Special Collections contains rare books, first editions, manuscripts, and letters of noted literary figures, especially writers related to New England, such as Edwin Arlington Robinson, Laura Richards, and Sarah Orne Jewett. Most of our published materials can be found in the Colby Library Catalog.
The James Augustine Healy Collection of 19th and 20th Century Irish Literature concentrates on authors of the Irish Literary Renaissance, 1880-1940, and is endowed with funds for collecting contemporary Irish poets and writers. Special Collections also has a Thomas Hardy Collection of books and letters.
Also housed here are Colby Archives and records pertaining to Colby and its history, runs of the "Echo," yearbooks, and other artifacts from the college's history. Other major collections include the Pestana Collection, a collection comprised of extensive literature and artifacts from World War I, and the Bern Porter Collection of Contemporary Letters.
Special Collections is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of the Wesley McNair Papers, an important resource from one of Maine's finest living poets.
Selected Colby College Special Collections images:
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Colby College Campus
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N.W. view of Waterville College, ca. 1830
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Old Campus, Colby College, c. 1920
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Early Waterville, from Winslow Hill
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Air Force trainees, Colby College, 1942
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Old Colby College, (downtown) prior to 1950
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Miller Library, Colby College
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1833 Anti-Slavery Society of Waterville College petition
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Memorial Hall, Colby College, old Waterville Campus
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Mary Caffrey Low, Waterville, 1875
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Earliest construction at Mayflower Hill campus
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Adam Simpson Green, Colby College in Waterville, 1887