On the second floor of the E.H. Little Library, in the north corner toward the College Union, you’ll find two paneled wooden doors with lettering above them reading, Smith Rare Book Room. What’s behind those doors? And, what is the history of the room? The room was named in honor of four brothers, all Davidson College graduates, Dr. Henry Louis Smith (President of Davidson College, 1901-1912), Dr. Egbert Watson Smith, Dr. Charles Alphonso Smith, and Dr. Hay Watson Smith. It houses the rare books and manuscripts belonging to the college, as well as some artifacts, with materials dating as early as 1250 BC and as recent as last year.
The original Smith Rare Rook Room was located in the Grey Memorial Library, and was dedicated on May 9, 1964. It was sometimes referred to as the “Treasure Room” since it housed many books which were considered “treasures” by the college including The 35 volume mid 1700s French Encyclopédie edited by Denis Diderot; a first edition of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, published in 1668; nearly 100 works from the Golden Cockerel Press, donated by Dr. Harold Marvin; an incunable, printed in 1492, of the Works of Seneca; a manuscript Horae (or Book of Hours) made in France around 1500; and a Bible, printed in Arabic in 1811, and owned by Omar Ibn Sayyid. Many of the early acquisitions for the Rare Book Room were donations, often personal collections of the donors.
The materials in the Rare Book Room are often used for research, either by students or by independent scholars, and the space, newly renovated during the summer, has been the location for special events, including the annual “Ghost Stories in the Library.”
There is a display case that houses a rotating display of items in the collection.
Although currently we are unable to invite classes into the Rare Book Room, we’re looking forward to doing that again soon!
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