Special Collections

The Redwood Library's special collections include the Original Collection purchased in England with the donation of £500 sterling by founder Abraham Redwood in 1749. Nearly 90% of the Original Collection's approximate 750 titles survive either in their original volumes or in replacement volumes, a number having disappeared when the library was used as a British officers' club during the Revolutionary War. Since the 1950s, we have mounted an effort to identify replacement volumes.

The Research Library also consists of rare books and periodicals, manuscripts, ephemera, photographs, and artifacts. Among these are:

 The Cynthia Cary Collection emphasises pattern books of 18th-century English furniture, interior design, and decoration. Considered one of the best of its kind in the world.

 Pre-1801 imprints, including a Venetian Bible printed in 1488, the incunable longest held by an American library.

 An important collection of books and periodicals on Newport

 Painting collection including 18th and 19th century portraits, amongst which are works by Gilbert Stuart, Robert Feke, and Charles Bird King.

 Rare furniture collection containing 18th-century Newport pieces from the Goddard and Townsend families.