January 7 - March 1, 2002

The collection of books and materials that a local resident named William Wyles left to the University of California Santa Barbara in the 1940s formed the basis on which the Department of Special Collections was built. As the department grows, so does its original collection, formerly known as the Lincoln Library. Now containing over 35,000 books, periodicals, and manuscript materials, the Wyles Collection helps keep the memory of America’s 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, very much alive.

November 20 - December 31, 2001

This exhibit featured small press books selected by the Rounce and Coffin Club of Los Angeles.

Selected Photographs from the Lotte Lehmann Collection

October 8 - November 19, 2001

The life of a successful opera star is influenced not only by the roles an individual masters, but also by the contacts he or she makes within the profession.

August 1 - September 30, 2001

This exhibit highlighted Special Collections' extensive map collections.

April 16 - July 2001

This exhibit highlighted local authors' works in the Department of Special Collections. For more information on Santa Barbara authors and publishers, see our subject guide.

January 8 - April 15, 2001

This exhibit included selections from UCSB’s Department of Special Collections related to illuminated manuscripts. Various works on the history and development of the art of manuscript illumination (most from Special Collections’ Printers collection) were featured.

November 13 - December 31, 2000

The Department of Special Collections displayed the 1999 Western Books Exhibition. The 58th Annual travelling exhibit was sponsored by the Rounce & Coffin Club of Los Angeles.

August 21 - November 12, 2000

The William Wyles Collection contains a wide range of material dealing with the history of the West, mainly in the nineteenth century. Included in the collection are books, newspapers and magazines, maps, photographs, documents, correspondence, diaries, and artifacts.

The Neal J. Linson Family generously provided funding for a project to organize, preserve, and publicize the extensive Isla Vista resources held by the UCSB Department of Special Collections and other areas of the UCSB Library. This project was particularly interested in documenting events and issues concerning the Isla Vista community in the 1960s and 1970s, including student activism, reaction to U.S. involvement in Vietnam, and the 1970 burning of the Bank of America building.

July 3 - August 11, 2000

The Alternative Press Collection in the Department of Special Collections contains nearly 300 titles, mostly non-mainstream newspapers in their original form, from the late 1960s to the latter 1970s. Many of the newspapers are from California, but there also are numerous examples from other parts of the U.S. and a few issues from countries such as Great Britain and the Netherlands.