Collections A-Z
In addition to general collections and online subscription databases, journals, and ebooks, the Library holds more than 500 named collections which are distinguished by their specialized subject matter, age, uniqueness, or value. Most of the listed collections on this page are located in the John Hay Library. To locate digitized collections, see the list available at the Center for Digital Scholarship site and search the Brown Digital Repository.
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Books from the Adolf Hitler Library
The bulk of Adolf Hitler's library (approximately 1,200 titles) is in the Third Reich Collection at the Library of Congress.
Brown University Library has 99 titles that are connected to locations where Adolf Hitler lived or worked.
Leonard Hitler Collection (1945) Quentin B. Leonard, Class of 1944, mailed 2 magazines to Prof. Raymond Archibald. The letter Mr. Leonard included with the package is dated 13 August 1945 and reads, "On Saturday afternoon I mailed to you a folder containing a couple of magazines printed in German. These magazines came from one of the buildings at Hitler's Berchtesgaden residence. I picked them from the rubble when I visited there last May. They are totally worthless, except for their souvenir value."
Aronson Hitler Collection (1986) The 80 books in this collection were retrieved by Colonel Albert Aronson from Hitler's bunker in May of 1945. They were donated to Brown in 1986.
Smyth Hitler Collection (January 2020) From a collection of books retrieved from Adolf Hitler's Munich apartment in 1945 by Lieut. Craig Hugh Smyth. The books were donated to the John Hay Library by sculptor Ned Smyth in 2020.
Format(s): Books, Serials
Library: John John Hay
Access to the collection:
Online Catalog (BruKnow):
Individual records for most printed materials available on BruKnow.
Hitler Personal Library
Leonard Hitler Collection
Aronson Hitler Collection
Smyth Hitler Collection
Other Online Access:
Publication: Hitler's Forgotten Library (Atlantic Monthly) - Brown only
In-house Access to the Collection:
Bibliography
See also: Appendix 1 of Phillip Gassert's The Hitler library: a bibliography, "Brown University and other miscellaneous private collections of Hitler's books."