK). The entrance to the subbasement seismic station is next to the CSSR office.

Seismographs have been located on the campus since 1887. During the Cold War, the Haviland Hall seismograph played a small part in the nuclear arms race. Nuclear physicist Edward Teller, known as the "father of the hydrogen bomb," recalled descending to the Haviland Hall seismograph in October 1952 to monitor the detonation of the first hydrogen bomb "Mike" on the island of Elugelab in the Eniwetok Atoll, 3,000 miles west of Hawaii. The seismograph rested on a concrete pier, dimly lit by a red lamp:

After my eyes became accustomed to the darkness I noticed that the light spot seemed quite unsteady. Clearly, this was more than what could be due to the continuous trembling of the Earth -- the microseisms . . . So I braced a pencil on a piece of the apparatus and held it close to the luminous point. Now the point seemed steady and I felt as if I had come back to solid ground again. This was about the time of the actual shot . . . About quarter of an hour was required for the shot [waves] to travel from deep under the Pacific basin to the California coast. I waited with little patience, the seismograph making at each minute a clearly visible vibration which served as a time signal. At last the time signal came that had to be followed by the shock from the explosion. There it semeed to be: the luminous point appeared to dance wildly and irregularly. Was it only that the pencil which I held as a marker trembled in my hand? Finally the film was taken off and developed. Then the trace appeared on the photographic plate. It was clear and big and unmistakable. It had been made by the wave of compression that had traveled for thousands of miles and brought the positive assurance that Mike was a success.
(Nuclear explosions and earthquakes: the parted veil, by Bruce A. Bolt. SF : Freeman & Co., 1976)

The enormous blast created a crater more than mile wide, obliterating the island, and marked a major escalation in the nuclear arms race.

Berkeley Conservatory

Nestled against Observatory Hill for 30 years, on the site of what is now the Chang-Lin Tien East Asia Center, was the UC Berkeley conservatory. Built in 1894 by Lord and Burnham, the conservatory was modeled after the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, which was built by the same firm. It was the result of a 1880s campaign by agriculture professor Eugene Hilgard, who lobbied the Berkeley Regents for the its construction and was closely involved in its planning. Hilgard, regarded as the father of soil science, even traveled to Europe in 1893, delaying work on the project while he inspected prominent conservatories across the continent.

The main part of the conservatory housed palm trees, and the wings included a cellar, potting shed, and a boiler room. It was the centerpiece of a 7-acre university botanical garden, created by the Regents for "a garden distinctively botanical" similar to "a part of the pride of almost every university in Europe at the present time." The conservatory and grounds appear in an 1897 campus plan, and the early garden is visible in an 1899 view from just about where Haviland Hall's southeast corner is today. A 1924 photo shows a fully developed garden. In 1924, as part of the campus's expansion, including the construction of Haviland Hall, the botanical garden was relocated and the conservatory torn down. By 1928, Haviland Hall was alone in this part of campus, with only the Chancellor's house and Observatory Hill as neighbors. Aerial photos from 1928, 1939, 1946, 1956, 1985, and 1994 show that for more than 80 years, Haviland Hall enjoyed solitude among the trees and the creek.

The site of the conservatory eventually became a parking lot. In 2005, in anticipation of the construction of the Tien Center, anthropology students excavated the site. Findings included thermometer fragments, flower pots of various sizes, plant tags, glass droppers, a watch-chain loop, a number of marbles, an antique brass button featuring a bas-relief of Minerva from the Great Seal of California, and a 116-year-old dime, minted just 18 years after the campus opened its doors.

About Morrison Library events

Morrison Library may be reserved by groups directly affiliated with UC Berkeley for evening and public events that support the Library’s mission and initiatives. Requests must be submitted via the Morrison Reservation Request Form at least one month ahead of your requested date.

Event size

Morrison Library can accommodate events with:

• Up to 200 people for a reception
• Up to 120 people for a lecture

Note: While there are currently no state guidelines limiting capacity due to COVID-19, hosts are encouraged to limit attendance and to keep in mind this could change based on time-sensitive health and safety considerations. 

Event specifications

• Preference is given to events open to the campus community and the public, and that fit within the mission of the Library.
• Requests may be denied for a number of reasons, such as timing in the academic year, availability of staff, scope of event, security concerns, and facility limitations.
• Events may take place 5-8:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Morrison Library can be closed at 4 p.m. for events starting at 5 p.m. and all events must finish by 8:30 p.m. (to allow time for clean up).
• Respecting Morrison Library’s primary role as a library space and collection, requests to schedule the library during its regular public service hours (10 a.m.-5 p.m. during the academic year) will not be considered. Requests will not be considered for days the Morrison Library is closed (weekends/holidays).
• A room rental fee of $1,000 is charged for rental of this space. The rental fee will cover the use of the room, set up, and use of additional equipment items (folding chairs, microphone, moving furniture, etc.) and resetting the room to its original layout. These fees are subject to change and will be confirmed before final agreement with both parties.
• If an event is canceled within two (2) weeks of the event date, the host will be charged a fee of $300. All cancellations must be confirmed in writing or via email.
• The event host must be present throughout the entire rental.
• Please note the Morrison Library is not equipped for hybrid events. 

Event equipment

Equipment available for use with the rental includes:

• 75 folding chairs
• 1 folding table (4’x2’)
• Podium with microphone (cannot be moved)
• Projector (cannot be moved)
• Projection screen (cannot be moved)

Audio/visual support

If you need additional audio/visual support, please contact Berkeley Audio Visual (BAV) for quotes and rental equipment available through that department. They can provide video recording and webcasting services as well as rent additional microphones and speakers. 

Catering

You may only use Berkeley Catering — Cal Dining or I-House Catering for full service events where food preparation and/or labor services (such as pouring wine, serving or preparing plates for guests, setup or cleanup) are provided by catering staff on site. You may not use another caterer to provide these services, even if Berkeley Catering and I-House Catering are not able to provide onsite catering services. 

These restrictions do not apply to drop-off catering of pre-prepared or packaged food delivered to the libraries from other caterers, restaurants or approved campus vendors. You may also pick up prepared food for your event. Event hosts are responsible for clean up and trash removal. 

Policy: Article 5/Regents Policy 5402 and AFSCME collective bargaining agreements (Service — SX & Patient Care Technical — EX) impose limitations on the use of third-party suppliers to perform “covered services” work. “Covered services” are broadly defined as work traditionally performed by AFSCME-represented University employees. CA Senate Bill SB 820 prohibits the contracting out of any and all “covered services” in University buildings that receive capital state funding. Doe (where Morrison Library is located) and Moffitt libraries are UCB state-funded buildings.

Alcohol permit

If you plan to host an event that will include alcohol, please refer to the campus alcohol policy and submit the alcohol permit request form for approval to libraryevents@berkeley.edu. You must submit the alcohol request form at least two (2) weeks prior to the event date as UCPD needs at least seven (7) business days to process.

The University’s Major Events Policy, authored by the VC of Student Affairs, provides all campus users direction for planning special events, including events serving alcohol. If you want to host a special event with alcohol and/or you need a security assessment, you’ll need to follow the Special Event and Security Assessments policy.

If you are a department, questions about the policy should be directed to Risk Services, 510-642-5171.

If you are a non-department user, call OASIS at 510.703.4115 and view the Major Events Hosted by Non-Departmental Users policy.

Health and safety protocols: COVID-19

The sponsoring unit is responsible for maintaining all health and safety protocols. For the most up-to-date campus guidance, please refer to the campus events and coronavirus page. 

Room layout

Morrison Library reception layout

Morrison Library lecture layout
 

The C. V. Starr East Asian Library and Chang-Lin Tien Center for East Asian Studies are a fortress of granite and white, covered with dazzling bronze lattice. But it is what’s inside that makes the library truly special. Bursting with treasures — including manuscripts, thousands of woodblock editions, and an oracle bone bearing some of the oldest written Chinese script — the library is home to one of the largest collections of East Asian materials in North America. The Fong Yun Wah Rare Book Room holds about 40,000 items, including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean manuscripts and imprints; Japanese historical maps; and early Buddhist scriptures. Served by librarians dedicated to opening the library’s resources to researchers around the world, EAL acts as a bridge between East and West, connecting California with its neighbors across the Pacific. Gifts to the East Asian Library Fund support the growth and preservation of the library’s programs and collections. Explore the collections. 

History

Berkeley’s East Asian collection was seeded by the deposit in 1896 of John Fryer’s Chinese library, which Fryer later bequeathed to the university. Other early gifts and acquisitions, beginning with the Kiang Kang-hu library in 1916, the Horace G. Carpentier Endowment in 1919, and the E. T. Williams collection in the 1920s, sustained the quality and distinction of the library at a time when UC Berkeley was almost alone among American campuses in offering a broad program in East Asian studies.

The East Asiatic Library (renamed “East Asian” in 1991) was established in 1947 as a branch within the UC Berkeley Library system. By the early 1950s, the library’s Japanese holdings ranked first among American university collections due in large part to the acquisition of 100,000 items from the Mitsui Library and the 8,850-volume Murakami Library.

The Center for Chinese Studies Library began as an off-campus reading room under the auspices of the Center for Chinese Studies in 1957. Eventually it became affiliated with the Institute of East Asian Studies, relocated to campus, and developed into one of the largest academic repositories of materials on contemporary China outside of China.

In 2008, the East Asian Library and Center for Chinese Studies Library merged and integrated their collections in the C. V. Starr East Asian Library. The merger consolidated Berkeley’s Chinese language holdings. The move into new quarters improved accessibility to the entire collection and ensured that the library would have room for growth in the coming decades. It also provided the technological infrastructure and facilities that will allow the library to address the scholarly community’s needs into the 21st century.

Past newsletters 

Number 6, Spring 2011

Number 5, Winter 2009

Number 4, Winter 2008

Number 3, Winter 2007

Number 1, Spring 2006

About the Latin Americana Collection

The Bancroft Library's Latin Americana Collection grew out of Hubert Howe Bancroft's publishing enterprises related to the "Pacific States," covering the region from Panama to Alaska. Building on Hubert Howe Bancroft’s original 19th-century holdings of important Mexican collections, the Bancroft Collection of Latin American manuscripts, imprints, newspapers, broadsides, and pamphlets is one of the world's great repositories for historical and contemporary research on Mexico and Central America. As a specialized area collection, it contains all forms of primary and secondary sources, including printed material, microfilm bibliographical and reference sources, and critical editions of major historical texts.

Native Mexico and Central America

The Bancroft Library holds indigenous manuscript materials related to history, religious instruction, linguistics, and conflicts surrounding Christianization, land, and labor.

Among the historical works are Fernando de Alba Ixtlilxochitl's history of New Spain, Ramón de Ordoñez y Aguiar's and Francisco Ximénez's manuscripts on Chiapas and Guatemala, Juan Franco's writings on Panama, and other materials related to Quiche, Mosquito, Mayo, and Yaqui history.

There are vocabularies, grammars, and catechisms in Nahuatl, Opata, Tzeltal, Quiche, Tzutujil, Cakchikel, Pocoman, Ixil, Zapoteca, Mixtec, Otomí, Pima, Choco, and other indigenous languages. Especially rich are the Nahuatl manuscript materials attributed to Alonso de Molina, Andrés de Olmos, and Faustino Chimalpopoca Galicia, as well as the Alphonse Pinart and Brasseur de Bourbourg linguistic materials. Note: spelling of indigenous groups and languages varies in catalog records.

There are also significant collections of legal materials, documents reflecting relations of Indians and Spaniards, and religious materials, including numerous records of the different orders of the Catholic Church.

See also the Western Americana.

Codex Fernández Leal

This nearly 20-foot long Cuicatec scroll from Oaxaca is a rich source of information on Mesoamerican history and culture.

Drawn on native amatl paper, the codex documents origins, religious rites, warfare, and lineages. The Fernández Leal Codex is linked to the Porfirio Díaz Codex in the Museo Naciónal de Antropología y Historia in Mexico City. Both texts were produced in the 16th century but are thought to be based on pre-Columbian predecessors.

Colonial Period

The holdings for Colonial Spanish America, and Central Mexico, in particular, constitute the richest portion of the Latin Americana Collection. Included are extensive holdings of manuscripts, imprints, broadsides, and pamphlets (sometimes grouped as "Papeles Varios") for this period.

Many of the manuscripts and imprints are of an official or religious nature, such as the reales cédulas and ordenes de la corona, Inquisition documents, genealogical records, various account books, records of local government (for example, ayuntamientos and cabildos), and church and convent records.

Early scholarship is also documented in texts such as Diego Duran's Historia de las Indias de Nueva-España y Islas de Tierra Firme (1579-1581), Fernando de Alba Ixtlixochitl's Sumaria relación de todas las cosas que han sucedido en la Nueva España, Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas's Historia general de los hechos de los castellanos en las Islas i Tierra Firme del Mar Oceano (1601-1615), Carlos Sigüenza y Góngora's Anotaciones criticas sobre el Primer Apostol de Nueva España y sobre el Imagen de Guadalupe (ca. 1699), Juan de Palafox y Mendoza's Obras, and Juan Bautista Muñoz's Historia del Nuevo Mundo (1793).

Mexican Inquisition

The Bancroft Library's collection of Inquisition documents, the largest in the United States, includes some of the most significant cases brought before the Inquisition, such as the charges brought against Leonor and Isabel de Carvajal for practicing Judaism.

These procesos, or trials, include such materials as genealogical and property records as evidence in charges of breaches of orthodoxy and sexual misconduct, including blasphemy, relapsed Judaism, witchcraft, superstition, bigamy, and solicitation.

Guide to the Bancroft Mexican Inquisition Original Documents in the Online Archive of California (OAC)

The Spanish Borderlands and Northern Mexico

The Borderlands are a primary collecting area for The Bancroft Library, which holds manuscripts related to exploration and settlement of the territories from Florida to California.

Documents relating to Nueva Vizcaya and the Provincias Internas include records of the Jesuit and Franciscan orders; materials from the Pinart Collections from New Mexico, Chihuahua, Sonora, and other Northern Mexican states; and the Archives of California.

Among the administrators and missionaries represented are many governors of New Mexico and California, numerous viceroys, and missionaries and explorers such as Nicolás de Cardona, Francisco de Ortega, Eusebio Francisco Kino, Pedro Font, Gaspar de Portolá, and Juan Bautista de Anza.

See also the Western Americana.

Newspapers and gazettes

Newspaper holdings include colonial gazettes such as Gaceta de México, Gazeta de México, Gazeta del Gobierno de México, and Gaceta del Gobierno Imperial de México, as well as early newspapers such as El Diario de México, El Conductor Eléctrico, El Pensador Mexicano, Correo Semanario de México, Diario del Imperio, El Republicano, El Federalista, La Voz de la Patria, and others.

There are also substantial collections of newspapers from the Revolutionary period, regional newspapers, Central American newspapers and gazettes, and Spanish-language newspapers from the United States.

National Period

The Bancroft Library has numerous official and personal records related to the Wars of Independence, the Mexican-American War, travel to California for the Gold Rush, the French Intervention, and filibustering activities. Other materials include documents related to the administration of Emperor Maximilian, the archives of La Commission Scientifique du Mexique, newspapers, and exile presses such as La Voz de Méjico in San Francisco.

The library holds a complete run of the Boletín de la Sociedad Mexicana de Geografía y Estadística (beginning in 1839), surveys and maps produced by the Comisión Geográfico-Exploradora and Ferrocarriles Naciónales de México, and business records of Northern Mexican mining companies.

As with the Colonial period, the library holds materials from key scholars of the National period, including José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi, Carlos María de Bustamante, Fray Servando Teresa de Mier, José Luis Mora, Lorenzo de Zavala, Lucas Alamán, José Gómez de la Cortina, and others.

See also the Western Americana.

Revolutionary Period

The Bancroft Library has letters, pamphlets, and books from key figures in the Mexican Revolution, including Porfirio Díaz, Francisco Madero, Ricardo Flores Magón, Francisco "Pancho" Villa, Emiliano Zapata, and Venustiano Carranza.

The Silvestre Terrazas Collection consists of more than 100 boxes of letters, documents, and photos related to Terrazas’s career as a newspaper editor in Chihuahua.

Alternative sources include the collection of corridos from the Mexican Revolution and the James Wallace Wilkie collection of oral histories with political leaders of the Revolutionary Period.

There are also extensive photographic collections in this area, including prominent families’ photographs of the Mexican Revolution and documentation related to Red Cross activities with refugees along the border.

As with the National period, there are records of U.S. business interests in Mexico, such as the maps and blueprints of engineer Emil Bronimann, the Byron R. Janes papers, the correspondence of Irving and Luella Winship Herr, the B. A. Ogden papers, and the Bours, Tomas Robinson & Co. business papers.

See also the Western Americana.

Central America

Central American holdings from the early Colonial period include records of Dominican, Franciscan, and Jesuit activity in the region as well as materials by figures such as Pedro de Alvarado, Alonso Díaz de Reguera, Andrés de Cereceda, Juan Gavarrete Escobar, García de Valverde, Clemente Arauz, Francisco Morazán, and Rafael Carrera.

Bancroft’s Central American collections include those of Brasseur de Bourbourg, Alphonse Pinart, Ephraim George Squier, John Lloyd Stephens, and Alfred Keane Moe.

Also significant are Bancroft's Reference Notes on Central America and numerous papers and memoirs of U.S. travelers, merchants, and filibuster participants.

More recent records include interviews concerning Guatemalan history and politics (1930-1968), the Nicaragua Information Center Records (1980-1991), and the Data Center Records (1950s-1990s).

Photography and graphic arts

The Bancroft Library pictorial holdings on Mexico and Central America include sketchbooks, lithographs, photographs, drawings, stereographs, postcards, and posters.

Among the early lithographs and drawings are Claudio Linati's Costumes Civils, Militaires et Religieux du Mexique, Frederick Catherwood's Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, Casimiro Castro's México y sus Alrededores, and Andrew Jackson Grayson's Birds of the Pacific Slope.

Photographic collections include Desiré Charnay's Cités et Ruines Americaines, a military album from the French occupation titled Souvenirs du Mexique de 1861 à 1867, Abel Briquet's Vistas Mexicanas, photographs of Yaqui Indians, albums from Mexico and Central America, and various collections from the Revolutionary period.

The Bancroft Library also has a substantial collection of Latin American poster art from Mexico, Nicaragua, Cuba, and other parts of Latin America. More recent collections include some 1,000 posters relating to Central American politics in the 1970s and 1980s and the Juan Pascoe Collection of books and ephemera.

Faculty research materials

The Bancroft Library holds the papers and research materials of a number of influential Latin Americanists, including Herbert Eugene Bolton's and George Peter Hammond's research materials on borderlands history, Woodrow Wilson Borah's and Sherburne Friend Cook's research materials on historical demography, Carl Ortwin Sauer's papers and research notebooks on historical geography, Lesley Byrd Simpson's papers on colonial Mexico, and Engel Sluiter's documents related to economic and political history in Latin America.

Archival Manuscript Collections on Microfilm

Built around The Bancroft Library's manuscript collection, the microfilm collection of manuscripts from foreign archives is one of the largest in the country, capturing documents from archives in Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, and Germany.

Documents microfilmed are largely related to Western North America and the Pacific coast. Mexico's Archivo General de la Nación and Spain's Archivo General de Indias are especially well represented.

A preliminary guide is available in the Bancroft Library Reading Room.

Guide to Archival Manuscripts on Microfilm

Guide to the Bancroft Latin Americana Collections in the Online Archive of California (OAC)

Collection guides and reference

Dale L. Morgan and George P. Hammond. A Guide to the Manuscript Collections of the Bancroft Library. Vol. 2: Manuscripts Relating Chiefly to México and Central America. 2 vols. Berkeley: Published for The Bancroft Library by the University of California Press, 1963-1972. Z6621.B2.B2, various holdings.

Latin American Collections of The Bancroft Library: Guides and Catalogs

• Latin Americana Reference Works in the Bancroft Library Reading Room
• Mexican and Borderlands History: Catalogs, Guides, and Directories for Archival and Manuscript Sources
• Latin American Studies: Guides, Library Catalogs, Indexes, and Bibliographies

Local collections

Latin American and Iberian collections at Stanford Libraries

Mexicana Collections at the Sutro Library
 

About the Rare Book Collection

The UC Berkeley Library’s Rare Book Collection was founded in 1954 and transferred to The Bancroft Library in 1970. The library is responsible for collecting, preserving, and making accessible old, rare, fragile, and sensitive materials on a wide range of subjects. As a rule, the Rare Book Collection avoids the subject areas of law, medicine, music, and East Asian languages, since other campus libraries specialize in these areas.

Medieval manuscripts

Bancroft houses about 300 codices and hundreds of paleographical specimens dating from circa 1000 C.E. to 1600. Of particular note are the French vernacular romances of the 14th and 15th centuries. Representative images from BANC MSS UCB 001 through 177 are available at Digital Scriptorium.

Incunabula

The library has more than 400 books from the 15th century, including classical, historical, literary, and scientific works. Notable among them are copies of the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle in both Latin and German and Euclid’s Elementa Geometriae from 1482. The library’s earliest printed book dates to 1466.

Fernán-Nuñéz Collection

This collection includes 225 manuscript volumes, circa 1490-1800, from the archives of the Dukes of Fernán-Nuñéz (south of Córdoba in southern Spain). It comprises literary, political, diplomatic, and historical texts.

Classical authors

Bancroft has very strong collections of classical texts printed in the 15th through 18th centuries. Of these, the most comprehensive is the Horace Collection, featuring hundreds of editions of the author's works, commentaries on them, and translations into most Western languages. The collection of Aldine editions is particularly noteworthy.

Renaissance books

Sixteenth- and early 17th-century holdings are especially strong in Italian and Spanish, with significant collections of French and German imprints. There are fine examples of the works of Erasmus, Luther, the Italian humanists, and productions of the scholar printers, for example, Aldus Manutius, the Estiennes, Johann Froben, and Christophe Plantin.

English literature

The library holds a wide range of material in this field, including all four Shakespeare folios as well as early editions of Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, Edmund Spenser, Ben Jonson, and other medieval, Elizabethan, and Jacobean writers.

The John Milton Collection is particularly strong and includes nearly all the variants of the first edition of Paradise Lost.

There are also important collections of certain 18th-century authors, the Romantics, and selected contemporary writers.

The library's strongest collections of 19th- and 20th-century authors include the works of William Blake, Lord Byron, Joseph Conrad, Walter de la Mare, Charles Dickens, Norman Douglas, H. Rider Haggard, Thomas Hardy, Seamus Heaney, James Joyce, Rudyard Kipling, D. H. Lawrence, John Mortimer, Sean O'Faolain, the Rossettis, Walter Scott, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Stephen Spender, Tom Stoppard, H. G. Wells, and William Butler Yeats. Manuscripts of many of these authors are also held by the library.

American literature

The library is especially strong in writers identified with California, for example, Gertrude Atherton, Mary Austin, William Everson, Bret Harte, Robinson Jeffers, Jack London, Frank Norris, George Sterling, and William Saroyan.

There are important collections of other American authors, including Richard Brautigan, Willa Cather, T. S. Eliot, Faulkner, Frost, Julian and Nathaniel Hawthorne, Sidney Howard, William Dean Howells, Henry James, William McFee, Wright Morris, Ezra Pound, Carl Sandburg, Gertrude Stein, Edith Wharton, Thornton Wilder, William Carlos Williams, and Harry Leon Wilson.

History of science

Bancroft holds many important first editions and other works in the history of science. Visit the archived pages at History of Science and Technology Collections to learn more.

History of books and printing

The library is keenly interested in documenting the history of books and printing. The collection includes important examples of printing techniques and landmarks in the history of publishing, from sumptuous deluxe editions to dime novels and chapbooks. The Strouse Collection on the Art & History of the Book is a treasure trove of fine bindings and private press books. It contains exquisite examples of the printer's and binder's art with special emphasis on Cobden-Sanderson, William Morris, and printed books of hours. In addition, the library maintains a collection known by the acronym "BART" (Bancroft Artifacts Relating to Typography) which documents the history of writing and printing from hieroglyphics and cuneiform writing to desktop publishing. The Press Room in Bancroft houses a 19th-century Albion hand press, a half-sized replica of a 17th-century English common press, type cases, galleys, and all the equipment necessary for a print shop.

Bransten Coffee and Tea Collection

This is one of the most complete collections in existence on the subjects of coffee and tea. It also includes many books on chocolate. The works included range in date from the 16th century to the present.

French Revolution

Bancroft holds nearly 10,000 pamphlets and numerous other sources (monographs, periodicals, and posters) from the late 1780s through the end of the Revolutionary era.

African American writers

This collection includes the work of black American writers from the 18th century to the present. In addition to first editions of writers such as Phillis Wheatley and Frederick Douglass, Bancroft also houses archival collections of Gwendolyn Brooks and Eldridge Cleaver.

American wit and humor

Named for its creator, Theodore Koundakjian, this collection is particularly strong in 19th-century American imprints. It includes jest books, books in dialect, and humor books by hundreds of American authors.

Fine printing

With special emphasis on the Bay Area, this collection contains nearly complete collections of such notable private presses as Grabhorn, L.& D. Allen, John Henry Nash, Adrian Wilson, Greenwood, and many more. British and European private presses from the 18th century to the present are also well represented. The documentary archives of a number of presses are held at Bancroft.

Bancroft Poetry Archive

The library's collection of modern poetry concentrates particularly on Bay Area poets since World War II. It includes rare periodicals as well as monographs, and a number of manuscript collections (for example, City Lights Publishing Company, Auerhahn Press, and the papers of several individual poets), making it a rich resource for research.

Judaica

Judaica, Jewish cultural history, and Western American Jewish history are well represented at The Bancroft Library. Early donated collections at the UC Berkeley Library provided a strong foundation that has been built upon through the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, formerly known as the Judah L. Magnes Museum, added great strength to Bancroft's holdings beginning in 2010. Bancroft curators work closely with the Judaica Librarian of the UC Berkeley Library to add items that document Jewish history in the American West and reflect both historic and present-day examples of Jewish publishing and modern fine printing.