Ever since fire destroyed the Reverend John Harvard's library on a wintry night in 1764, College librarians have retained a penchant for preserving valuable books. Only 200 books from the 5000-volume collection originally bequeathed to the College survived the blaze which razed the first Harvard Hall in 1764. For generations, Harvard librarians have tried to restore all or parts of that collection with little or no success.

In the spirit of John Harvard's lost collection, over ten rare book libraries have been established over the years through the diligence of College librarians and benefactors.

Some of the rare book collections are highly sought by researchers, and in many cases represent some of the only remaining prints. Security measures vary in effectiveness, but curators are reluctant to discuss that aspect of their job. "It's hard to keep track of two million books," one curator notes.

Few universities can boast of the same extensive collections that Harvard has acquired. The age of the specialty field determines, to some extent, the size of each collection.

Most of the libraries have small staffs, usually with at least one member who specializes in book binding and restoration.

Though Harvard undergraduates are not frequent patrons of most of these collections, rare book aficionados can find out about Harvard's assemblage through catalogues circulated around the world. However, most do not have regular circulation. Only some professors and specialists in particular fields can touch these treasures.

Houghton

Houghton Library, the granddaddy of Harvard's rare book libraries, contains one of the world's most extensive collections--over 450,000 volumes. According to Hugh Amory '52, a curator at Houghton, the library collects any book printed before 1601, English books before 1701, and North American books printed prior to 1815.

Visitors to Houghton's Reading Room may request any book in the entire collection for closer inspection. But security is tight-not even pens are allowed in the Reading Room-and most of the other libraries follow the same procedure.

The room opens into a rotunda with wall to wall shelves of original works by such authors as John Donne, Samuel Coleridge, and Cotton Mather.

Also on the first floor in the ornate Exhibition Room are the library's "incunabula" or "cradle books" published between 1455 and 1501. These rarities demonstrate early printing shortly after the inception of the printing press. Houghton a staff includes a large staff of cataloguers and book binders. Houghton Library periodically puts together thematic displays in the Exhibition Room for visitors, as it did last month with one commemorating the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's birth.

The top floors of Houghton Library are reserved for specific collections-like the Emily Dickinson and John Keats Rooms, the Richardson Room of exquisite bookbindings, and the Hyde collection of Samuel Johnson's works.

While the library's forte is in French and English literature of the 17th century and in medieval manuscripts, it offers such diverse memorabilia as Leon Trotsky's personal papers, and original works by William and Henry James, James Joyce, Alexander Pope, and many more. One of Houghton's lesser known attributes is its autograph collection; a wall of well-known signatures is featured in the Houghton Collection-but not open for public display.

So voluminous is Houghton's assemblage of rare books that most of the prizes remain on the shelves, cloistered in special humidity controlled rooms away from scholars and students alike. One example of the diverse collection is the library's copy of a book written by James Monroe in 1797 which criticizes the first presidential administration. A personal copy belonging to George Washington, the book contains Washington's rebuttal of Monroe's arguments in the margins of the pages.

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