Lemmen Library contains thousands of rare, unique, and special volumes. Though these books do not circulate and cannot be checked out, they may be read and studied in our Reading Room inside Seidman House. Portions of our book collections have been digitized and are available in our Digital Collections.

History of Books and Printing

History of Medicine, Science, and Technology

Regional History

Lemmen Founding Collections

Selected highlights from our History of Books and Printing Collections. These books demonstrate important developments in the printing process, as well as showcasing changes in bookbinding techniques and book arts.

The term incunabula refers to books printed between 1450 and1500, approximately the first fifty years following the invention, by Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, of printing from moveable type. Our collection includes over 200 volumes and numerous unbound leaves from books printed during this period.

List of Incunabula in the University Libraries

A Catalogue of Incunabula in the University Libraries Grand Valley State University Part One: Complete Editions

A Catalogue of Incunabula in the University Libraries Grand Valley State University Part Two: Leaves and Fragments

A fore-edge painting is a miniature watercolor painted on the fanned edge or edges of a book. When the book is closed the art disappears, hidden by the edge gilding. This genre of painting dates from the 1500s, flourished in the 1800s, and is still practiced today. Anonymous and undated paintings include landscapes, scenes and characters from literature, and portraits of authors.

Our collections include artist's books printed by Cranbrook Press, Scripps College Press, and Deep Wood Press. Shown to the left is the imprint for Deep Wood Press, established in 1992, by Grand Valley alum Chad Pastotnik (B.F.A); the studio employs a printing press and hand-set type to produce a variety of handcrafted books, broadsides, and other printed items.

From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown.

View the Decorated Bindings Digital Collection

The collection includes books related to the study of medicine, such as herbal remedies, anatomy, mental health, and surgical practices from the late 1400s through the early 1900s. The collection also contains some volumes specific to medical practices in Michigan. 

This collection includes books from as early as the 16th century covering topics such as chemistry, astronomy, biology, mathematics, early scientific equipment, and more.

This collection includes information related to areas of Michigan such as tourism, geography, development, local businesses, and government reports. Also included are works by local authors, such as Gwen Frostic and Jim Harrison.  

The Michigan in the Novel Collection is the most comprehensive collection of novels with Michigan settings existing in any institution. The collection comprises more than 2,600 titles with additional copies in different formats, editions, and bindings. The collection includes the first novel that used Michigan as a setting, Champions of Freedom (1816), Hemingway's first novel, Torrents of Spring (1926), and L. Frank Baum's rare Tamawaca Folks (1907) that he wrote under the pseudonym "John Estes Cooke." All genres of fiction are represented including juvenile literature, mysteries, romances, and science fiction. Visit ScholarWorks@GVSU to read Michigan in the Novel 1816 - 2006: An Annotated Bibliography, by Robert Beasecker.

Harvey E. Lemmen's generous donation made the creation of the Lemmen Library and Archives possible. Lemmen was born and raised in Ionia, MI and received his bachelor's degree and MBA from the University of Michigan. He worked at the Meijer grocery chain from 1949 until 1986, when he retired from his position as Deputy Chairman of the Meijer Corporation. In 1991, he donated nearly 30,000 books, pamphlets, ephemera, art, and manuscripts from his personal collection. In 2000, he funded additions to Seidman House to make it a suitable home for these special collections and archival materials. Lemmen's donation encompassed a wide range of topics including the Lincoln and Civil War Collection, Limited Editions Club and Folio Society volumes, works about Michigan, first editions, and significant collections of works by authors such as Lewis Carroll, Arthur Conan Doyle, Christopher Morley, and many mystery writers.

The collection includes books about President Lincoln’s life, politics, presidential terms, and assassination. The collection also contains books on Civil War campaigns, battles, and regimental histories. It also contains slave narratives of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Josiah Henson, and others. The bulk of the collection was acquired by Grand Valley as a gift of Harvey Lemmen, but has grown since the initial acquisition.

Includes volumes from the Limited Editions Club issued from 1929-1994. The Club published a dozen books each year, each carefully chosen, edited, illustrated, and printed by renowned craftsmen and limited usually to 1000 copies. The books illustrated by Picasso, Rackham, Matisse, and Grant Wood are particularly noteworthy in this series. Also included is The Folio Society, founded in 1947 in London. Its aim was to make finely printed books on various subjects available to the public by combining traditional typographic and artistic standards with modern industrial technology. The Folio Society continues producing books today.

Other collections donated by Harvey Lemmen include rare first editions, numerous works of mysteries and detective fiction, Lewis Carroll's writing, The Wizard of Oz series, and many more.