Special Collections is located at the Central Library at 400 Cathedral Street on the ground floor. As you enter the building go straight back to the end of the building and turn right. It is the first door on the left. Please note that the department is open by appointment only within the hours listed below.
Introduction
Looking for a daguerreotype of Edgar Allan Poe, or other Poe memorabilia, an Aaron Sopher watercolor, a signed book by Sigmund Freud, or a bookplate of Franklin Roosevelt's? These and thousands of other historically significant documents, rare books, and ephemera make up the Special Collections Unit of the State Library Resource Center (SLRC)/Enoch Pratt Free Library.
Special Collections provides access to the Library's unique collections to all Library customers. Reference can be obtained through walk-in, e-mail, and telephone requests. Researchers are encouraged to contact the Special Collections Librarian to arrange assistance or make an appointment to view materials.
Items in Special Collections include:
Featured Collection
The Jones sisters hand painted photographs
The Jones sisters were Miss Elsie Sluby, Miss Ida Webb and Miss Frances Isabelle. They were born in the 1870s and 1880s and lived together in and around Sykesville, MD. Inspired by their love of beauty and history they launched into a career of taking fine photographs of a variety of subjects, many local and handcoloring them with oil paints. Elsie took the photographs. Ida hand colored them, and Frances wrote the brief histories which accompanied the photographs.
Click here for the finding aid to the collection.
Policies
Access to the Collections
Photocopying
