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Willis N. Hackney Library

Special Collections

Getting Here

Special Collections Policies

Access to the library building is currently restricted to Barton faculty, staff, and students due to COVID-19.  

  • In most cases, Hackney Library’s Special Collections may be used between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday, by appointment.

  • To make an appointment, call 252-399-6502, and ask to speak to a librarian. Please schedule your visit with at least 24-hours notice.

  • A picture ID is required. Users must fill out a Researcher Registration Form, and abide by all “Rules For Use of Special Collections Materials” listed on this form.

Rules for Use of Special Collections Materials

Barton College Special Collections featuring the K.D. Kennedy, Jr. Rare Book Room

The Barton College Special Collections is divided into four divisions:

These important and distinguished collections combine rare printed volumes, manuscripts, correspondence and personal papers, as well as sound and visual materials documenting Barton College, eastern North Carolina and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  The North Carolina Collection also houses the Hackney Brothers Body Company Collection.  Materials from Special Collections are used in exhibitions and classroom teaching, providing a great depth and richness to Hackney Library’s ongoing teaching mission.

Currently Showing

A Collection of Poems by William Shakespeare

The most valuable book in the collection, A Collection of Poems by William Shakespeare was printed in 1709 in London, England.

A Collection of Poems by William Shakespeare

The title page of A Collection of Poems by William Shakespeare. [A COLLECTION OF POEMS, VIZ. I. VENUS AND ADONIS, II. The Rape of Lucrece, III. The Passionate Pilgrim, IV. The Sonnets to Sundry Notes of Musick. By MR. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. LONDON, Printed for Bernard Lintott, at the Cross-Keys between the Two Temple Gates in Fleetstreet. Price bound One Shilling Six-pence.]

Cover of Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect

Cover of first Edinburgh edition of Robert Burns, Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, 1787

Title Page of Robert Burns Book

Title Page of first Edinburgh edition of Robert Burns, Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, 1787

Open Paxton Bible

Webber Paxton Bible

This is an early edition of the King James Bible published in England in 1688. The first translation of the Authorized King James Version of the Bible was commissioned in 1604 by British King James I and was completed in 1611.

This loaned copy of the Bible has been passed down through the family of Mrs. Webber Paxton, a member of the Friends of Hackney Library Board, making its way to the New World with family members in the early 1700s. Webber Paxton has graciously consented to lend the book to the Rare Book Room.