Special Collections

A Recent Acquisition: Consider the Abacus

Special Collections’ newest acquisition is a six-volume treatise on computational instruments and techniques written in Chinese.

Related: Special Collections

From Text to Artifact: Teaching the Constitution in the Renovated Posner Center

Associate Professor of History Scott Sandage is no stranger to the Carnegie Mellon University Special Collections. For several years now, he’s used the resources in the collections — specifically a rare printing of the U.S. Bill of Rights, one of only five extant copies — as a tool to help students engage more deeply in his course “U.S. Constitution and the Presidency.” Sandage’s class examines specific powers granted to the president by the Constitution, and how presidents like Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt expanded the powers of the presidency. The Bill of Rights is central to the class. But with the reopening of the newly renovated Posner Center in fall 2025, the experience of teaching — and learning — with Special Collections has taken on new depth. The updated space enabled Sandage to build a layered, immersive experience — one that brought students back multiple times to learn from experts, examine rare materials up close, and actively debate the Constitution’s meaning.

Event Recording: Fine and Rare VI: Rare Books and Ancestral Machines

On January 22, the University Libraries hosted “Fine and Rare VI: Rare Books and Ancestral Machines.” At the virtual event, Curator of Special Collections Sam Lemley invited attendees inside the newly renovated Posner Center for Special Collections, a cabinet of rarities and technological marvels where paper-and-string cipher machines, centuries-old books, cogwheel computers, and nineteenth-century “digital” images sit side by side. A recording of the event is now available.

Renovated Posner Center Welcomes Students into Special Collections

After a major renovation, the Posner Center for Special Collections at the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries has opened its doors once more — this time as a vibrant hub for teaching, research, and public engagement. Within just days of reopening, students from across CMU and the University of Pittsburgh became the first to test the possibilities of the new space, engaging directly with rare books, archival materials, and historic technologies.

CMU Libraries Unveils the Newly Renovated Posner Center for Special Collections with Inaugural Exhibition “Rare Books & Ancestral Machines”

Carnegie Mellon University Libraries opened the doors of the newly-renovated Posner Center for Special Collections on December 2 with its inaugural exhibition “Rare Books & Ancestral Machines.”

CMU Libraries Announces Special Collections Short-Term Research Fellowships

Carnegie Mellon University Libraries and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation are pleased to announce four fellowships to support original research and creative work in CMU’s rare and distinctive collections, hosted jointly by the Posner Center for Special Collections and Hunt Institute. Fellowship applications are now open, and close on January 11, 2026.

Posner Center Renovation Reimagines Space for Special Collections

Special Collections, CMU’s repository for rare books, manuscripts, and early calculating devices and cryptographic machines, is a unique campus resource that illuminates the history of science and technology. Thanks to an $8 million commitment from the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, the University Libraries is transforming the Posner Center into a dedicated Special Collections library, updating and expanding the space in order to engage the CMU and greater Pittsburgh community on a wider scale.

Remembering Julia Parsons

The Carnegie Mellon University Libraries community was saddened to hear that Julia Parsons, a 1942 general studies graduate of Margaret Morrison Carnegie College and US Navy code breaker during World War II, passed away on April 18, 2025 at the age of 104 years old.

Event Recording: Fine and Rare V: New Acquisitions in Libraries Special Collections

On March 20, the University Libraries hosted “Fine and Rare V: New Acquisitions in Libraries Special Collections.” At the virtual event, Curator of Special Collections Sam Lemley introduced some of the notable historical treasures in the collections. A recording of the event is now available.

Posner Foundation Commits $8 Million to CMU Libraries Special Collections

The Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh has announced an $8 million commitment to support the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries Special Collections — the university’s repository for rare books, manuscripts, and early calculating devices and cryptographic machines.