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Katherine Anne Porter at UMD

A guide to Katherine Anne Porter papers and related collections in Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Maryland Libraries.

The Katherine Anne Porter Library

The Katherine Anne Porter Library contains Porter's personal library, numbering 3,800 titles. It includes copies of first editions of all her works, as well as variant and foreign language editions. There are also copies of works inscribed to her by friends and fellow writers. Most of the library was donated to the University of Maryland by Miss Porter between 1966 and 1969, along with a large portion of her personal papers and items of memorabilia. Porter's library is primarily housed in the Katherine Anne Porter Room of Hornbake Library

Katherine Anne Porter Library is especially valuable because of the extensive annotations in the books by Katherine Anne Porter.  In them, Porter often underlined passages and wrote candid and revealing comments that document influences on her work as well as her opinions on literary and other topics.

A listing of items in the Katherine Anne Porter Library can be searched using UMD Discover.

Items in the Katherine Anne Porter Library are non-circulating. Researchers may view books from the collection in the Maryland Room on the first floor of Hornbake Library North.  Email Special Collections for more information or visit the Maryland Room to speak with a librarian.