Tracy W. McGregor Collection on the Discovery and Exploration of the Americas

Map of Florida and Virgina, Gerardi Mercatoris atlas sive cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mvndi et fabricati figvra. Gerhard Mercator,1630.

The McGregor Collection consists of hundreds of volumes pertaining to the early discovery and exploration of the Americas. This collection was acquired through the McGregor fund accepted by the university in 1934. Sixteen colleges were chosen to participate in the McGregor fund, each supplied with $500 every year for ten years to be matched by the university. The money was to be used towards purchasing rare books on early America for university libraries.

The research guide is based on the original guide created in 1954 by the librarian of Florida State University at the time, Louise Richardson.

Tracy W. McGregor built his wealth on late 19th century industrialization, and used much of his fortune for philanthropy. McGregor was passionate about early American history and wanted to incentivize college libraries to build on their collection of early American rare books.

Steps for searching for materials from the McGregor Collection in FSU Libraries online discovery tool, OneSearch:

1. Open the library catalog Advanced Search
2. Type “McGregor Collection” in the keyword box, including quotes
3. Click “Search”
4. Under the Library filter in the left side menu select “FSU Special Collections and Archives” 
5. There should be approximately 230 results
6. All materials can be viewed in person in the FSU Special Collections & Archives Reading Room in Strozier Library

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