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Special Collections: Rare Books

This guide provide information on Special Collections, consisting of Africana, Rare Books and Manuscripts and DOMUS, including usage and policies

About Rare Books

A collection of valuable and rare books on a wide range of subjects – a treasure trove of curiosities in print.

  • Books, rare and unique in terms of scarcity, age, value, physical appearance and subject matter are collected.
  • The collection preserves books dating from the 15th century up to the present day on a variety of subjects, including art, the sciences, religion, history, literature and popular culture.
  • The Rare Books section was established in the late 1960s to provide for the safekeeping of valuable art books and other rare materials.
  • When the University acquired the extensive library of the late Commander Michael Scott the collection was enriched by many first editions, leather-bound volumes and other treasures.

Book of the Month

                      

A reproduction of the diary of Lady Angelica Cottington, which features pressed garden fairies.

Prefixes used at Special Collections (Rare Books Section)

BV - Rare books (Beskermde Versameling)

K1 - Kruger: Prize winners

K2 - Kruger: Fiction

K3 - Kruger: Afrikaans en die Klassieke

K4 - Kruger: Text books

BV1 - Art literature

BV2 - South African literature

BV3 - School literature

BV4 - Children's literature

BVpam - African languages

Collection of the month (The Kruger Collection)

Kruger Collection (Afrikaans literature of the 20th century)

The Kruger Collection is supplemented mainly through donations. New works of notable Afrikaans writers whose oeuvre is represented in the collection are purchased for the sake of completeness.

K1 - Kruger: Prize winners

K2 - Kruger: Fiction

K3 - Kruger: Afrikaans en die Klassieke

K4 - Kruger: Text books

Some of our collections in the Rare Books section

 

Contact:

Marieta Buys

Head: Special Collections

Email: hmbuys@sun.ac.za

Telephone: 021 808 4930