Special Collections and Archives

The Book Art Collection was established in 1979 through a collaborative effort between School of the Arts faculty Phil Meggs, Joan Muller and Davi Det Hompson, and librarian Janet Dalberto. It consists of nearly 4,000 items and is strongest in publications from the 1960s to the present.

The Comic Arts Collection began in the 1970s with the donation of a modest comic book collection and the papers of Richmond newspaper editorial cartoonist, Fred O. Seibel (1886 - 1968). Today, it comprises approximately 175,000 items, including more than 125,000 comic books, of which 60,000 are available for research.

University Archives is a unit within Special Collections and Archives. It serves as the official repository for university records of enduring administrative, fiscal, legal and historical value. 

The Medical Artifacts Collection consists of instruments and equipment related to the history of health care in Virginia over the last 150 years. 

Special Collections and Archives at Cabell Library serves as the home of the Anderson Gallery Collection, the university’s permanent collection of more than 3,000 works of fine and decorative art.

Over 70,000 rare books and periodicals on a range of subjects from architecture and decorative arts of the late 19th and 20th century and mid-20th century American fantasy and science fiction to the history of the health sciences.

 The department acquires, preserves and makes available to the VCU community and the public rare manuscripts of enduring historic and research value.