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The Huntington has acquired five extraordinary collections through the generosity of the Library Collectors’ Council, a group of supporters who help fund the purchase of new items to add to the Library’s holdings.
Historians long thought the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) was arrogant, xenophobic, and closed to the world. If it had been more open, they argued, China would have been able to counter the West. Recently, however, scholars have shown that the Qing were far more cosmopolitan, open, and connected than once believed.
An exploration of photography’s ecological dimensions provides an opportunity to reexamine the role that photography has played in documentation as well as environmental degradation. By examining photographs other than those of classic Western landscapes, we reconsider how Indigenous persons and settlers perceived and interacted with the environment.
Using the Library
Every year, researchers from over 30 countries make more than 20,000 visits to the Library’s reading rooms, and thousands more make use of the Library’s virtual services and digital collections.
About the Library
- One of the world’s largest collections of British medieval manuscripts, including the 15th-century Ellesmere manuscript of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
- One of 12 surviving copies on vellum of the Gutenberg Bible, the jewel of the second-largest collection of incunabula (15th-century printed books) in the United States.
- A leading repository for Americana, including extensive holdings for Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson, and such gems as the original manuscript of Franklin’s autobiography.
- Extensive collections on the American West, including the great 19th-century photographic surveys and original sources about overland migration, industry and transport, and Native Americans.