Rare Books

The Pitts Theology Library’s rare book holdings contain books printed prior to 1860 and pamphlets printed prior to 1945 as well as materials of particular historical significance and materials of particular importance to this library, Candler School of Theology, or Emory University. In addition, the library’s rare books holdings contain first edition materials related to the library’s collection strengths, including source materials relating to the German Reformation, hymnals, materials about the Wesley family and the early history of Methodism, North European theological dissertations, writings by Thomas Merton, works on English church history and local English church guides. The total number of rare books exceeds 130,000, or 20%, of the library’s total holdings. The library’s rare books holdings are continually expanding and have grown by an average of 2,400 titles per year over the past 10 years.

The Cradle of Printing: Books from the 15th Century

Incunables or incunabula—the Latin word for “swaddling clothes” or “cradle”—is   the designation for the earliest printed books in the Western world, produced prior to the 16thcentury. Beginning with Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century, the use of movable type printing led to unparalleled advances in learning as well as commerce and changed the entire course of Western civilization.

Early printed books had a unique appearance. They lacked title pages and made use of ligatures and abbreviation conventions that were common in the production of hand-written texts. They were often rubricated or illuminated after they were printed, giving them the appearance of medieval manuscripts rather than books as we have come to know them.

Pitts Theology Library holds 100 incunables, and the oldest of these in our collection is a 1470 printing of Eusebius’ De Evangelica Preparatione, issued less than 20 years after the publication of the Gutenberg Bible.