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.
First-time researchers can request materials and schedule visits by creating a Special Collections Research Account. Returning researchers can schedule an appointment by making requests with their research account. After receiving your request, a Fisher Fine Arts Library staff member will contact you to schedule an appointment.
Please wait for your appointment confirmation before coming to the Fine Arts Library to view special collections.
For additional assistance making a research account, making requests, or scheduling your visit, please email us at finearts@pobox.upenn.edu.
Researchers can request materials from the online catalog. Some special collections materials are housed at LIBRA, the Penn Libraries' offsite research annex. These items require additional time for retrieval. Please submit your request at least one week ahead of your visit to ensure that your items are in the library when you arrive.
Please bring a current, valid photographic ID. Your ID card will be held in our staff office during your visit.
Phones, cameras, laptops, tablets, and any charging cables are permitted. Paper and pencils are available by request.
Following Penn Libraries' established procedures, we require that you leave backpacks, briefcases, bags, etc. in a secure place within the library, that you work in a designated area and that you use only pencil (we can provide one) when working around the material.
No food or drink is allowed when using special collections items. Flash photography is prohibited.
Researchers are asked to arrive with clean hands. Fine Arts Library staff will provide instruction on the proper handling of collection materials. Book cradles and weights will be provided when appropriate.
All materials will be consulted in a supervised area of our reading room. You can request to see as many books as you like during one library visit, but you will receive them one or two at a time.
For more information about G. Holmes Perkins and the evolution of the rare book collection, please refer to William Keller's chapter, "Architecture Books in the Service of Learning: Persuasion and Argument in the Perkins Library," from The Penn Library Collections at 250 (University of Pennsylvania Library, 2000).
