Notable Collections

This collection contains thousands of comics and graphic novels in multiple languages, with a strength in standalone graphic novels, LGBTQ comics, and published editions of webcomics.

The Libraries purchases mass market, local and academic cookbooks as they are published, which build on the special collections in Kislak and circulate to support interests both recreational and academic.

The East Asia Comics Collection embodies the Libraries’ strategic priorities to collect and preserve global voices, and to make accessible materials related to borders and belonging. 

Penn is home to the largest library collection of Frisian-language literature outside of Europe.

The process of German (re-)unification, which began in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall, is the subject of several hundreds of materials in the Van Pelt Library collection.

The Gotham Book Mart was a vital bookstore in the New York literary scene from its creation in 1920 to its closing in 2006.

The University of Pennsylvania has an important role in the early history of modern computing. Collections in this field are significant and include early materials from John W. Mauchly as well as contemporary research.

The Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library focuses on Shakespeare’s works, their history and theatrical context, and the long tradition of Shakespearian criticism.

Penn Libraries’ collection of Indigenous children’s literature from Latin America is modest but notable.