A white building with numerous pillars and a spanish tile roof with a green lawn in front.

Library

The Huntington Library is one of the world’s great independent research libraries, with some 12 million items spanning the 11th to the 21st century.

Every year, researchers from over 30 countries make more than 20,000 visits to the Library’s reading rooms, and thousands more remote researchers make use of the Library’s virtual services and digital collections. Some 75 Library staff members play a critical role in cultivating and expanding access to the collections, creating new opportunities for discovery and engagement, and ensuring that collections are preserved for the future.

Library News

What may be the first aerial photographs of Pasadena, captured in 1909, were the product of a risky—almost disastrous—undertaking. When photographer Harold A. Parker was on the balloon American, he took photos of the city from the air. But the journey became harrowing when the balloon flew off course.

The Huntington announces the appointment of Diego Godoy as the new associate curator of the Library’s California and Hispanic collections. A native of Los Angeles, Godoy comes to The Huntington from Duke University Libraries, where he serves as librarian for Latin American, Iberian, and Latino Studies.

The Huntington has acquired a 1543 “Fabrica” by Andreas Vesalius, whose book revolutionized the field of anatomy. The volume’s reunion with the Los Angeles County Medical Association’s collection at The Huntington not only restores a cornerstone of medical history but fosters deeper connections among the Library’s medical treasures.

People sit at tables doing research in the Ahmanson Reading Room

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.

rare book opened to page of world map

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.