Booth Library is home to almost one million books, ranging from best sellers to niche textbooks. Within this collection of books, some stand out more than others. 

The largest book by size at Booth is “An Atlas of Extreme Ultraviolet Spectoheliograms from 170 to 625 Angstroms,” published by the E.O. Hulburt Center for Space Research, Naval Research Lab in Washington D.C., according to Head of Collection Management Sarah Johnson. 

This atlas is from 1987 and shows images of the sun caught in a single wavelength, creating a monochromatic image that helps readers understand the surface of the sun.  

This book is an example of Booth Library’s role as a government document depository. This role means that the library gets copies of documents from both the state and federal government and maintains those copies in storage.  

Along with other atlases and large collections of documents, small manuals and pamphlets issued by varies government agencies can also be found at Booth. 

Johnson said that the longest book at Booth is a 1953 edition of Webster’s New International Dictionary Second Edition, at 3,194 pages long.   

Booth’s archives contain books and other items that are deemed to be of significant value to the university, according to Head of University Archives Bradley Tolppanen. 

This includes the oldest books in Booth, such as one written by Martin Luther that dates to 1553 as part of his series containing his interpretation of the Bible. 

The book is written entirely in German, and the front page contains a woodcut printing of Jesus Christ. 

Three books in Booth date to the 17th century, which are entirely in Latin.  

The first is the work of French bishop Gregory of Tours. The book contains the history of France from its beginnings to 487. The book was published in 1610, and French writer Laurent Bouchel contributed. 

The second book from the 17th century features the work of the ancient Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus, who wrote about the time from 30 BCE to 68 CE. The book was published in 1668 and featured three writers. 

The third book is also by Tacitus and is about the history of Germany. It was published ten years later, in 1678, with contributions from German writer Hermann Conring. 

Booth Library also has three volumes published in 1735, all of which are comedies.  

Two of these volumes were written by Irish playwright Richard Steele, which were his first comedy works. “The Funeral” was originally written in 1703, and “The Conscious Lover” was originally written in 1722.

The third comedy volume was written by English playwright Colley Cibber in 1722. 

In total, Booth has 28 books published in the 1700s.  

The very first book in the Booth collection was “The Scientific Papers of Asa Gray,” which was published one year after Gray’s death, in 1889.  

Gray was an American botanist who most famously defended Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by way of his field of study, namely fertilization, which is contained within the book. 

The oldest book in circulation at Booth is “Guesses at Truth,” written by brothers Augustus William Hare and Julius Hare.  

The book was originally published in 1827, and Booth’s copy was published in 1871. It contains the brothers’ thoughts on religious and societal ideas through essays.

Jason Coulombe can be reached at 581-2812 or at jmcoulombe@eiu.edu.