McIntyre Library owns a Rare Book Collection, as well as copies of master's theses from past years.

Rare Books

The Rare Book Collection consists of about 2,800 published volumes that are either rare, limited editions, or examples of fine print. British and American fiction are well represented.

Master's Theses

One copy of each UW-Eau Claire master's thesis is deposited in Special Collections and must be used in the reading room. There is a circulating copy of most theses in the main stacks of McIntyre Library.

All materials must be used in the Special Collections reading room and are not available for check-out.

Highlights of the Rare Book Collection

• Huckleberry Finn, 1st ed., 1st printing (1885), with an original letter from Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) to one of his publishers tipped inside the front cover
• Volumes autographed by Edith Wharton, Washington Irving, Eugene O'Neill, Joseph Conrad, and others
• Numerous 1st editions by John Muir, Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, etc.
• The oldest volume was published in Venice in 1535: Summa confessionis intitulata Pacifica Conscientia, by Pacifico da Cerano (BX 2264 .P23 1535)
• Beautifully illustrated works, including Le Costume Historique, Paris, 1888, 6 vols., with amazing color illustrations (GT 513 .R2); The Dore Gallery (NC 1135 .D73 oversize); Picturesque Egypt by G. Ebers, 1885, 2 vols (DT 46 .E16 1885 oversize); Picturesque America, 1872, 2 vols (E 168 .B892 1872 oversize); Picturesque World, 1883, 3 vols (G 138 .C66 1883 oversize); Women in French Art by George William Sheldon, 1890, 2 vols (ND 547 .S52 oversize); Pictorial History of the World by John Frost, 1848 (D 20 .F7 1848); Facsimile of the Gutenberg Bible
• Complete set of the 73-volume Jesuit Relations
• Fine print editions