Moody Library owns many rare books, but the jewel of the collection is the Bradley Collection. It contains the military history collection of Robert E. Bradley, senior and the literary collection amassed by his son, Dr. Robert E. Bradley junior. The first collection is particularly strong on the American Civil War, particularly the official history of the Civil War and the personal copy of the memoirs of Jefferson Davis; the second collection includes many rare editions of Victorian fiction, particularly the novels of Wilkie Collins, a major pioneer of mystery fiction, and G. A. Henty, a writer of historical fiction. Of particular significance are the volumes of All the Year Round, edited by Charles Dickens and containing the complete serial version of Collins’s The Woman in White. Dr. Bradley was an avid scholar who anticipated much of scholarship of the late twentieth century; he also collected the works of P. G. Wodehouse, a British humorist, and H. L. Mencken, an American journalist and lexicographer. The entire Bradley Collection is listed in the library’s catalog.
Our most interesting items include:
- A first edition of Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens.
- A Wilkie Collins book signed by him to his agent. He was the first author in the United States to have a literary agent.
- A first edition The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
- A signed edition of The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government by Jefferson Davis; however,
he did not sign his name, only “from a grateful author.” We have a 1929 letter from the Colonel to whom Davis gave the copy that says it was Davis who signed it. It has a lot of handwritten notations for a planned second edition. The was used by several universities, both of whom attempted to keep it.
Using Items in Special Collections
- HCU Professors are encouraged to use the resources of the Bradley Collection as part of their class assignments. Please contact Dean Riley for further information.
- For those not affiliated with HCU, please review our Special Collections information page for further information.