Research university; library system with holdings in many areas
The University of Pennsylvania library system includes holdings in many areas, with 5.6 million printed volumes and archival collections spread among the main library and satellite subject libraries in biomedicine, chemistry, veterinary medicine, engineering, and math / physics / astronomy. Manuscript collections include the Edgar Fahs Smith Memorial Collection devoted to the history of chemistry, comprising early and modern works on chemistry, alchemy, early medicine and pharmacology, dyeing, metallurgy, mineralogy, and pyrotechnics; biographies of chemists; works on the chemical industry; and the history of chemical education. Other collections relating to science, technology and industry include: the records of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, 1785-1982; the John W. Mauchly Papers, comprising correspondence, documents, and research materials relating to the life and work of Mauchly (1907-1980), inventor of the first electronic digital computer; and the Samuel Wetherill Companies Records, business records, 1762-1899, of the store and White Lead Works founded by Samuel Wetherill in the late 18th century.
Rare Book and Manuscript Collections
University of Pennsylvania Museum Archives
Pennsylvania Hospital Historical Collections
Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania Archives and Records Center
The Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing
- 5.6 million printed volumes
- Subject libraries in chemistry, veterinary medicine, engineering, math/physics/astronomy and biomedicine
- 10,000 linear feet of manuscripts, including the Edgar Fahs Smith Collection in the History of Chemistry
