Preserving the Written Word

Rare books include English, American, Italian, and French architectural books from the 1600s to the late 1800s; American builders’ guides, house pattern books, and decorating manuals from the late 1700s and 1800s; works on landscape architecture.

Reference collection includes works on architecture, furniture, decorative arts, domestic life, New England material culture, art history, photography, preservation, transportation, industry, local histories, biographies, genealogies, and diaries of New England figures and families. Periodicals from the 1800s to today focus on architecture and design, decorative arts, household management, preservation, and local history.