Marvin & Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection   |  Arthur and Mata Jaffe Center for the Book Arts
Music Collections in Special Collections   |  Pamphlet Collection - Socialist Series
The American Civil War Collections  |   Army Air Corp Base Plans  |   Papers Collections
Special Collection

      The FAU Library's Special Collections, on the Boca Raton campus, is the home of many important, rare, and unique collections.

      We are pleased to offer researchers and students the opportunity to use the Marvin & Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection of Colonial Imprints. The Rare Books Librarian, Ellen Randolph, is the curator of the collection which is one of the largest collections of 17th to 19th century books and pamphlets dealing with American philosophical issues in the Southeastern United States. In conjunction with the Weiner Collection, the Wimberly Library, on the Boca Raton campus, sponsors two debates per year on American topics. Both faculty and students participate in the debates. 

      Under the leadership of Dr. William Miller, the Wimberly Library has an extensive collection of both musical scores and recorded music.  In Special Collections there is a large collection of scores along with many books about music. The collection consists of music across a wide range of genres including American popular music from the 1880s through the mid-twentieth century, original scores of classical music in the Davis Collection, a wide spectrum of Jewish music including a substantial body of work donated by Cantors and over 4,000 pieces of rare Yiddish music.

      The libraries' ensemble-in-residence, the Klezmer Company Orchestra, otherwise known as KCO, has creatively fused world music under the expertise of its founder Aaron Kula.  Dr. Miller's innovative use of an ensemble-in-residence has allowed Aaron Kula, a well versed musicologist educated at the New England Conservatory of Music, to bring music from Special Collections to life by performing it at three concerts a year.  This innovative approach of performing music held by Special Collections is called from Shelf to Stage.

      Our collections also includes The Arthur and Mata Jaffe Center for the Book Arts which holds hundreds of books representing book arts from a wide range of contemporary book artists. The Jaffe Collection also maintains thousands of books representing different examples of book bindings, fine handmade papers, and unusual graphic designs. John Cutrone is the curator of the Jaffe Collection as well as being the resident book artist. The Jaffe Center, under John's guidance and vision, sponsors many programs, exhibits, and workshops throughout the year.