Guide to Collections


Special Collections houses a wealth of materials relating to all aspects of agricultural history, discovery, and advancement. The combination of over 15,000 rare books, 400 manuscript collections, original art work, posters, photographs, and nursery and seed trade catalogs makes Special Collections a premiere center for agricultural research. The materials are divided into manuscript collections, rare books, and nursery and seed catalogs.
Spotlights
Thomas Jefferson Letter Index to the Manuscript Collections

Search Rare and Special Collections' holdings of over 300 manuscript and archival collections containing materials from the 19th through the 21st centuries.
Blue Heron. Rare Book Collection Rare Book Collection

Special Collections' rare book collection is strong in botany, natural history, zoology, and entomology.
Fragaria sp. USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection

View over 7,000 watercolor images produced by USDA artists to illustrate new fruit cultivars at the turn of the 20th century.
Back Cover of Nursery Catalog: Peter Henderson & Co. Plate--Jubilee Collection of Mammoth Butterfly Pansies (New York, NY, 1897) Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection

Consists of over 200,000 American and foreign commercial catalogs and the collection is strongest from the 1890s to the present.
Man working in a laboratory. USDA History Collection USDA History Collection

Guide to a collection of manuscript material relating to the 150-year history of the USDA.
Portrait of Edward Fred Knipling. Edward Fred Knipling Papers: Screwworm Eradication Program Records Edward Fred Knipling Papers: Screwworm Eradication Program Records

Guide to the papers of Edward Fred Knipling (1909-2000). Knipling was a renowned entomologist and theorist best known as the inventor of the sterile insect technique (SIT), used to eradicate the screwworm insect.
Screwworm Program Logo. Screwworm Eradication Program Records Screwworm Eradication Program Records

View our expansive holdings on the USDA's involvement in screwworm eradication.
Thomas Jefferson Letter. Thomas Jefferson Correspondence Collection Thomas Jefferson Correspondence Collection

The collection consists of eleven letters to, from, and about Thomas Jefferson dating from 1794 to 1819.
Charles Valentine Riley sketchbook. Charles Valentine Riley Collection Charles Valentine Riley Collection

Learn more about NAL's Charles Valentine Riley holdings which include books, manuscript collections, and artwork.
"Title Page" Species Plantarum (1753) by Carl von Linné. Carl von Linné Bibliographies and Materials at the National Agricultural Library Carl von Linné Bibliographies and Materials at the National Agricultural Library

Includes two bibliographies, a sample of digitized images, a selection of highlights from NAL's collection, and links to important Linné resources at other institutions.
American Biological Safety Association Logo. American Biological Safety Association Collection American Biological Safety Association Collection

Includes records, newsletters, photographs, conference proceedings and more.