|
Robbins Library |
|
History |
Robbins Library is the Department's small philosophy library on the second floor of Emerson Hall. It was founded in 1905, by a gift from Reginald C. Robbins (A.B. 1892). [1] Our collection is a snapshot of the development of Anglo-American philosophy from the late 19th century to the early 21st century.
Many prominent figures who have taught in, or who were associated with, the department over the years have donated books to our collection. It is not unusual to find a book that had previously been owned and annotated by William James, George Santayana, Rudolph Carnap, or C.S. Peirce, for example, on our shelves.
Benjamin Rand (A.B. 1879, A.M. 1880, Ph.D. 1885) was the first dedicated librarian of Robbins Library, from 1906 to 1934. Rand wrote and edited a number of works of philosophy, including the Locke/Clarke correspondence and the works of Shaftesbury. He was also involved with the creation of the B Class (Philosophy, Psychology, and Religion) of the Library of Congress Classification system, which is still in use today.
In its early days, the use of Robbins Library was restricted to advanced students in the department and "members of the Philosophical Seminaries" [2]. Students taking introductory courses were not permitted to use Robbins; instead, they were directed to find their reading and research materials in Gore Hall, the predecessor to Widener Library.
Currently, all Harvard students, faculty, staff, and affiliates may use Robbins Library, although our collection remains non-circulating, as it was back in 1906.
To read a longer history of Robbins Library, please click here. |
|
[1] The Development of Harvard University Since the Inauguration of President Eliot, 1869-1929. (1930). S.E. Morison, Ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press: 31. Robbins was an interesting figure -- poet, amateur philosopher, composer, volunteer naval officer, historian, conservationist, and naturalist -- as his obituary in the Memorial Minutes of the Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association, Vol. 29. (1955-1956), pp. 116-117, indicates. (Harvard ID and PIN required to access this.)
[2] "Philosophical Seminaries" were advanced courses open only to graduate students and "specialists." First offered after the reform of Harvard's curriculum by President C.W. Eliot in the late nineteenth-century, they are the equivalent of today's graduate seminars. Please see Rand, B. (1929). Philosophical Instruction in Harvard University from 1636-1906. Boston: Harvard Graduates Magazine Association, 36-38, for more information. For the information about Robbins' access policies in its early days, please see the 15 February 1906 edition of The Harvard Crimson. |
| Back to top |
Hours |
As a general rule: hours may vary at the beginning and end of term, since staffing schedules have to be re-adjusted to accommodate the course and exam schedules of library employees. Please call ahead to confirm hours, if you are unsure.
During term, the Library is closed on weekends, as well as all university holidays and vacations. |
| Robbins is closed for the summer from 18 May 2013 - 2 September 2013. After 28 June 2013, there will be no access to the collection until further notice. |
| Please note that there will be no access to the collection after 28 June 2013 until further notice. |
| Back to top |
Policies |
Non-circulation policy: Robbins a non-circulating research library that focuses its collection on the teaching and research interests of the Department faculty and graduate students. Books and other materials may not leave Robbins for any reason, other than to make copies across the hall from the library -- no exceptions.
Reserves: Additionally, many of the Department's course reserve materials are located here, in the rear of the library near the Librarian's desk. These may be signed out at the main desk for perusal or copying in Emerson Hall. They may not, for any reason, leave Emerson Hall -- no exceptions.
Laptops: You are welcome to bring laptops, as Emerson Hall has wireless Internet access.
Donations: As a rule, we cannot accept unsolicited monographs, videos, and other materials for the collection because of our limited shelving space.
Also, given that the languages used for research in the Department are English, German, French, Latin, and classical Greek, materials in languages other than these five will not be considered for addition to the collection.
Other donations will be considered on a case-by-case basis. |
| Back to top |
Librarian |
The new department librarian will be announced soon! Please check back for details. |
| Back to top |
Collection |
Most of Robbins's collection can be located by searching the University's On-Line Catalog, HOLLIS. Our books are cataloged and arranged according to the Library of Congress classification scheme. The majority of the collection falls under the B Class. We also have materials which fall under the subsequent classes, C through T.
At present, the collection is strongest in Anglo-American and analytic philosophy. We do have some works in Continental and Eastern philosophy, but our holdings are not extensive in these areas.
We also subscribe to approximately 50 philosophical journals. |
Special Collections |
| Bechtel Materials |
Edwin D.T. Bechtel (A.B. 1903, A.M. 1904, J.D. 1908) was a prominent lawyer and generous benefactor of the department. Robbins is proud to house his collection of philosophy books.
The non-philosophical items in the Bechtel collection include Bechtel's undergraduate and master's theses, along with clippings, photos, and other things from his student years and adult life. Prominent among these are a letter from Franklin D. Roosevelt (with whom Bechtel clerked at Carter, Ledyard & Milburn), photographs of and ephemera from his tour of Europe in 1904, and materials from his time at Harvard. |
| Dissertations |
| We have hard copies of doctoral dissertations from the 1980s going forward, although our set is not complete. A few dissertations from earlier years are also available for perusal. For a complete set of dissertations, please consult the Harvard University Archives. |
| Kiekegaardiana |
| Robbins holds approximately 200 volumes of primary and secondary sources by and about Søren Kierkegaard, and some works by people connected with Kierkegaard, e.g., Rasmus Nielsen and H.L. Martensen. |
| Royce Collection Materials |
| Some of Josiah Royce's books, including old editions of Kant, Husserl, Hegel, Cudworth, Wolff, among others, can be found in Robbins, along with offprints of articles that Royce published during his lifetime. |
| Back to top |
|
