The Rare Book Collection in Lupton Library includes over 5000 books, including many books dating back several centuries. Books known to be valuable and rare are also housed in the Rare Book Collection. These books are in a closed area of the Special Collections and the books are retrieved upon request. They are cataloged in the library catalog and used in the Special Collections.

Significant titles in the Rare Book Collection include the landmark first edition of The Dictionary of the English Language, by Dr. Samuel Johnson (London, 1755), and two plays by William Shakespeare, extracted from the 1623 2nd Folio: The Twelfth Night and Tymon of Athens.

Other rare books include the first edition to Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings, by Joel Chandler Harris (D. Appleton and Co., 1881, above, left); The Cricket on the Hearth, by Charles Dickens (London, 1841, above, middle); and A Dream of Fair Women, by Alfred Tennyson (London, Boston, 1880, above, right).

The Rare Book Collection also contains many Civil War books and rare regimental histories. Many of these were the result of a gift in the 1950s from the Lilly Foundation of Indianapolis, Indiana, marking Eli Lilly's service under John T. Wilder. These books can be searched in the library online catalog, using the title "General John T. Wilder Memorial Collection." Other books from this series can be found by searching the title "Charles R. and Anne Bachman Hyde Collection."

Local and Tennessee-themed books are also part of the collection. Books by local authors such as Robert Sparks Walker (1878-1960) and Emma Bell Miles (1879-1919) are housed in the Rare Book Collection, as are illustrated books by University alumnus and world-renowned illustrator, Barry Moser.

Due to these books' rarity, condition and value these books do not circulate but can be viewed in the Special Collections Reading Room.

For more information, call (423) 425-2186 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it