Our collections
The University of Birmingham Collections include the Cadbury Research Library, which holds over four million archive items dating from the 7th century CE to the present day, including extensive collections related to organisations, societies and businesses, a wealth of personal and family papers, and other significant manuscript collections including the Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern Manuscripts.
Highlights include the collections of Save the Children and the Church Mission Society (which chart these organizations’ work around the world), and several 15th-century Books of Hours and a Shakespeare First Folio (1623).
The printed book collection total over 250,000 items, dating from 1471 onwards, including the rare book collection from the Shakespeare Institute Library, in addition to which are extensive parish library theological collections.
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, a Grade I-listed Art Deco museum and concert hall, holds a small but world-class collection of paintings, sculptures and works on paper in the Western European tradition, dating from the 13th century to the 1990s.
It also features a magnificent numismatic collection, including one of the world’s finest holdings of Byzantine coins.
Other collections
Researchers also have very easy access to the city archives at the Library of Birmingham (which includes the ‘Shakespeare Collection’, important ‘Black History Collection’) the material culture and visual collections at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Archdiocese of Birmingham Archives.
Only a short journey away are several other local and regional archives, including the extensive Dudley Archives.
Birmingham is extremely well connected through public transport networks to support research trips to London (1hr 20m), Oxford (1hr 10m), Nottingham (1hr 14m), Manchester (1hr 29m) and many other cities in the UK.
Being a Huntington Exchange Fellow at the University of Birmingham
Before you apply, you are welcome to contact curators, archivists or academic staff for advice on your proposal. Once here, fellows will be encouraged to take part in the lively research culture in the College of Arts and Law, either on campus or at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon. Our Schools have their own research centres or streams, in English, History, Art History, in with which Huntington Fellows are encouraged to engage.
Fellows will be assigned an academic contact for the period of their fellowship. Though we do not provide accommodation or meals, we can advise on finding places to stay in the city or near the campus.