SpecColl Collection

The core of the SpecColl Collection was the 1976 purchase of Western Americana books from George Fullerton, a lifelong book collector and bibliophile. Major themes in the purchase included:

• California Gold Rush
• California missions
• Voyages
• Overland migrations
• Mormons
• Lawmen and outlaws
• Native Americans
• Indian wars
• Railroads
• Homesteading
• Cattle trade
• Fur trade
• Military in the West

Types of materials that are being added to the collection include:

• Bibliographies, encyclopedias, and guides
• Autobiographies, reminiscences, and published letters
• Biographies and generational histories
• Community histories
• Corporate histories
• Regional histories
• Southern California histories
• Los Angeles histories

This collection is divided into the following three sections:

• SpecColl
• SpecColl Oversize
• SpecColl RareBook

Items from this collection can be found in the APU Library Catalog.

Collection Highlights

There are approximately 5,550 items cataloged in SpecColl, 500 items cataloged in SpecColl Oversize, and 400 items cataloged in SpecColl RareBook. Highlights include:

• “Lewis and Clark’s Expedition” (1814)
• A Biography of Junipero Serra (1797) by Francisco Palou
• “Voyage Around the World” (1718) by Woodes Rogers

Access to the Collections

Our Special Collections and Archives are currently closed. If you have a general question, contact the libraries or call 626-815-5062.