Among the impressive donations that the University of Cincinnati's libraries have received are 34 Charles Dickens first printings and three rare sets of his collected works, donated by Procter & Gamble in 1989. The books were part of P&G's acquisition of the Vidal Sassoon Corp., which displayed the volumes in its London boardroom, says UC archivist Kevin Grace.

P&G selected UC in recognition of the Procter family's role in helping develop the library 100 years earlier. When UC was building Van Wormer Library in 1889, UC board member William Procter, son of P&G's founder, purchased and donated several private literary collections for the new library. The UC Archives and Rare Books Library holds an impressive collection of Charles Dickens first editions, including "Bleak House" (pictured here), published in parts in the 1850s (and donated to UC by P&G).