Guides: ARTH 1060-001: Rare Books for Architect and History: About the Perkins Rare Book Library

The Fisher Fine Arts Library's rare books room, formally called the Perkins Rare Books Library, is a collection of monuments of architectural publishing. It is located on the main level of the Fine Arts Library and holds approximately three thousand rare books as well as drawings and historic maps. The foundation of the collection is the single great book of Vitruvius Pollio (ca. 90-20 B.C.E.) together with works by the five figures from the Renaissance period: Alberti, Scamozzi, Serlio, Vignola, and Palladio. The original collection was established in 1965 by G. Holmes Perkins who served as Dean of Penn's Graduate School of Fine Arts (as it was known then) from 1951 to 1971.

Rare Book Room Guide

For more information on the room, the history of the collection, how to request to view rare books, and how to handle them see our guide.

Handling Rare Books

When using special/rare collections, please:

Wash and dry your hands thoroughly before touching the book. Even if your hands are clean, they have oils that can soil the pages.
Use the cradles provided by staff. If the size of the book is not conducive to use of a cradle, we will ask you to keep the books flat on a level surface, even if it is possible to hold it in your hands.
Use only pencil for writing notes in your notebook.
Take great care in turning pages - do not thumb through them as you would a regular text.
Do not point in the text with any implement, only your finger.

For further instruction, watch the University of Glasgow Archive Services and Special Collections department's video on how to handle bound volumes or speak with one of our librarians.