Rare Book Collections
The Original Collection
In 1749, Abraham Redwood contributed €500 sterling to acquire the original collection of 751 titles, all purchased used in London. This Original Collection represented the interests and inquiries of the group of cultured, educated 18th-century gentlemen who founded the Redwood. The volumes covered subjects such as Religion, Philosophy, Law, Architecture, Classics, Agriculture and Medicine. The earliest donations to the Library’s Collection, “Given by Several Gentleman,” include an additional 126 titles housed with the Original Collection and documented in the manuscript catalogue of the collection.
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Use the advanced search page to limit your search to “Original Collection”
View all records linked to Original Collection here
The Cynthia Cary Collection
The Cynthia Cary Collection, collected over decades by Mr. and Mrs. Guy Fairfax Cary, Sr., contains nearly 200 fifteenth to mid-nineteenth-century English and continental pattern books of furniture, decoration, and ornament. A blend of builder’s manuals and gentleman’s folios, it provides a window into period building techniques and the diffusion of architectural knowledge and its styles and fashions.
Search the Collection
View all records linked to: Cynthia Cary and Guy Fairfox Cary
Use the filters to the left of the catalog to narrow the results
The Greenough Estate Collection
The Greenough Estate Collection, including 25 cartons of books and over thirty prints and drawings, was given to the Redwood Library by Beatrice Goelet Greenough. Beatrice was the daughter of William Greenough and Charlotte Warren who collected most of the artwork herself. Charlotte was assisted by her father, the architect Whitney Warren, who had previously donated a scrapbook of his architectural drawings to the Redwood Library. This Collection has recently been inventoried, included the works not yet in the online catalog, and a searchable inventory will be made available to researchers soon.
Search the Collection
View all records linked to: Beatrice Greenough, Charlotte Greenough, and Whitney Warren
Use the filters to the left of the catalog to narrow the results
The Newport Collection
The Redwood’s Newport Collection comprises over 5,000 volumes selected for their research value in the study of Newport’s history, with some works covering a greater area of Acquidneck Island and Rhode Island history. Some of the collection is available for browsing in our Slocum Scholar’s Reading Room by appointment. The rest can be found by searching the online or in-house card catalogs.
Search the Collection
Use the advanced search page to limit your search to “Newport Collection”
View all records linked to Newport Collection here
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