The Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature in the Department of Special Collections at the University of Florida's George A. Smathers Libraries contains more than 115,000 volumes published in the United States and Great Britain from the mid-1600s to present day. The Library also has small holdings in manuscript collections, original artwork, and assorted ephemera such as board games, puzzles, and toys. The Baldwin Library is known for comparative editions of books, with special emphasis on Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim’s Progress, Aesop’s Fables, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The Library also has the largest collection of Early American Juvenile Imprints of any academic institution in the United States.

Other strengths and distinctions of the Baldwin Library include: alphabet books, marginalia and inscriptions, nonfiction from the 20th century, Little Golden Books, religious tracts, and illustrated editions from the Golden Age of Children's Literature. Scholars worldwide use the Baldwin Library for research in morality tales and religious tracts, conduct of life, gender roles, comparative editions, and toy and movable books.

For more information on the collection, please contact lib-baldwin@uflib.ufl.edu.

See also, annotated list of selected genre terms for children's literature.

Through its digital collections, the University of Florida offers public access to a wide range of information, including historical materials that may contain offensive language or negative stereotypes. The University does not endorse the views expressed in such materials.


Funding for digitization of most of these volumes was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature is a contributor to the International Children's Digital Library and a founding partner of The Center for Children's Literature and Culture at the University of Florida.