Abstract
In the early nineteenth century Protestant denominations began establishing postgraduate professional schools to train ministers for the new republic of the United States. These new schools provided the only substantive opportunities for advanced studies in antebellum America and figured prominently in American culture. One of the earliest and most important of these schools was Princeton Theological Seminary, the plan for which called for and depended on "a complete theological library" that would facilitate advanced instruction and research. This article examines how Princeton's theological library was developed in the nineteenth century to realize this goal and provides insights into an academic culture that preceded and paralleled the advent of the modern research university and library in the United States. ©2007 by the University of Texas Press.