The Huntington Library

Combining an outstanding art collection and library, set in exquisite botanical gardens, the Huntington is one of the richest and most varied cultural centres in the world. It holds over a million items, housing one of the largest and most complete research libraries on British and American history and literature. Part of Scala’s prestigious series on the great libraries of the world, The Huntington Library: Treasures from Ten Centuries offers a selection of items from the collection, which chart major achievements in Anglo-American civilisation, including some of the world’s finest rare books and manuscripts: a lavishly decorated 15th-century manuscript of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, one of only 11 known vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible, Benjamin Franklin’s handwritten autobiography, a rare double-elephant folio of Audaubon’s Birds of America and George Washington’s own survey of Mount Vernon. Beautifully illustrated and designed, this welcome addition to Scala’s series presents these and many other highlights from a distinguished collection.