LGBTQ+ Studies at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

The Clark Library is revising our cataloging practices, checking records for accuracy and to eliminate, whenever possible, language that is biased or racist. We are updating metadata especially in instances when the historical narrative needs to be challenged or when greater social context needs to be included.

Read more about our past and current approaches to description in the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library Statement on Cataloging. 

The Clark Library acknowledges our presence on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples. We pay our respects to the Honuukvetam (Ancestors), ‘Ahiihirom (Elders) and ‘Eyoohiinkem (our relatives/relations) past, present, and emerging. 

In this LGBTQ+ Studies library guide, the William Andrews Clark Library highlights rare books, fine press books, manuscripts, artworks, and archival documents by and/or about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, asexual, and intersex people. 

LGBTQ+ materials and identities have always been essential to the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. William Andrews Clark, Jr., founder of the Clark Library, displayed an early interest in collecting books and archival documents with same-sex themes. For example, Clark, Jr. began earnestly collecting rare books and documents relating to Oscar Wilde during the 1920s. He purchased the nucleus of the Clark Library’s Oscar Wilde collection in 1929 from Dulau and Company in London, and today, the Clark Library’s collection of Oscar Wilde is one of the largest in the world. Queerness extends beyond the collection materials to its collector and the library building. Clark, Jr. was in a same-sex relationship with Harrison Post (ca. 1896–1946) after the death of his second wife, Alice McManus Clark (1884–1918). In many ways, Clark, Jr. built his collection with the assistance of Post, who was his library assistant and active participant in the library’s interior design. The most striking connection between their relationship and the collection is the ceiling mural in the Clark Library vestibule. Visitors are welcomed into the library by Post; artist Allyn Cox (1896–1982) painted Post’s face onto the nude bodies of the Greco-Roman figures who adorn the mural. 

Since Clark, Jr.’s death in 1934, the Clark Library’s collection of LGBTQ+ materials has grown exponentially. Collection highlights include rare books, manuscripts, letters, and artwork related to Wilde and his collaborators; letters between Post and Clark, Jr.; Sapphic literature by Pierre Louÿs (1870–1925); prints and drawings by Charles Ricketts (1866–1931) and Charles Haslewood Shannon (1863–1937), an artist couple creating and living in London; a defense of homosexuality by George Colman (1762–1836); an account of Giovanni Bordoni’s (1719–1743) gender transition; and lesbian typography by queer printer Erin Moore. 

Works by and/or about white gay men represent the majority of LGBTQ+ materials in the Clark Library collections. While many terms (like homosexual, gay, lesbian, etc.) were not coined until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, gender identities and sexualities have varied since time immemorial. Therefore, the Clark Library sometimes employs the terms gay, lesbian, and homosexual for materials created prior to the nineteenth century, but attempts to use period-specific terminology when appropriate.

Visit the to find bound manuscripts, rare books, art, fine press books, photographs, and other materials related to LGBTQ+ Studies. You can search by author, title, or keyword. You can further limit your search by date through “Advanced Search” or through the facets on the left of your screen. Your search will yield different results depending on if you search based on author or subject. For instance, to search for texts that discuss Oscar Wilde input the search term in a simple search or through “Advanced Search” followed by “Subject.” To search for texts written by Oscar Wilde, go to “Advanced Search,” then “Author,” and type “Wilde, Oscar, 1854–1900.”

The Clark Library's finding aids are hosted by the Online Archive of California (OAC), and that website provides an easy way to keyword search across all of the library's collections. It also gives an alphabetical listing of all finding aids. As an alternative research tool, this guide allows researchers to browse the Clark Library's finding aids by topic. Request these items through Aeon to consult them in our Reading Room. 

For more information on how to sign up for a free Aeon account, please visit our website.

The content of this guide was written by 2024-25 Clark Instruction & Engagement Fellow Mal Meisels (mollymeisels@g.ucla.edu).