page_title: Rare Book & Manuscript Library
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Rare Book & Manuscript Library / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Chang Octagon Room in the Rare Book &amp; Manuscript Library at Butler Library.
context_page_description: The Rare Book & Manuscript Library is Columbia University's principal repository for special collections. Located in New York City on the university's Morningside Heights campus, its collections span more than 4,000 years, from early Mesopotamia to the present day, and span a variety of formats: cuneiform tablets, papyri, and ostraca, medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, early printed books, works of art, posters, photographs, realia, sound and moving image recordings, and born-digital archives. Areas of collecting emphasis include American history, Russian and East European émigré history and culture, Columbia University history, comics and cartoons, philanthropy and social reform, the history of mathematics, human rights advocacy, Hebraica and Judaica, Latino arts and activism, literature and publishing, medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, oral history, performing arts, and printing history and the book arts.
caption: The Chang Octagon in RBML
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