The William B. Carey ’59 Collection of Signed and Inscribed Books was established by Attorney William B. Carey (’59) and includes works written, signed, and inscribed by prominent literary and historical figures. Mr. Carey, who earned his bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame and his law degree from Cornell University, practices law in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.

The Carey Collection contains books written by, and either signed or inscribed by, many of the most prominent people of the past two centuries. (A “signed” book is one signed or autographed by the author; an “inscribed” book is one dedicated or presented by the author, in his or her handwriting, to a particular person.) The Carey Collection contains, among others, books signed or inscribed by more than 20 American presidents, from John Quincy Adams to Bill Clinton, and inscriptions by Alexis de Tocqueville, Edmund Burke, John James Audubon, Anton Chekhov, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Voltaire, Winston Churchill, Leo Tolstoi, Victor Hugo, and many others.