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19TH CENTURY COLLECTION

In the 1980's, the holdings of the Armstrong Browning Library were extended by the addition of the 19th Century Collection which strengthens and enhances the core Armstrong Browning Library Collection with first and early editions of the works of nineteenth-century authors other than the Brownings, both British and American. This collection has grown to over 2000 editions and has especially notable holdings of the works of John Ruskin and Charles Dickens. Included is a collection of 252 titles of minor English verse from the age of Queen Victoria (1837 - 1901) called the Minor English Poets Collection. In 1999 an additional sub-collection, the Women Poets Collection, was begun.

Examples of the holdings in the 19th Century Collection are:

• First edition, 1838, of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, or, The Parish Boy's Progress in three volumes; illustrated by George Cruikshank; with the "fireside" plate, canceled in later issues

• Bleak House by Charles Dickens, illustrations by H. K. Browne; first edition in 20 numbers (in 19) issued monthly, from March 1852 to September 1853

• Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass; first edition with press notices inserted at front (1855) and second edition (1856)

• James Russell Lowell's Among My Books, 1876; first edition, second issue; signed copy of Frank Sanborn to whom the book is dedicated

• Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature by Thomas Henry Huxley, 1863; first edition in the original pebble-grain turquoise cloth

• First English edition of Herman Melville's first book, Narrative of a Four Months' Residence Among the Natives of a Valley of the Marquesas Islands; or, A Peep at Polynesian Life, 1846

• John Ruskin's The Seven Lamps of Architecture with illustrations drawn and etched by the author; first edition, 1849

• Praeterita: Outlines of Scenes and Thoughts, Perhaps Worthy of Memory in my Past Life by John Ruskin, 1885-1889; first edition, unbound, in parts as first issued

The 19th Century Collection holdings are entered in BearCat, Baylor University Libraries' Online Catalog. A complete listing of the titles in the 19th Century Collection may be seen by choosing a Title Search from the BearCat menu and typing 19th Century Collection. A Title Search using 19th Century Minor English Poets Collection or 19th Century Women Poets Collection will display a complete listing of those titles. Full bibliographic records may be seen by typing the corresponding number of the entry.