University of Illinois RBML

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Rare Book & Manuscript Library at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Main Library 346 | https://www.library.illinois.edu/rbx/ Follow us on Instagram (illinois_rbml) and Facebook (IllinoisRBML)!

Image of a partial game board titled "A New, Moral, and Entertaining Game of THE REWARD OF MERIT."
Illustration of the “Ouroboros," which depicts a snake eating its own tail.
Hand holding open a miniature book, showing the well-known passage of the Declaration of Independence that begins "We hold these Truths to be self-evident..."
Poetry broadside of "The Ballad of the Free" by Margaret Walker superimposed over a shaded background.
Illustration of football players titled "The Dribbling Game."
High-relief papier-mâché binding with a terra cotta cameo of Shakespeare.
Image of "In Flanders Fields" superimposed on an image of poppies and other flowers.
Book opened to colored title page.
Photo of Henry Blakely III, Nora Brooks Blakely, Keziah C. Wims Brooks, and Gwendolyn Brooks outside Assembly Hall.
Three people posing with their fore-edge paintings.
Cover to an artist's book reading "Konglish" in blue and white letters on a white background.
Image of books with painted edges.
Graphic with text: "Come craft with us! Splendid Spredges. Thursday, May 7th, 3-5 pm in the RBML. Bring along your own book or sketchbook, and paint the edges with our craft supplies! Books that are at least one inch thick will work best with our stencils. Historical fore-edge paintings from the RBML collection will also be on display in our Reading Room. This activity is free and open to everyone!"
A color map of the United States from the East Coast to the western Missouri Territory using colors to denote different soil types.
Left: Letter to "GMHC Supporter" from Madonna. Right: AIDS Dance-A-Thon flyer featuring artwork by Keith Haring.
Graphic with text: "Your 2026 RBML Madness Winner: Clay tablet with Sumerian cuneiform script, ca. 2200 BCE. Shelfmark: F. Pre-1650 MS 0272."
Graphic with Text: "What is this Place? An Exploration of the RBML and Its Collections—A Pop Up Exhibit." On Display at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library. April 1st–30th."
Graphic with text: "Global Book History Lecture: Textual Materiality in the Medieval World. Friday, April 17 3-5pm in the RBML. Dr. Warren C. Brown (Caltech). This talk is free and open to all audiences!"
Image of a hand holding a small wooden pencil.
Graphic with text: "RBML Madness 2026."
Graphic with text: "Dr. Anastassios Antonaras. Of Colored Glass: Luxury, Loss, and Imitation from Antiquity to Byzantium. Thursday, March 26, 3-5 pm in the RBML. Learn about the emergence of Byzantine glass as a powerful medium of splendor, authority, and sacred presence. This talk is free and open to all audiences!"
Color illustration from "The Delafield Affair" featuring a man and woman on horseback in the American West, with the caption "It had come, this question she had not meant to let him ask."
Book open to display the chapter on "Hyivcca canedana" on the right page, and an illustration of the plant on the left.
Close-up of a black-and-white lithograph of a galloping horse wearing a saddle and bridle.
Photorealistic color drawing of a Whooping Crane.
"Dr. Elias Petrou. The Evolution of the Greek Book: From Byzantine Manuscripts to Renaissance Incunabula. Thursday, February 26, 3-5 pm in the RBML. Learn about the evolution and transmission of the Greek book from East to West, and how this inherited book culture was transformed through the new technology of print. This talk is free and open to all audiences!"
Photo of the Broadside Press storefront with a 10th Anniversary book display.
Image of the bottom half of a page with a handwritten book curse in Latin.
Graphic with text: "RBML presents a virtual talk by Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas. 'Into the Dark Forest: Exploring Textual Representations of Enslavement in Children's Books and Comics.' Wednesday, January 28, 7:00 pm Central. Screenshot and click the QR or register at go.illinois.edu/DarkForest to receive the Zoom link. This program is free and all are welcome to attend!"
A signed letter with a Dexter Avenue Baptist Church letterhead from Martin Luther King Jr. to Prof. George Hendrick, dated February 5, 1957.
Crochet pattern for a "Marguerite Medallion."
Graphic with text: "Happy holidays from the Rare Book & Manuscript Library."
Title page for a Pride and Prejudice (1813) first edition, attributed to "the author of 'Sense and Sensibility'"
Graphic with text: "Reading Day Relaxation in the RBML. Color! Make a button! Snag a fresh lino print! Do a puzzle! Drink cider! Eat some treats! Thursday, Dec. 11. 3-5pm in RBML (346 Main Library)."
Graphic with text: "RBML will be closed on Thursday, 11/27 and Friday, 11/28 in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. We will reopen on Monday, 12/1."
Photo of book page titled "Latham's approved Medicines for all Hawks."
A page from a book featuring a black-and-white illustration titled "Bell Rock Lighthouse." The illustration shows a lighthouse partially obscured by tall waves, with the light shining brightly. Below the illustration is a handwritten poem titled "Pharos Loquitor" that reads: "Far in the bosom of the deep / O'er these wild shelves my watch I keep / A Ruddy gem of changeful light / Bound on the dusky brow of Night / The Seaman bids my lustre hail / And scorns to strike his timorous sail."
Graphic with text: "RBML author talk and book signing with Dr. Emily Hauser: 'Finding the Female Voice in the Ancient World.' Monday, Nov. 17, 6-8 pm at the Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St. Urbana. Copies of Hauser's books will be available for purchase. This event is free and all are welcome to attend!"
Graphic with text: "The Rare Book & Manuscript Library will host an author talk and book signing with Gillen D'Arcy Wood: "The Wake of HMS Challenger: How a Legendary Victorian Voyage Tells the Story of Our Oceans' Decline." Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 3-5pm. Room 346, Main Library. Copies of the book will be available for purchase. This event is free and all are welcome to attend!"
Woodcut depicting skeletons dancing, playing instruments, and one rising from its grave.
Magnetic strips with words arranged to read "I worship believe in want for a thousand things" and "with my shineing I must bear truth."
Graphic with an image of the Catholicon partially enlarged by a magnifying glass and text: "The RBML presents a talk by Paul Needham. Gutenberg's Second Invention: The 1460 Mainz Catholicon. Thursday, October 23, 3-5pm in Main Library Room 346. More than 500 years after its printing, the production details of the Catholicon are still a much debated topic in incunabula research. Come learn about the most recently discovered clues with the subject's preeminent scholar, Paul Needham!"
A peepshow book depicting a conductor and an orchestra.
Gouache painting of Juliet kneeling over Romeo's body while holding a dagger.
An engraved illustration showing a grid of 24 different hand gestures, labeled with their meaning in Latin.
A time-lapse video of Marco Valladares, Exhibits Conservator, and Ana D. Rodriguez, Digitization Coordinator and Registrar, working on exhibit installation.
Graphic with text: "Sweetbitter: The Literary Legacies and Afterlives of Sappho. Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. 3-5 pm in the RBML. Opening reception featuring live dance and spoken word performances."
Sumerian cuneiform tablet in a custom enclosure.
Front page of a pamphlet distributed by the IWW with text, titled "Let's Act Union: What Sort of Union is the I.W.W. Asking You to Build?"
Book open to a page titled "The Scottish Terrier."
Drawings of H.G. and Catherine Wells riding a tandem bicycle.
View of the exhibit gallery with a bust of Gwendolyn Brooks in the foreground.
Book open to hand-colored map.
A three-dimensional page from a pop-up book featuring an illustration of Frog and Toad flying a kite against a background of clouds.
Book opened to highly illustrative title page
Disneyland plot plan, designed for W.E.D. Enterprises by Edward S. Held.
Text side of a telegram with printed text, sent by Marcel Proust.
Graphic with text: "The Rare Book & Manuscript Library will be closed on Friday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day."