On Wednesday, April 8, 2015, Special Collections saw Lectio Vergiliana, an annual reading of the Roman author, Vergil. This year’s gathering involved a five-hour reading of Book Two of Vergil’s Aeneid by faculty and students from the Classics Department. Organized by Professor Cynthia White, Director of the Basic Latin Program, and graduate students Stephanie Hutchings and Elizabeth Del Curto, the Special Collections classroom was alive with Vergil’s words, clapping and laughter, and good food. There was even a Trojan horse to lend some atmosphere.

Wildcats interested in delving deeper into Vergil will find many works of interest in the University of Arizona Libraries, such as contemporary scholarship, different editions and translations of Vergil’s works, and facsimiles of the three earliest Vergil manuscripts, including a fifth-century manuscript (Vat. Lat. 3687), known as the Vergilius Romanus; another fifth-century manuscript (Vat. Lat. 3225), known as Vergilius Vaticanus; and a fourth-century manuscript, split between Rome and Berlin, known as Vergilius Augusteus (Vat. Lat. 3256 and Berlin Lat. fol. 416). All three facsimiles are available for use in Special Collections. Those interested a Greek manuscript facsimile might request a heavily-illustrated, seventh-century herbal by Dioscorides Pedanius.

In fact, the University of Arizona Special Collections holds a surprising array of materials of interest to Classics students and faculty, including works in Latin and Greek, as well as works on many facets of the ancient Mediterranean world.* Almost 1700 works are available in Latin, whether in whole or part, including printed works from the fifteenth century, such as a 1497 edition of Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius. More than 150 works are available in ancient Greek, in whole or part, including an early printed edition of Herodotus. And other works presenting a dizzying array of topics – such as Roman alphabets and inscriptions; an eighteenth-century study of ancient amphitheaters; and a facsimile of the Codex Alexandrinus, a fifth-century Greek Bible – all available for use in the Special Collections Reading Room, open Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM.

Combine the works available in Special Collections with the staggering array of resources available via the Main Library, including online databases and printed works. Classicists – new and old, seasoned or aspiring – have a home at the University of Arizona Libraries.

* To search the library catalog for works in Latin and Greek, choose the advanced search option, select Special Collections from locations, and use the language limiters to select Latin, Ancient Greek, or both. Use an asterisk – ἀστερίσκος or “little star” – in the search field to perform a null search, where only limiters are employed and return corresponding results.