Osborn Collection
The James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection
Scope | Size | Marking | Classification
Scope
The James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection in the Beinecke Library contains material documenting Britain and its imperial history from the medieval period through the present, with an emphasis on reading and writing in the English language. Materials primarily include manuscripts, archives, printed books, and ephemera. Curatorial oversight is divided chronologically (pre-1500; 1500-1800; 1800-present).
The modern materials (1800 - present) also emphasize literary and creative expression, including the papers of a number of poets, novelists, and dramatists from around the world who write in English.
For more information see the section about the Osborn collection in the Beinecke Guide.
Size
The size boundaries are:
- Octavo:
- up to 25 cm high (and gaylords slightly over 25 cm high)
- up to 23 cm wide
- Quarto:
- between 25 and 37 cm high
- between 23 and 32 cm wide
- Folios:
- over 37 cm high
- over 32 cm wide
Marking
The following guidelines are used when marking volumes in Osborn:
- Mark on Yale bookplate when there is one, generally in the upper left corner (mark the small Yale plate not the Osborn plate, if two plates are present).
- Mark on back cover, lower right hand corner, when there is no Yale bookplate unless cover is too dark.
- Mark on verso of last page, lower right hand corner, when 1 or 2 don’t apply. The lower left hand corner is the alternate location when the lower right hand corner is unusable.
- If the last page is unmarkable (e.g. too dark or shiny or filled with text or illustrations), mark the verso of the first usable page from the end.
Classification and Call Numbers
The Collection has its own classification scheme. All printed books for the Osborn Collection are assigned call numbers with the following prefixes, separated by century and format, followed by a sequential number. To assign a call number (or range of call numbers), change the 500 note in the OSBORN COLLECTION CALL NUMBERS bibliographical record (7093866) for each respective century and format with the last number chosen. Call numbers for manuscripts are assigned by the Manuscript Unit only.
As of January 1, 2020, Osborn prefixes pa-pf are used for octavo size material shelving at 121 Wall Street and all material shelving at LSF. Osborn prefixes fpa-fpb are only used for quarto size material shelving at 121 Wall Street.
| Osborn a[sequential number] | Octavo manuscripts through the 16th century |
| Osborn b[sequential number] | Octavo manuscripts from the 17th century |
| Osborn c[sequential number] | Octavo manuscripts from the 18th century |
| Osborn d[sequential number] | Octavo manuscripts from the 19th century |
| Osborn e[sequential number] | Octavo manuscripts from the 20th century |
| Osborn f[sequential number] | Octavo manuscripts from the 21st century |
| Osborn fa[sequential number] | Quarto manuscripts through the 16th century |
| Osborn fb[sequential number] | Quarto manuscripts from the 17th century |
| Osborn fc[sequential number] | Quarto manuscripts from the 18th century |
| Osborn fd[sequential number] | Quarto manuscripts from the 19th century |
| Osborn fe[sequential number] | Quarto manuscripts from the 20th century |
| Osborn ff[sequential number] | Quarto manuscripts from the 21st century |
| Osborn pa[sequential number] | Octavo sized books through the 16th century |
| Osborn pb[sequential number] | Octavo sized books from the 17th century |
| Osborn pc[sequential number] | Octavo sized books from the 18th century |
| Osborn pd[sequential number] | Octavo sized books from the 19th century |
| Osborn pe[sequential number] | Octavo sized books from the 20th century |
| Osborn pf[sequential number] | Octavo sized books from the 21st century |
| Osborn fpa[sequential number] | Quarto sized books through the 16th century |
| Osborn fpb[sequential number] | Quarto sized books from the 17th century |
| Osborn fpc[sequential number] | Quarto sized books from the 18th century |
| Osborn fpd[sequential number] | Quarto sized books from the 19th century |
| Osborn fpe[sequential number] | Quarto sized books from the 20th century |
| Osborn fpf[sequential number] | Quarto sized books from the 21st century |
| Year Number Folio Call Numbers | All folio Osborn books [loc is: beinosb] |
| Osborn pm | All printed music |
Special notes and tracings.
Books are cataloged according to general policies for the Beinecke Library.
The James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn bookplate is not traced.