Collection

The JCB’s collection consists of over 75,000 rare books, maps, and manuscripts encompassing more than two hundred languages and spans over three centuries of early American history.

Accessing our collection

There are two pathways to explore our extensive collection of historical materials.

A screenshot of the Americana landing page

Digital Collection

Americana is the JCB’s online collection and collaborative research platform. Browse our digitized collection, annotate objects, and gather your research into personally curated projects.

  • The digitized collection contains over 75,000 books, maps, and visual images
  • The online collaborative research platform allows you to annotate items, work with teams, and keep track of your research
  • Our exhibitions include collections from both the JCB’s staff and readers
An image of the catalog “BruKnow”’s logo

Catalog

Search all JCB collections through BruKnow, Brown University’s online catalog. Use our optimized JCB-specific search portal for an enhanced search bar and tips for locating materials held at the JCB.

This portal allows you to:

  • Search the full collection catalog
  • Request materials
  • Research on-site at the library

Don’t know where to begin? Follow this step by step guide to jumpstart your research.

How to use the library

Newly added to our online collection

O patriotismo portuense do seculo XVII

1821

Prado y Obejero, Bernardo de

Nos los inquisidores apostolicos, contra la herética pravedad y apostasía, en la ciudad de México, estados, y provincias de esta Nueva España, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Islas Philipinas, y su distrito, por autoridad apostolica real y ordinaria, &c

1803

Juana Inés de la Cruz

Poemas de la unica poetisa americana; musa dezima

[1692]

A Taste of the Collection

An illustration of ships breaking through icebergs from a book of Dutch exploration
De Americaensche zee-roovers, Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin, 1678
An image from a book of botany illustrated by Maria Sibylla Merian. This image show caterpillers, moths, and fruit.
Dissertatio de generatione et metamorphosibus insectorum Surinamensium, Maria Sibylla Merian, 1719
Map shows the plan of the city of Cap-Français, now Cap-Haïtien, in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, now Haiti.
Plan de la ville du Cap Français et de ses environs dans l'isle Saint-Domingue