11. The Frank W. Tober Collection on Literary Forgery (University of Delaware)
The Tober collection on literary forgery deals, naturally enough, with authors who published (or attempted to publish) works that were not their own. Perhaps the most famous of these was
Clifford Irving, who attempted to publish a forged autobiography of Howard Hughes. There are many other interesting pieces in this collection however, including Shakespeare forgers, as well as a great deal of reference material on the subject of literary forgery. More:
Forging a Collection: The Frank W. Tober Collection on Literary Forgery
10. John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection (Cleveland Public Library)
The John G. White chess and checkers collection claims to the largest chess library in the world. It includes instruction books, chess problems, Asian and European chess manuscripts, treatises on the game of chess, tournament records, and chess periodicals. It also includes dozens of chess sets that document the historical and artistic development of chess pieces throughout history. The collection altogether has over 30,000 manuscripts, documents, images, etc., many of which are extremely rare. More:
John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection
9. UCLA Film And Television Archive
It’s fitting of course that a
college in LA would have a special collection centered around film. UCLA’s collection is the largest of any
university in the world, and includes over 220,000 titles and an incredible 27 million feet of newsreel footage. UCLA provides onsite access to its holdings after making a viewing appointment, and the university provides over 200 special public screenings a year. More:
UCLA Film And Television Archive
8. The George Arents Collection on Tobacco (New York Public Library)
The George Arents tobacco collection encompasses over one hundred years of collecting by George Arents. The collection includes almost any kind of work dealing with tobacco, even works with only incidental mentions. There are many hundreds of interesting prints, as well as literature and historical works. More:
The George Arents Collection on Tobacco