HIST 2170 - History of Christianity (Jobin) - Rare Books Collection

'Dragon Leaf,' detail. Latin Bible, Northern France, c. 1240, MS 314
Rare Books Collection, CU Boulder Libraries

This guide provides an introduction to the History of Christianity (HIST 2170) through the lens of manuscripts and early printed works held in the Rare Books Collection, Rare and Distinctive Collections, University of Colorado Boulder Libraries.

The Rare Books Collection holds a strong collection of medieval manuscript leaves and early printed works. These include one-of-a-kind medieval Christian manuscripts and rare printed religious works dating from Gutenberg's development of moveable type in the 1450s through works produced amid the Protestant- and Catholic-Reformations of the succeeding centuries.

This guide includes images based on our collection as well as digitized copies of key manuscripts held by the British Library and Cambridge University and elsewhere.   To navigate this site, use the tabs at the top to navigate by time period and subject.  

See below for links to our collections and other primary sources.

Guide and text by Susan Guinn-Chipman, 2021. Edits by Sean Babbs, 2022. 

To search the Rare Books Collection's early modern manuscripts and early printed books: 

Digital Library

• Search CU's Digital Library, which features our Medieval Manuscripts Collections.  Images may be downloaded from this site. 

Library Catalog

• Search our early modern printed works through the Library Catalog.  In the Library Catalog, search by title, author, or keyword, then limit your search by location to Rare Books Collection. You may also opt to do an advanced search with more options.  

To locate a vast array of early modern and modern printed works, available in full text:

Early English Books Online

• In addition, a title search in the Library Catalog for EEBO (Early English Books Online) will enable you to search works printed or published in Britain or North America between the 15th and the 17th centuries. 
• You will need to access this database using the VPN or by logging in with your identikey and password. 

Eighteenth-Century Collections Online: 

• ECCO (Eighteenth-Century Collections Online) provides access to printed works published in Britain during the long-eighteenth century.  It includes access to over 200,000 volumes, featuring books, pamphlets, broadsides, and more.  
• You will need to access the VPN to access this data base using your identikey and password.   

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: 

• Nineteenth Century Collections Online features primary sources, books, newspaper articles, journal articles, magazine articles, diaries, letters, images, pamphlets, maps, manuscripts, government reports published or produced during the long-nineteenth-century. 
• You will need the access this database through the VPN using your identikey and password.