Rare Books | SUNY Oswego

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Our rare books are considered rare for a variety of reasons. Some of them are quite old, like the Vita Avrelii Avgvstini pictured below. Others might be unusually shaped or sized, like The Child's Bible, also pictured below. Some of them are simply rare because there are not very many copies of them.

You can learn more about some of our rare books below, or browse the full list of our rare books. If you'd like to see any of them in person, please come visit us!

The Child's Bible with PlatesThe Child's Bible is a little over two inches tall. As the title suggests, it contains Bible stories intended for children. The book was published in 1834.The photograph above shows the title page of the book. On the opposite page, there is an illustration of children reading a book. The text below the illustration reads, "There are the Bears tearing the children. Oh what wicked children they were! [See page 94."

Vita Avrelii Avgvstini, ecclesiae doctoris (an approximate translation is "The Life of Aurelius Augustine, Doctor of the Church") Aurelius Augustine, now called Augustine of Hippo, is known for blending philosophy and Christian theology, and is regarded as an important voice in both areas. This biography of Augustine was written in 1634, but not much is known about the author. The illustration above depicts what appears to be a dog, several serpents (including a man wearing what appears to be a wreath of serpents), and a satyr.

Panoramic alphabet (Letter A) This accordion style booklet contains 24 pages. Each page has a stylized letter along with illustrations of animals and items that begin with that latter. Watercolor was added to the illustrations. The illustration for the letter 'A' contains illustrations of an anchor, an ass (donkey), an acorn, an avocet, and two unlabeled illustrations.

(Letter B) The illustration for the letter 'B', also from the Panoramic Alphabet, contains illustrations of a bat, a bee, a butterfly and a bear, as well as two unlabeled illustrations. Again, watercolor was added to the illustrations.