Hubbard Imaginary Voyages Collection

The Hubbard Imaginary Voyages Collection was presented to the Library in 1923 by Dr. Lucius L. Hubbard, who served as a Regent of the University from 1911 until his death in 1933. Hubbard assembled one of the world’s best collections of editions, translations, adaptations, and spin-offs of two novels that changed the course of literature: Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, first published in 1719, and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, first published in 1726. Other imaginary voyages figure in the collection, which now consists of approximately 3,500 volumes.

Hubbard, who worked for the Michigan Geological Survey and the Michigan College of Mines until 1893, when he assumed a six-year post as the Michigan State Geologist, collected Americana and maps of the world in addition to works depicting imaginary voyages. Serving for many years on the Library Committee alongside Regent William L. Clements, Hubbard became thoroughly familiar with the Library’s needs and its work. His additional gifts to the Library include a collection of approximately 120 rare and important maps, including the map of “New Spain” on display here, and a group of books Hubbard called “Men and Manners in America,” consisting of impressions of European travelers to America during the period between the American Revolutionary War and the Civil War.