John Carter Brown LibraryCollection of 50,000 rare books (printed before ca. 1825), manuscripts, and 16,000 reference books and secondary sources (printed after ca. 1825) is distinguished in many subject areas. Most well-known, perhaps, are the Library’s extensive holdings in the literature of European exploration and travel in the Western Hemisphere, from the first Latin edition of the Columbus letter of 1493, through nearly all of the contemporary narratives of Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, and English discovery, exploration, and settlement.
