Rare Book Image Bank (Digital)
A growing repository of illustrations, decorative elements, and full text works from the Rare Book Collection, freely available for download.

Charles Guenther Collection
Books from the library of American poet, critic, and translator Charles Guenther (1920-2008), including his own work as well as works signed or inscribed to him by others.

Faculty Book Collection
Monographs written by SLU faculty members while employed by the university.

Follansbee Collection
Collection formed by George Follansbee on exploration and travel.

John and Melissa Geraghty Collection 
A collection built around the works of John Milton, especially Paradise Lost, that includes early and important editions, precursors, influences, and later literary offshoots. Also represented are other important English authors of the period.

Medical Center Library Rare Book Collection
Now housed in Pius Library, these rare medical books were transferred to Special Collections from the Medical Center Library.

Moore Carpenter Recusant History Collection
Contains approximately 1,600 books, pamphlets, and manuscripts on the history of English Catholics and Catholicism between 1534 and 1829.

Saint Louis Literary Award Collection
A collection of signed examples of the works of recipients of the Saint Louis Literary Award, established in 1967 by the Saint Louis University Library Associates to honor writers of outstanding literary merit.

Sodality Collection
Works related to the early history of the Sodality of Our Lady or to ascetical and religious training that forms the background, historical or otherwise, of Sodality work. Selected by Walter J. Ong, S.J. with the support of the Sodalities of Our Lady, National Service Center, in honor of Edward F. Garesché, S.J.

Walter J. Ong's Library
The scholarly and personal library of Walter J. Ong, S.J. (1912-2003). Includes his own copies of the books he authored (many wrapped for preservation by Ong himself), translations of his books into various languages, reference works, scholarly monographs, and books given and inscribed to him by students and colleagues. Descriptions include the presence of annotations, inscriptions, and inserts. Please request by item number.

White House Retreat Collection
Books concerned with the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, or books at least loosely related to retreats or to spiritual and devotional life; the collection extends to the intellectual and cultural milieu in which the Spiritual Exercises and the retreat movement took shape. Selected by Walter J. Ong, S.J. with the support of the White House Jesuit Retreat.

Emblem Books
A genre of book popular in Europe during the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries containing texts of a moral nature and typically accompanied by corresponding emblematic images.

Incunabula
In addition to our leaf from the Gutenberg Bible, the library has twelve books printed before 1501.

Jesuit College Catalogs
A collection of annually published catalogs representing 51 Jesuit high schools and colleges from the period 1853-1914, typically listing their institution's officers, students, courses, and programs.

Jesuitica
Works on Jesuit history, spirituality, biography, and missionary activity published by or about the Society of Jesus (1534–1773, 1814–present) and its members from its earliest period.

Walter J. Ong Acquisitions
A tracing showing all books identified to date as having been selected for the Rare Book Collection by Walter J. Ong, S.J.

Works of Athanasius Kircher
Fourteen books by the seventeenth-century Jesuit scientist and polymath Athanasius Kircher.

Works of Peter Ramus
Numerous works by Peter Ramus (1515–1572), including a copy of Ramus’s Arithmetices (1569) annotated by Ramus himself. Many of these volumes were acquired by the Saint Louis University faculty member Walter J. Ong, whose work on literacy and orality originated with studies of Peter Ramus and the rhetorical tradition. Walter Ong’s personal annotated copy of his Ramus and Talon Inventory is part of the collections.

Gutenberg Bible Leaf

Spiritual Journeys: Books Illustrating the First Two Centuries of Contemplation and Action of the Society of Jesus

Early Church Fathers and their Influence on Christianity

Eloquentia Perfecta: Persuasion and Performance in Jesuit Schools

Atheist at the Machine: Early Soviet Anti-Religious Propaganda Posters

The Binder's Art