For more than 160 years, the Boston Public Library has pioneered public library service in America. Established in 1848, the Boston Public Library was the first publicly supported municipal library in America, the first public library to lend books, the first to have a branch library, and the first to have a children’s room. Today, the Boston Public Library houses an outstanding array of special collections materials, including 1.5 million photographs, 1 million manuscripts, 500,000 rare books, and a wealth of maps, musical scores and prints.

We are pleased to provide digital reproductions of featured items from many of our collections, including photographs, lithographs, original prints, ephemera, newspaper articles and engravings.