A private, nonprofit institution, The Huntington was founded in 1919 by Henry E. Huntington. The Library’s collection of rare books and manuscripts in the fields of British and American history and literature is nothing short of extraordinary. For qualified scholars, The Huntington is one of the largest and most complete research libraries in the United States in its fields of specialization. For the general public, the Library has on display some of the finest rare books and manuscripts of Anglo-American civilization. Altogether, there are about 6 million items.

The University of Manchester Library is one of only five National Research Libraries in the United Kingdom. With more than 4 million printed books and manuscripts, over 36,000 electronic journals and 500,000 electronic books, as well as several hundred databases, the Library is one of the best-resourced academic libraries in the country.

The Kent History and Library Centre, Maidstone is purpose built to protect and give people access to their archive material. The Centre holds an extensive collection of historic material relating to the ancient county of Kent and its people. The collections, which include manuscript material, dating back to 699 AD, illustrations, maps and other printed material, can be accessed in the Centre’s searchroom and via the online catalogue.

Founded in 1610, Lambeth Palace Library is the historic library of the Archbishops of Canterbury and the principal library and record office of the Church of England. Its collections date from the 9th century to the present day and focus on ecclesiastical history, but also document a great variety of topics from the history of art and architecture to political history. The collections are freely available for research. 

To learn more about the National Library of Scotland, please visit their website. We are grateful to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland for permission to reproduce images of William Drummond's "Bookes read be me anno 1606." To learn more about the Society, please visit their website.

The Rare Book & Manuscript Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the largest repositories for rare books and manuscripts in the United States.  The collections—nearly half a million volumes and three kilometers of manuscript material—are strong in the broad areas of literature, history, art, theology, philosophy, technology, and the natural sciences.

The William Salt Library is a registered charity (no. 528570) and is supported by Staffordshire County Council. It is administered by an independent trust and run in close conjunction with the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service. The Library is supported by the Friends of the William Salt Library, who assist the Library's preservation program, and help with improvements to the Library's facilities in terms of purchase of stock, improvements to storage facilities and conservation.

Hatfield House is the home of the 7th Marquess and Marchioness of Salisbury and their family. The Estate has been in the Cecil family for 400 years, the house having been completed in 1611. It was built by Robert Cecil, first Earl of Salisbury and son of Lord Burghley, the chief minister of Elizabeth I. The deer park surrounding the house and the older building of the Old Palace had been owned by Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, who had used it as a home for his children, Edward, Elizabeth and Mary.

The Centre for Research Collections (CRC) provides access to the University of Edinburgh’s cultural and heritage collections, including Special Collections (rare books, manuscripts, archives) and Museums (art, historic musical instruments). The Centre is located within the University’s Main Library and cares for over 400,000 rare books and manuscripts.

The Archive at Dulwich College contains rare printed books and diverse collections of manuscripts. The most important are probably the Henslowe and Alleyn papers relating to the Elizabethan and Stuart theatres. Philip Henslowe was Edward Alleyn’s father-in-law, together they ran the Fortune, Rose and Hope Theatres and the Bear Gardens and the Paris Gardens (also for bear baiting). They employed Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson to write plays for the Admiral’s Men, the playing company in which they were shareholders.