Our collections

Browse the A-Z name index for print and archive collections held at the University of Leeds Special Collections.

An introduction to the University's Art Collection, held by Special Collections.

A guide to the Art and Antique Dealers’ Collections held in Special Collections.

Zygmunt Bauman was Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Leeds. He is celebrated as one of the greatest thinkers of recent times. His first wife Janina Bauman was a noted author.

Known as the Brotherton Collection of Manuscript Verse (BCMSV) this index contains detailed information on 6,600 English poems from more than 160 17th and 18th century manuscripts held in Special Collections.

A guide to the coin collection held in Special Collections.

The Cookery collection dates from 1487 to the 21st century. It is made up of nearly 10,000 printed volumes and contains over 140 manuscript recipe and household books.

A guide to using the Maurice de Sausmarez Archive in Special Collections at the University of Leeds. The Archive documents de Sausmarez's life and work as an artist, writer and influential art educator.

English Literature collections held in Special Collections have extensive coverage of 17th to 21st century print, manuscript and archives.

The Feminist Archive North holds a wide variety of material relating to the Women's Liberation Movement from 1969 to the present day.

The Gypsy, Traveller and Roma Collections consist of separate collections that reference a variety of both ethnic (eg Romany/Irish Traveller) and non-ethnic (eg New Traveller) communities with a nomadic culture, history or lifestyle.

The Herbert Read Collection is comprised of the Library and Archive of Herbert Read, First World War poet, art historian, editor, publisher, novelist and literary critic.

We hold over 300 incunabula, that is, books printed in Europe before 1501. Most of these are in the Brotherton Collection, with another 40 items on deposit from Ripon Cathedral Library and one incunabulum in the Cookery Collection.

Formerly known as ULITA, the International Textile Collection is an exemplary collection of world textiles, rich in embroideries, weaves, resists and prints from around the world.

The Leeds Animation Workshop archive, held in Leeds Unversity Special Collections, documents the history and workings of Britain’s first all-female led animation collective beginning in 1978.

A guide to the Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture (LAVC) which features archives relating to the Survey of English Dialects (SED) and the University's Institute of Dialect and Folk Life Studies (IDFLS).

The Leeds General Cemetery Company was established in 1833, to provide and maintain a burial ground in Leeds on St George's Fields. The extensive records provide a valuable source for family and social historians.

A guide to the collections deposited by the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society in Special Collections.

We have extensive archives of poets who have a relationship with the University of Leeds. These include manuscripts, correspondence and recordings capturing the creative process and working life of a poet.

The Leeds Russian Archive is a major international resource for the study of Anglo-Russian relations in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The letters index is a finding aid to the substantial holdings of manuscript correspondence held in Special Collections. Correspondence is particularly strong in literary, political and scientific subjects, representing over 100,000 letters.

Guide to LGBTQ+ material within Special Collections, Leeds University Libraries.

The Liddle Collection includes the personal papers of well over 4,000 people who lived through the First World War, and approximately 500 who experienced the Second World War.

Providing information and guidance on manorial documents held by Special Collections and how to use these resources.

We hold medieval manuscripts dating from the 12th century to the 15th century. There are some 50 bound volumes and a considerable quantity of historical documents. Half of the volumes contain illumination or similar decoration.

The Novello Cowden Clarke Collection represents the activities of an extraordinary Anglo-Italian family of artists, musicians, writers, publishers and actors during the long nineteenth century.

The University of Leeds Special Collections is the main repository for Yorkshire Quaker Archives. Collections include the official records of meeting houses and those of prominent Quaker families.

A guide to collections featuring Rudolf Laban held in Special Collections.

A guide to the audiovisual material from this production archive, held in Special Collection.

The University of Leeds Archive was set up in 1977 to preserve the records of the University of Leeds and its predecessor bodies. The records date from 1834 to the present day and are held in a paper and digital format.

Women's Aid Federation of England is a domestic abuse charity that works as the national coordinating body for local refuges and domestic abuse services in England.

A guide to the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society collection held in Special Collections.