How to Search Special Collections @ the Latin American Library

This research guide is designed to help users navigate the various databases, catalogs, and inventories available to search the special collections holdings of The Latin American Library at Tulane University. 

Each section of the guide provides information on how to use a particular discovery tool and what kinds of materials that discovery tool will allow you to search. 

The best way to get a full sense of the holdings at the LAL is to contact our Curator of Special Collections, Christine Hernandez.

Map of Cuauhtlantzinco (Codex Campos)/ Mapa de Cuauhtlantzinco, c. 1650-1700. LAL Map 468.

The Latin American Library Special Collections at Tulane University is one of foremost archives and rare books libraries dedicated to Latin America and the Caribbean in the world. 

The collections are topically wide-ranging but have special strengths in the following areas: 

• Mesoamerican anthropology, archeology, and history
• Indigenous languages of Mesoamerica 
• Mesoamerican codices and painted texts
• Early modern Spanish America, including rare printed works relating to the first encounters and later travel accounts of the New World
• History, society and the arts for all periods of Central America and the Southern states of Mexico
• The history of travel and tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean
• Art and art history of the region. 

There are several distinct divisions of collecting: rare books and pamphlets, printed ephemera, manuscript collections, maps, rare newspapers, and visual materials. Read more about the LAL Special Collections on our website.