Welcome
As of May 15, 2023 Special Collections units at Yale University are open to Yale-affiliated faculty, students, and staff and to non-Yale researchers who comply with the Yale Covid Visitor’s Policy.
The Lewis Walpole Library does not require a reservation, but we appreciate being informed in advance of any planned research visit since space in the Reading Room is limited.
The Lewis Walpole Library is a research center for eighteenth-century studies and an essential resource for the study of Horace Walpole and Strawberry Hill. Its collections include important holdings of eighteenth-century British prints, drawings, manuscripts, rare books, paintings, and decorative arts. Given to Yale by Wilmarth Sheldon Lewis (1895-1979) and Annie Burr Lewis (1902-1959), the Lewis Walpole Library is located in Farmington, Connecticut, in several eighteenth-century buildings on a fourteen-acre campus. The Lewis Walpole Library is a department of Yale University Library and open to researchers.
At the library....
- the round-trip cost of travel between the Lewis Walpole Library and the recipient’s home institution or residence
- reimbursement of the cost of a rental car or local travel expenses
- accommodation for four weeks (fellowships) or two weeks (travel grants) in an eighteenth-century house on the Library’s campus
- a per diem living allowance to cover living expenses for four-week Fellows and two-week Travel Grant Recipients

The Charles A. Ryskamp Travel Grant is awarded on a competitive basis to a Yale College senior whose senior essay project would benefit from extended use of the Lewis Walpole Library’s collections. The grant provides funds for regular travel during the academic year to Farmington and more.