Herman J. Albrecht Library of Historical Architecture

The Herman J. Albrecht Library of Historical Architecture, founded in 2006 and housed at The Ohio State University’s Thompson Library (Columbus, Ohio), is a growing research resource for historians of architecture. The Library holds an annually-increasing collection of rare and valuable books from the sixteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Recent acquisitions include Francesco Borromini’s Opera del Caval (1720) and Opus Architectonicum Equitis Francisco Borromini (1725); Cornilius Gurlitt’s Die Baukunst Konstantinopels (1912); a 59-year run (1874-1932) of the journal of the Société Central d’Architecture de Belgique and 16 volumes (c. 1967-1972) of Belgium’s Centre d’Études Architecturales.  Geographically, the Library currently includes works on the United States, Europe, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, North Africa, India, and Japan. Volumes in the collection range from Andrea Palladio’s I Quattro Libri Dell’Architecttura (1581);  to Gustave Eiffel’s large folio, full-color exposition of the construction of the Eiffel Tower, La Tour de Trois Cents Métres (1890);  to the Wasmuth portfolio (1910) of drawings of Frank Lloyd Wright’s earliest private and commercial buildings; to Emanuel  La Roche’s Indische Baukunst (1921-22), a documentation of a wide range of historic buildings in India; to Russian Iakov Georgievich Chernikhov’s  futuristic designs from the 1920s and 1930s; and works on Japanese architecture in the early 20^th century.

Inquiries about the holdings of the Albrecht Library and research access may be directed to Eric J. Johnson, Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, The Ohio State University Libraries via email at Johnson.4156@osu.edu, or phone at 614-688-8795.

Darwin H. Stapleton
Vice President
Herman J. Albrecht Library of Historical Architecture