Artifacts from our library
First and foremost, the ARBA Hall of Fame Library houses an extensive collection of books and magazines that deal with the history of the American rabbit and cavy moments throughout the last century and half. There is a complete collection of all of the American Standard of Perfections, Guide Books, Year Books, plus all issues of the Domestic Rabbits magazine. There is an extensive collection of convention catalogs dating to the late 1920s. Many rabbit publications of various titles produced though the generations are also housed in the collection. All complete sets of magazines and journals have been bound.
Books are currently grouped by categories; Feed and Nutrition, Diseases, Fur/Wool, Meat Production, Recipe books, Specialty Breed books, Natural History, Scientific, Fictional, Cavy, Foreign, etc. There is a complete collection of British Rabbit Council Year Books and Standards since 1933. Our collection of the oldest continuous small stock publication in the world, Fur & Feather dates from the first issue in June, 1888 to the present, all dates are bound. We are delighted to own these, as the only other complete collection can be found in the British National Library. There is a nearly complete collection of all of the ARBA’s national specialty club year books. Beginning in 2008, space was allocated within the library to store periodicals and publications of specialty clubs.
Old trophies and plaques of noted history are also housed in the library. Curio cabinets display; convention buttons, judging aids, membership cards, pins, badges, stamps, seals and the like. Old pedigrees, registrations, breeding certificates and photographs are also displayed. There is an extensive collection of rabbit and cavy postage stamps and first day issued covers from around the world in the library collection.
Just Three Brief Facts………………….
The oldest book that deals strictly with rabbits is The Complete Rabbit Fancier, 1821
The oldest book that deals strictly with cavies is The Guinea Pig For Food, Fur, and Fancy, 1890
The oldest item in the collection is a porcelain Chinese rabbit ink well from the 16th century.
The ARBA Hall of Fame Library is an archival library and not a lending library, therefore no items are loaned out to the membership, clubs, or other libraries of the world through the Inter-Library Loan Program. Members, visitors or researchers are welcomed to visit the library during regular office hours to view and study the collection. Opened Monday – Friday 8:00 am to 12:00 noon and 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm CST
