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The University of Southampton
Special Collections

With around 7 million manuscript items and 50,000 printed books, the Special Collections provide a resource of remarkable richness and depth. Within the Archives and Manuscripts are the papers of the first Duke of Wellington, third Viscount Palmerston, and papers for the foundation of the states of India and Pakistan in the archive of Earl Mountbatten of Burma. Southampton is also home to one of the largest Jewish archives in Western Europe. Printed collections of note are the Parkes Library on Jewish/non-Jewish relations, the Cope Collection on Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, the Perkins Agricultural Library and the Wellington Pamphlets.

18 September 2023

Wellington Congress 2025 Call for Papers

The University of Southampton will be holding its Eighth Wellington...

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18 August 2020

Special Collections guest stars on the Uni...

Find out what Special Collections have been up to during lockdown a...

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Printed Collections

Find out about the Special Collections printed collections, including the Cope Collection, Parkes Library and the rare book material.

Digital Library

The Digital Library gives access to online digital collections.

Special Collections Blog

The Special Collections blog is updated regularly with posts about our collections, as well as current news, events and exhibitions.

University Library

The University Library has a comprehensive collection of books and journals, both electronic and print, plus a range of services to support teaching and research across all areas of the University.

Special Collections Blog

Fri, 01 Dec 2023

Palmerston: E is for Egypt

This week we continue our P-A-L-M-E-R-S-T-O-N Places series with ‘E’ f...

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Thu, 16 Nov 2023

Palmerston: M is for Mexico

As we reach the fourth in our P-A-L-M-E-R-S-T-O-N series we turn to M ...

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Wed, 01 Nov 2023

Palmerston: L is for London

About 5 o’clock a rush was made down Grosvenor Place + to Belgra...

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