Publications in the Estonian language printed before 1861 and publications in foreign languages printed before 1831, including eight incunabula and 1,500 publications from the 16th and 17th centuries, are stored in the Rare Book Collection. Later publications include a selection of copies with autographs, manuscript amendments and ownership marks, censor's copies, artistic bindings, bibliophile and luxury publications. In addition to 28,000 rare publications, the collection includes 150 manuscripts. Research on old books has been conducted in the library for over 50 years.
