UTexas

Harry Ransom Center

The Harry Ransom Center is an internationally renowned humanities research library and museum at The University of Texas at Austin. Its extensive collections provide unique insight into the creative process of writers and artists, deepening our understanding and appreciation of literature, photography, film, art, and the performing arts. The Center's collections include nearly one million books, more than 42 million manuscripts, five million photographs, and 100,000 works of art. Visitors engage with the Center's collections through research and study, exhibitions, publications, and a rich variety of program offerings including readings, talks, symposia, and film screenings. For more information about the Center and its collections, please consult the Ransom Center's website.

The Ransom Center invites use by University faculty members, staff members, students, and members of the public engaged in research across a range of scholarly disciplines. University faculty are encouraged to work with the Center to design collaborative teaching experiences in the galleries and seminar rooms. Each year, the Center awards more than 50 fellowships for projects that require substantial on-site use of its collections including fellowships for graduate students writing their dissertations. In addition, undergraduate internships and volunteer opportunities for students are available.

Visitors may access collection materials in the second-floor Reading and Viewing Rooms. The first-floor galleries feature rotating exhibitions, as well the Gutenberg Bible, one of only 20 complete copies in the world that survive intact, and the Niépce Heliograph, one of the oldest surviving photographs taken in a camera, both of which are on permanent display in the lobby.

Hours of operation for the Reading and Viewing Rooms and the exhibition galleries are available on the Ransom Center’s website or by calling (512) 471-8944.