Resources

Coin face of Denarius, Roman Republic, 157–156 BCE
In 1968, department artifacts were transferred to the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. View the Antiquities collection.

Department Library

The department houses a complete collection of the Loeb Classical Texts, ancient Greek and Roman texts with facing English translations. These texts are available for individual use in the department. The department also maintains a collection of frequently consulted reference works, dictionaries, and texts of Greek and Latin authors which can be borrowed by students. All senior projects are kept on open shelves, so that students who are preparing to write their senior project may get an idea of what former students have done.

Vassar Library

The Vassar Main Library has an excellent collection of monographs and periodicals on Greek and Roman religion, history, art, philosophy, archaeology, and literature. It has been strengthened considerably by an annual contribution to the cost of acquiring books on classical subjects by the Blegen Fund. All permanent and visiting faculty have the opportunity to order any book which they feel is important for a collection of this quality to have. Over the years, the collection has grown especially strong in those areas of study which are particularly the focus of the faculty’s research and teaching.

The library also subscribes to two full-text databases: BREPOLiS Latin Complete, a resource that includes Latin literature from the 3rd BCE—16th century CE; and Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, a corresponding resource for Greek literature from Homer to the fall of Byzantium in 1453 CE. In addition, there are subscriptions for the major encyclopedia resources, Brill’s New Pauly and the Oxford Classical Dictionary as well as L’Annee Philologique, the primary tool for discovering scholarly works in Greek and Roman studies, philology, and related fields. All of these resources are available to current Vassar students and faculty anywhere in the world via the college’s proxy server.

Archives and Special Collections

The Catherine Pelton Durrell ’25 Archives and Special Collections houses a number of papyrus fragments, manuscripts of ancient texts, early Greek and Latin Bibles, and materials related to the development of writing in antiquity that are available for students and faculty to consult. A class may be conducted in the Special Collections Seminar Room to examine a particular manuscript or book relevant to a class.

Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center

The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center has a small but rich collection of ancient artifacts—vases, coins, sculptures, and inscriptions. Some objects are part of the permanent collection, while some are kept in storage but may be viewed by a class.

Ancient Coin Collection

Ancient coins are part of the Antiquities Collection at Vassar’s Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. You can view some of the coins in the permanent collection database.