The library of the Special Collections is varied. Our main focus is on the printed book, but we also house a substantial collection of manuscripts (modern manuscripts belonging to Louis Paul Boon, 18th century class notes and even fragments of Medieval chivalric romance novels), unique modern Preciosa, photos, slides, devotion pictures, glass plates, a multitude of pictures (most of which depict Antwerp) and a collection of severely damaged books that are deemed unfit to be kept in the normal stacks. Here is an overview of our various materials:
Our collection in numbers
| Old printed books (handmade paper made before 1831) | MAG-P 1... | 10169 titles |
| Modern preciosa | MAG-MP | 1150 titles |
| Damaged books (after1831) | CMI | 9252 titles |
| Reading room collection | PREC | 732 titles |
| Historic manuscripts and manuscript fragments | MAG-P 6... | 123 titles |
| Modern manuscripts and typoscripts (Boon and Walschap) | MAG-P 6... | 204 titles |
| Old serial publications | MAG-P 2... | 72 titles in 816 volumes |
| Printed pictures, drawings, paintings from the Gallery of Pictures | tg:uapr:... | 1495 titles |
| Devotional pictures and devotional printing work from the Thijs Collection | tg:uact:... | 1096 titles |
| Maps and plans | MAG-KAG-K | 564 titles |
| Glass plates (KAGA) | ca. 2000 objects | |
| Microfiches and -films | ||
| Photos and slides |