Collection Overview

The Wright Library collection offers substantial resources for theological study and research at all levels.

In addition to circulating and periodical collections, Wright Library contains the Charles G. Reigner Collection, which houses educational materials and religious curriculum materials to support church ministry; Special Collections, including the Karl Barth research collection, and continually expanding digital collections, including the Theological Commons.

Wright Library receives thousands of journals, annual reports of church bodies and learned societies, bulletins, transactions, and periodically issued indices, abstracts, and bibliographies.

Among the collections are valuable portions of the libraries of Samuel Agnew, J. Addison Alexander, Louis F. Benson, John Breckinridge, Ashbel Green, William Henry Green, Alexander Balloch Grosart, John M. Krebs, Samuel Miller, William Buell Sprague, James Tanis, and Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield.

Primary sources are represented both by original early editions or reprints and by modern critical editions.

Wright Library's Collection Development Policy guides the acquisition of library materials. A series of policies governing the use of our collections allows us to balance accessibility with accountability.

General Collections

Special Collections

Special Collections and Archives at Wright Library comprise more than 100,000 printed works and over 5,175 linear feet of archival and manuscript material. Major collections include the Seminary archives, rare books and pamphlets, personal papers, records of organizations, research collections, and non-textual materials related to the history of the Presbyterian and Reformed traditions and ecumenical Christianity.

Particular strengths of Special Collections and Archives are its documentation of the Seminary’s history, including works by and about Seminary faculty; American Presbyterianism; English and American Puritanism; Presbyterian missions; hymnology; works by and about Reformed theologians Karl Barth and Abraham Kuyper; and the history of Presbyterians in Korea.

Search and browse the online manuscript guides as an effective first step to discovering manuscript materials that match your research interests.

Digital Collections

Wright Library's digital collections, including the Theological Commons, are open access.