Finding Collection Material

Image of colored etching of "The Easter hunt at Epping Forest. Plate second" by Henry William Bunbury,showing a caricature of a group of men on horseback galloping toward the right of the frame. One man's wig flies off as his horse rears.Click here to view the Finding Lewis Walpole Library Collection Material Research Guide. 

See also Guide to Using Special Collections at Yale University: Find and Request 

and

Primary Sources at Yale

The main search and discovery tools are the following: 

Orbis: Yale’s online library catalog. The most up-to-date and authoritative records for the collection can be found there, and Orbis affords the most robust searching. Records in Orbis for graphic materials that have been digitized include links to the images on the Digital Images Collection. It is possible to limit searches in Orbis by location (for example, just what is held at the Lewis Walpole Library), and material type (for example, Archives or Manuscripts, or Visual Material).

  • books and printed texts
  • prints, drawings, and paintings
  • bound manuscripts and manuscript collections

Search through either Orbis or Quicksearch. Paging requests can be placed directly through links in the Orbis records.

  • Orbis - Orbis searches Yale’s Library catalog (not including Morris, the Law Library catalog). To limit searches, use the Advanced Search. (instructions)
  • Quicksearch - Quicksearch performs a combined search of: Books+; Articles+; Digital Collections, and searches in Orbis and Morris (Law Library)​. It enables faceted searching and post-search limits. 

Archives at Yale - Interface for finding aids from 10 libraries and repositories at Yale University. Finding aids describe the creation, content, context, and arrangement of archival materials, allowing users to identify and request materials relevant to their research. Use Archives at Yale to browse, explore, and discover Yale’s extraordinary collections of primary sources. Paging requests can be placed directly through the  links in the finding aids.

Search in Card Catalogs and local Finding Aids (available only at the library)

  • Miscellaneous manuscripts
  • Portraits (smaller format)
  • Topographical views (smaller format)
  • Theatrical prints (smaller format)
  • Photostats of material from other collections

Digital Collections - Search for digitized images, archival documents, and other materials in the Yale University Library’s primary Digital Collections repository. Use this search interface to view all available images of items from the Lewis Walpole Library’s collections. Links in Orbis/Quicksearch catalog records also point to images in this repository.  

Additional search and discovery tools for Lewis Walpole Library collections

Recent Antiquarian Acquisitions Blog - The library’s recent additions of rare printed, graphic, and manuscript materials are announced here with an image, brief description, and link to the catalog record and, where applicable, the image in the Digital collection.

Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill Collection - selected art and artifacts from Horace Walpole’s collections, including images, descriptions, and last known whereabouts. Includes LWL collection items as well as items in other collections. Please note that this resource has not been able to be updated for a number of years; corrections or additions have not been possible.