The J. Paul Getty Trust Endowment for Pre-17th-Century European Books and Manuscripts

Art education and the conservation of cultural property are central to the mission of The J. Paul Getty Trust, a private foundation dedicated to the visual arts and the humanities. The trust has made several generous gifts to UCLA over the years and is a true university citizen. In 1987 the trust gave $1 million to the UCLA Library to establish an endowment for the acquisition of European books and manuscripts produced before 1601, with an emphasis on Italian materials. This kind of support is especially crucial when early and rare materials appear on the market, for it allows the Library to make swift decisions. University Librarian Emeritus Russell Shank said that the kinds of materials purchased with the income from the endowment "make the difference between a good and a great library." The collection resides in Library Special Collections. This endowment helps the library to build upon its strengths in early printed materials, incunabula and manuscripts and supports important academic and research programs such as those of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.