William Morris Hunt Memorial Library

Consisting of more than 1000 items, materials from the William Morris Hunt Memorial Library's Special Collections cover a wide range of materials from small pamphlets to massive folios that touch on every subject area in the MFA's encyclopedic collection. The items housed in Special Collections have been collected and donated over the more than 150 year history of the William Morris Hunt Memorial Library and reflect the changing art world of Boston and beyond.

An appointment is required to view the items from the Special Collections to make sure that materials, space, and staff are available. Please contact the Library Staff at libstaff@mfa.org to arrange a visit. Materials may be determined to be of a fragile and delicate nature and therefore unable to be viewed.

Researchers must complete a request form provided via e-mail in advance, specifying the desired materials. In addition, researchers are asked to provide information regarding their research project, purpose of viewing the materials and other institutions that they have contacted.

At the time of visit, researchers are asked to fill out an additional general registration form and present a valid government-issued photo ID.