Texas A&M Joins Rare Books World as Major Player

Most of the 4 million volumes in the Texas A&M University Libraries are readily available to students, faculty and staff on campus and elsewhere, but a growing number of books are quite rare. These volumes attract scholars and researchers from throughout the nation and require special handling.

Such is the two-volume acquisition that prompted Nicholas Basbanes, an award-winning author, journalist and rare-books specialist to declare the university has joined the rare books world as a major player. Basbanes spoke at Texas A&Ms celebration of its 4 millionth volume, which focused on what he called the exceedingly rare copy of the almost 400-year-old Barcelona edition of "Don Quixote de la Mancha" by Miguel de Cervantes. The 1617 edition is the first to include both parts of "Don Quixote," which Basbanes describes as the worlds most consequential work of fiction.

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http://tamunews.tamu.edu/archives/article.php?articleid=7757&month=5&...

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Education

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• rare
• books
• archives
• library
• Cushing
• Don Quixote
• Texas A&M University